Come Sail Away

We are leaving Mandalay Bay to return to Anclote Harbor Marina in Tarpon Springs. We weighed anchor by mid morning and joined two sailboats already in the narrow channel that leads us back to the ICW. Our caravan moves in unison, carefully, with a suitable gap between each boat. When we reach the junction at the ICW, we all turn North. The waterway is busy, but it's no surprise on the first day of the weekend. We will have to wait for the Dunedin Honeymoon Island Bascule Bridge to open. Once we passed under it, all three boats hoist their sails and cut engine power. Today, we have a favorable following wind, not too strong, but enough wind to move us along at 4-5 miles per hour. It's only 15 miles to Tarpon Springs so we have the luxury of taking our time and enjoying a perfect day of sailing!

Mystic on the ICW, waiting for a bridge to open
Photo by Bedard Yacht Design

Dolphins join us on the ICW

Osprey family at Marker #4

Our sailboat caravan waiting for the bridge to open

Passing under the Dunedin Honeymoon Island Bridge

Music often fills the long hours of cruising. It plays over our hand crank radio, when we have reception that is. On those days when the radio just won’t tune into a local station, the songs play in our heads, sometimes challenging us to remember lyrics. While we made the difficult Gulf crossing I heard the Gilligan’s Island theme playing over and over until I could recite it word for word.

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip
that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship.
The mate was a mighty sailing man
The skipper brave and sure
Five passengers set sail that day
on a three hour tour, a three hour tour...

Today, my earwig is Styx, Come Sail Away!

A gathering of angels appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope and this is what they said
They said come sail away come sail away
come sail away with me...

As we motored north on the ICW, we passed a uniquely designed junk rigged sailboat under full sail. It is robin egg blue and beautiful. There were three men on board. We waved and I took photos. They yelled to us, "What is your boat?" Dave yelled back, "Alberg 35", They responded, 'She's a beauty!" I asked how I could send them the pictures I'd taken. They pointed to their hull which read Bedard.Yacht.Design.com. I sent the photos which they posted on their facebook page Bedard Yacht Design. Turns out, they took a picture of us as well! How cool is that!

RoG under sail

RoG

RoG with Bedard.Yacht.Design on the hull

RoG moving along behind us

It took us seven hours to sail to Marker #1, the entry marker to the Anclote River. Once we made the turn into the narrow and busy channel, we started the motor and furled the sails. It's high tide and time to get to the marina before the tide turns. Docking works best here when you hit slack tide, which is when the tide is going neither in nor out. Our timing is perfect.

Anclote Key Lighthouse across from Marker #1

We've been on this cruising adventure for almost eight months. Our journey is very different from going out for an afternoon sail or bareboating for a week. Each day, we have to travel a specific distance to get to our next stopping point. Some days we've sailed for an hour or two then motored the rest of the day in order to make it to our anchorage or marina during daylight hours. Other days, we've motored sunrise to sunset because conditions did not allow wind power. We sailed often on Lake Superior and Lake Michigan but sailing was not an option on the Inland Waterway. The distance from Chicago to Mobile we had our mast strapped to our deck in order to pass under hundreds of low stationery bridges. Every day, we are at the mercy of wind and time which dictate whether we motor or sail; or sometimes, motorsail.

Mystic (far right) under full sail

Today, we are sailing and we are having the time of our lives. We spent two weeks making the Gulf crossing and were physically and mentally challenged each and every day of the trip. Since arriving in Tarpon Springs on April 22nd, we have enjoyed a slower, more relaxed lifestyle. We kind of like it; a LOT!