On the Road Again

June 1st we untied our lines and set off from Anclote Harbor Marina in Tarpon Springs headed south toward Tampa. It was a hot muggy morning on the GICW (Gulf Intracoastal Waterway). We spent the day hiding from the sun with our big blue sport umbrella open wide over us.

The Calypso Queen out of Clearwater

Our goal was to make it to an anchorage at Boca Ciega Bay near Gulfport, FL. We heard that Gulfport is the place old hippies go to die. Right after we anchored, a party pedal boat came floating by with a dozen or so very happy partiers. They watched us as we toasted our first day back out on the water with a kiss and a beer. They got very excited; hooted and hollered and yelled “CHEERS!” We raised our glass back at them. It was one of those wonderful moments shared with strangers!

Paddle Paddle Drink - CHEERS!

Welcome to Gulfport, FL

Gulfport, FL

The Pink Castle ~ The Don CeSar ~ Boca Ciega Bay

We passed under eight bridges on our way to Boca Ciega Bay; six of them were bascule lift bridges, two were stationary high bridges which we fit under easily. We had to wait 10-15 minutes for the opening of only one. We’ve started seeing sting rays in the water. They look like floating palm fronds curled in the shape of batman’s head. They are pretty shy and dive as soon as we get close enough to inspect them. It's virtually impossible to get a photo! The waterway is filled with dolphins and huge beautiful homes. There is a lot of money here in Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Another Bascule Bridge

We traveled 47.1 miles in 8 1/2 hours, very slow for Mystic. As soon as we throttled up to our cruising speed, we both noticed that something was different. Dave wondered about growth on the bottom of our hull so we decided to go for a swim and check things out. Right away it was apparent that we’d picked up a good layer of barnacles during our stay in Tarpon Springs. In addition to the hull, our prop has enough barnacles on it to interfere with water flow. It will have to be cleaned. Dave was able to scrape off the aft section of our hull, along the waterline, with the thickest growth. He used our metal pancake spatula with a small rope attached to wrap around his wrist so he wouldn’t lose it. It was not easy work and I'm not sure this tool will ever be used for pancakes again!

We are delighted to be on the road again; or in our case, on the waterway. We hope for smooth sailing on this part of our journey but we know that we can’t count on it. On a boat, if it can break, it will! We'll just hang onto optimism and adventure!