Tarpon Springs to Sarasota

We arose bright and early on Wednesday, January 4th wanting to pull out of Tarpon by 9am.  We checked the tides on a local website and felt we should be good to go.  We had a short side channel to pass through before reaching the main channel on the Anclote and out to the ICW.  I saw that we were stirring up mud so we inched forward. Unfortunately we still found the bottom.  The current was strong so in a few minutes we were afloat again.  It was apparent that we were not getting through so it was back to the dock. The dockmaster indicated that he felt the storms and high winds the day before affected the water levels. This time I checked the tide app on my IPAD!! The morning peak tide for Tarpon would be at 10:10 am, so at  10:05 we tried again, I stood on the bow this time, watching the water as we crept through the same area. Success!  Exiting the Anclote was much quieter and calmer than our entry.  No boats speeding passed us.  No boats speeding towards us!  No boats at all, must be to cool for the locals. The sky's were clear and the sun bright but definitely cool enough that we had to keep the plastics down for comfort on the fly bridge. We had heard there were quite a few bridges on the ICW and that for sail boats and some power boats having to wait for each bridge to open was annoying.  We passed under nine bridges today with the lowest being 23 ft at center. Since we need 19 feet to clear we had no waits today. Much of the day was spent at idle speed as required, but no matter, as it gave us more time to gawk at the mansions, interesting homes, islands etc.  Our search for  a suitable anchorage began about 3p.m. We chose Boca Ciega Bay because of its size and proximity to the ICW.  Can you say twice in one day!! We entered the bay to anchor in the six foot charted white water as directed in Skipper Bobs book. Although the chartplotter and paper chart indicated we were there the depth finder said 18ft so Tom kept moving forward and guess what?  We found the bottom again!! This time we were stuck. We had been pulling the dingy behind so Tom used it to pull us back into the charted area.  We anchored for the night an hour and a half after we started!  Lesson learned, believe your charts and chartpotter!  The sunset over the bay was pretty and the lights from all of the buildings made for a beautiful evening, unfortunately it was to cold to sit out on the aft deck and enjoy it. Finally settled in I attempted to start the generator without success. Down in the engine room went Tom. Nothing a little bungy chord wouldn't fix temporarily! Two things to make sure you have lots of on board, bungy chords and duck tape!

                                           a sample of some of the large homes we saw

                                                 sunset over the town at our anchorage