Punta Blanca Island to Tarpon Springs, FL

Total Miles Traveled 2380

We left Punta Blanca Island early Sunday March 26^th with the idea of getting across Charlotte Harbor with calm waters.  We usually try to avoid traveling on the weekend as the waterways either get congested with boat traffic, or the big sport fisher boats rocking our world.  A big portion of the GICW is slow, no wake, between Charlotte Harbor and Sarasota. 

We passed through Venice, FL which had a pretty cool mural on one of the buildings. 

As we passed Venice Inlet, we found the party island with boats coming and going in all directions.

We try to time the bridge openings so we don’t have to hold our position in the current, wind, and while avoiding other boaters……….I knew there was a reason we didn’t travel on the weekend.

Another early start to our day Monday March 27^th, this time we wanted to get across Tampa Bay and into the marina at St Petersburg with calm waters.  It was a great day for cruising as we approached the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

This was our first visit to St Petersburg; the marina is a short walk to downtown with several shops, restaurants, and art galleries.  We were also within walking distance of the Salvador Dali Museum which houses the largest collection of Dali’s works outside of Europe.

Salvador Dali was a prominent Spanish surrealist painter born in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain.  Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920’s, and is best known for its visual artworks and writings.  Artist painted unnerving, illogical scenes with photographic precision, created strange creatures from everyday objects and developed painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself. 

We had the option to take a guided tour or receive a complementary set of headphones for a self-guided tour; we opted for the guided tour.  Our tour guide was very informative and explained the history of Dali’s works and the intricate details and meanings behind the objects in the artwork. 

We continued north Thursday March 29^th to an anchorage at Redington Shores, we stopped here in the winter; it’s a great place to anchor and has a great restaurant.  On March 30^th we worked our way up the GICW passing Clearwater, and a close encounter with pirates.

We arrived at the Tarpon Springs City Marina and will stay here waiting for a weather window to cross the “Big Bend” of Florida.  The Intracoastal Waterway stops here, and resumes when we cross the Gulf of Mexico to Carrabelle Florida.   We are planning at least three days to cross to the panhandle.

This was a busy place Saturday and Sunday with an arts and crafts show.

This sponge boat came in with a huge load of sponges.  Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the U.S. and is known as the sponge capital of the world.