Caladesi Island to John's Pass

We had to wait on high tide to get out in the channel which kept us in port until 11a. Then paying carefully attention to the markers we were soon across the large shoaling areas and into the deeper Intercoastal Waterway... ICW. And on our way to John's Pass, which is not a long way but there are lots of “no Wake” areas....places that we were required to slow down.

The water was beautiful, bumpy and full of white caps! We were glad we were not in the Gulf today.

Could I have possibly grown land legs while in Tarpon Springs for over three weeks?!   I did walk around town so much and our boat was stuck in the mud a lot and didn't move much.  Cruising again has affected me as it did at first.... I am wearing sea bands (for sea sickness)!  Even tonight parked at the dock we are occasionally getting rolled sideways... yeah, I still have those tight little bands around my wrists.

The land along the ICW, especially on the beach side, is crowded with high rise condominiums.

There were many Causeway bridges we had to get under...most were plenty high but 3 were too low for our mast so the Captain lowered it. These bridges link the mainland with the beach/Gulf side.

Large mansions lined the waterway.  Some looked like hotels but many are private individual homes.

Here are some condos with boat slips.

Could this be Mary Kay's house?... it's the right color....no she lives in Dallas, TX,  I think.

A small colorful house among the big estates.

You never know what you are going to see in Florida waters... a Pirate Ship!

Once docked we had to hose off the salt water on the boat. The Isinglass was foggy with salt, too... turned out the best thing was just lots of water on it instead of the mixture I usually use.

Then I got so excited because I found out there were two Publix Grocery stores with docks nearby!  There was also a man that for a small fee would drive you there and back...no way!... did I want to do that when I could go in the dinghy with Walter and we could tie up at a dock and gather our groceries??...... it just sounded so unique! 

Walter is off to make a scouting run to see if the dinghy could get under a bridge which would be a short cut so we would not have to go out in the ICW again this afternoon.

He was quickly back saying under that bridge was a thicket of mangroves... we would have to go the other way.  We left this pelican who was on a pile close to the boat to watch over Miss gg while we left in the dinghy.

Leaving boat...

......tried to get both of us in the 2^nd photo here but just got the Captain.... my straw hat is showing bottom right corner.

Here is a large home with unusual chimneys that we saw on our way to resupply the boat.

I had hoped to show you the Publix dock and all our groceries loaded into the dinghy but alas we could not find the store!!  It is one thing to go over those bumpy waves and white caps in Miss gg but quite another when your dinghy is going up one wave and slamming down on the next!....would we have made it back with dry groceries?? I was hanging on for dear life... and I had thought this was going to be such a lark!   In the end it was too late to go get groceries so we made do with a tiny bit of leftovers for dinner.

Tomorrow we will see our youngest Grand Wonders in Ruskin, FL...all the way across Tampa Bay... should not be a long trip but there is a lot of open water.....I do hope the Bay settles down before we get in it......