After the excitement getting into the slip at Tarpon Springs Yacht Club, we had too much adrenaline to properly rest, so we took hot showers and went for a long walk to explore Tarpon Springs. The Yacht Club, like almost every yacht club we have visited over the years, is set in the heart of a historic neighborhood with beautiful homes along the waterfront. (HeLLo Panama City Zoning! Neighborhoods are where yacht clubs in Florida are traditionally located. Their proximity adds to surrounding residential property values, and they are a treasured asset to nearby families and the community at large.)

From the Club, we meandered sidewalks and pathways along the water admiring the homes, lovely public gardens and parks, and artfully framed views across the natural lagoons, bayous and canals that spread out like spaghetti wrapping around the curved homesites. Following the water eventually took us to Tarpon Springs’ historic downtown district. It was bustling with last minute shoppers ducking in and out of dozens of locally owned shops, and cheery folks getting an early start to holiday festivities enjoying a bite to eat or libations at sidewalk seating spilling out of restaurants, bars and even one brewery. George put together a short video covering our gulf crossing and visit to Tarpon Springs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkhVSN5NBT4. I used to wander thorough charming downtowns encountered on our travels and wistfully think of all the untapped potential in downtown Panama City, but now I am proud to say that thanks to the tenacity and vision of many dedicated leaders and investors, downtown Panama City now holds its own among even the best and most vibrant downtowns in small town America (Loopers – you should definitely check out both Tarpon Springs and Panama City on your way south).

The next day we waited for the tide to come in before considering leaving the dock. George launched our dinghy and retraced our entrance path and through the cut that had led to the Yacht Club’s bayou to try to find the deepest path out through the shallow water. We departed the dock and tiptoed out of Tarpon Springs about an hour before high tide. A rule of thumb if concerned with low depth: don’t depart at high tide, instead go just before, so you still have a rising tide to float you off should you get into trouble. We motored slowly to avoid another encounter with the Po-Po, and headed to Anclote Key to explore the lighthouse, then moved a bit further south to anchor behind another barrier island, Three Rooker Island North. It was a peaceful night at anchor – just us, a bunch of birds, and a quiet sand bar running interference on tiny wavelets coming in from the Gulf. Life is good.

The next morning, we dinghied over to the sand bar to stretch our legs, hunt for shells, and for George to fly his drone. He put together a short video of the drone footage from Rooker Island: https://youtu.be/Fl-GHTYTZsc. When we left Rooker Island that morning, we intended to anchor behind Caladesi Island, but when we turned off the ICW (intercoastal waterway) to approach Caladesi, we found ourselves again in very shallow water. Since we had used up our entire monthly allotment of good luck in the final ten minutes of our approach to Tarpon Springs, we threw in the towel, returned to the ICW and made a reservation for a slip at Clearwater Yacht Club, a FCYC club. One of the benefits of being a member of St. Andrews Bay Yacht Club is that we have reciprocal privileges at the thirty-five other yacht clubs that are a part of the Florida Council of Yacht Clubs (FCYC). This includes a complimentary night at each of the FCYC member club docks, and we are looking forward to spending time at several of the clubs along the way.

George did a masterful job backing Assisted Living through the fairway of Dock C at CYC, dodging boats protruding out of slips, and making a hard turn to slide her neatly into the last slip on that quay. As always, the folks at CYC were helpful and welcoming, and we enjoyed a nice dinner at the Club that evening, and to our surprise, even enjoyed playing a few rounds of musical bingo (Who knew? Very entertaining!)

The next morning, we walked for hours exploring Clearwater Beach, and then in the early afternoon moved the boat four miles over to Carlouel Yacht Club, another FCYC club.  Carlouel is both a beach club and a yacht club, with a gorgeous setting on a narrow peninsula with waterfront along both the ICW, and across the street, a private dedicated beach on the Gulf. We declined their gracious offer to set up chairs for us on the beach and instead walked for an hour or so along the beach. Afterwards, we ate an extravagant Christmas Eve buffet at the Club, and then warmed ourselves by the dockside firepit just in front of our boat while we Facetimed with our Virginia grandkids. George put together a fun video of our time at CYC and Carlouel YC: https://youtu.be/QBo3nZZKeas. Back on our boat, George suffered through a chick-flick type Christmas movie as a special Christmas gift to me (no complaints, not even a sigh – it was a true Christmas miracle). It is hard to remember a more relaxing Christmas Eve.

We enjoyed a lazy Christmas morning, but when tide was close to high, we departed Carlouel headed for Gulfport, Florida. The waterways were busy on this sunny holiday, and we had to keep a close eye on the never-ending traffic and to take care to stay in the channel, which wasn’t particularly deep but was certainly more than the one to two feet found just outside the channel. Every time I leave home, I appreciate anew how spoiled we are to boat in St. Andrews Bay, which offers plenty of deep water, both in and outside the marked channels – an anomaly I never fully understood until we started exploring other parts of Florida. We had to clear several bridges, the first five of which we narrowly fit under. George narrated the distance from his perch partway up our instrument mast, while Chris alternated the throttle from idle to neutral. Despite its advertised air draft, the sixth bridge was a tad too low. Always, always, always check the marker boards at the base of bridges which reflect anticipated available air draft based on water levels at that exact moment, and also be prepared to be skeptical if the boards don’t seem right to you. When we hailed the bridge tender to inquire about their next scheduled opening, we learned it was only one minute away (Hallelujah!). We set the anchor in Gulfport about an hour before sunset, and after toasting the sunset with champagne, grilled some beautiful filet mignon brought specially for our Christmas celebration. Merry Christmas, Everyone!