I headed over to a little tiny anchorage on the Anclote River yesterday - just behind the power plant. It sounded like a pretty horrible place, but actually it was quite lovely. Best of all it was near a boat ramp and dinghy dock and a very nice park AND they had a HOT DOG stand with ice cream. Was I ever ready for an icy cold drink and some junk food! After getting settled I took the dinghy over and sat at a picnic table overlooking the river and had my hot dog and ice cream - yummy!
The boat ramp was pretty busy but the park closed at 8:30 p.m. so it was very quiet during the evening hours. There were two sailboats that seemed to be permanently anchored. It always amazes me that folks can just go off and leave their boats unattended. One of them looked a bit worse for the wear.
I left very early this morning and traveled between the snaky, twisting markers of the Anclote River to the Tarpon Springs City Marina. This is not much of a place at all. Lucky for me the dock master had arrived early as I guess they don't normally open until 8:30. He helped me tie up in a huge slip next to a tug boat. I still can't believe that I managed to rig up a lasso and actually caught one of those pilings on the first try! He was quite impressed :-) The slip is so big I didn't have long enough dock lines for the aft cleats. I just barely got the bow up to the little tiny finger pier. Each time I had to get off today it was a matter of climbing over the bow rail and jumping down to the dock.
Not much to recommend the marina. No showers, no laundry, no pumpout, not even fuel. It did seem to be in the thick of the tourist area though I had no time to explore. It was a bit of an adventure just getting my suitcase off the boat. I had hoped to get the dock guy to help but the place was locked up - guess it was lunch time. Instead I had to tie a line to my suitcase and to the dock and then lift it over the bow rail while standing on the dock. No easy feat and it made my heart skip a beat seeing my suitcase - with my computer in it-- dangling over the water. I can't begin to imagine how I will get Coleen and all her stuff on board when we return - especially late at night!
My "Elite Airport transportation" turned to be a barely running car with no airconditioning. We only made it about two miles before the car overheated and the guy had to call for backup :-) Thankfully I had planned to leave in plenty of time for my flight as I thought it would be more pleasant working in the airport than in the hot marina. They managed to send a back up car just before I melted :-)
So my life is nothing if not an adventure
2 Comments
carly&grampy
7/23/2009 12:40:19 pm
we are big fans and we live near were you left your boat at the marina and we went down to look at your boat twice
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