Another beautiful day cruising. We went from Yankeetown, FL to Tarpon Springs, FL. This was the last leg requiring open water cruising and the Gulf was as calm as anybody would want….waves about 1 ft. where we were. Temps were in the mid 60s offshore and mid 70s in Tarpon Springs. We cruised about 3 to 10 miles out from land to keep in water that was continuously 12 to 20 ft. deep.
It has been amazing how shallow the Gulf really is. When you stand onshore and look at it, you presume it starts out shallow near shore and then gets deeper and deeper, but it doesn’t. On Florida’s West Coast where we have been, the vast majority of waters within about 2 or 3 miles of land, and lots of large areas within 5 to 8 miles lo land are frequently 1 to 8 ft deep with shallows and shoals everywhere. Not until you get about 10 miles out is it consistently 20 ft deep or more.
With the normal winter weather pattern winds come from the northeast so when you’re within about 10 miles of land the waves are small. The farther out you go from land, the more reach there is for the wind to make larger, more organized waves. Therefore, today and yesterday within 5 to 10 miles of land it was very comfortable, but with similar 15 to 25 knot winds as yesterday, the crossing of 70 miles of the Gulf the day before started out 70 miles DOWNWIND from where we wanted to go. That meant big waves.
Tarpon Springs is a very interesting fishing, sponge diving, and touristy Greek heritage town. It’s full of Greek restaurants, Greek bakeries, sponge sellers and small tourist items in little shops along the waterfront. We’re going to stay here 2 days just for fun. We ate at a seafood restaurant tonight and I had REALLY good stone crab claws. Kathy had the stuffed locally caught Florida grouper. I think we’ll have to eat Greek for one dinner just to partake of the atmosphere here, but I really like the seafood.
It has been amazing how shallow the Gulf really is. When you stand onshore and look at it, you presume it starts out shallow near shore and then gets deeper and deeper, but it doesn’t. On Florida’s West Coast where we have been, the vast majority of waters within about 2 or 3 miles of land, and lots of large areas within 5 to 8 miles lo land are frequently 1 to 8 ft deep with shallows and shoals everywhere. Not until you get about 10 miles out is it consistently 20 ft deep or more.
With the normal winter weather pattern winds come from the northeast so when you’re within about 10 miles of land the waves are small. The farther out you go from land, the more reach there is for the wind to make larger, more organized waves. Therefore, today and yesterday within 5 to 10 miles of land it was very comfortable, but with similar 15 to 25 knot winds as yesterday, the crossing of 70 miles of the Gulf the day before started out 70 miles DOWNWIND from where we wanted to go. That meant big waves.
Tarpon Springs is a very interesting fishing, sponge diving, and touristy Greek heritage town. It’s full of Greek restaurants, Greek bakeries, sponge sellers and small tourist items in little shops along the waterfront. We’re going to stay here 2 days just for fun. We ate at a seafood restaurant tonight and I had REALLY good stone crab claws. Kathy had the stuffed locally caught Florida grouper. I think we’ll have to eat Greek for one dinner just to partake of the atmosphere here, but I really like the seafood.
Sand Burrs! Yeeouch!
This little guy is about 3 inches tall and looks like grass. All the soil is either sandy soil or pure sand around here and these little buggers look like grass and grow in the grass (where Daisy likes to walk and sniff, of course). They have those small burr heads with very sharp spines. We have to check Daisy’s feet for them every time we get back to the boat from a walk and sometimes she starts limping because she gets one on a foot and we have to de-burr her during the walks. They don’t bother people with shoes much because they’re so small and low to the ground.
This little guy is about 3 inches tall and looks like grass. All the soil is either sandy soil or pure sand around here and these little buggers look like grass and grow in the grass (where Daisy likes to walk and sniff, of course). They have those small burr heads with very sharp spines. We have to check Daisy’s feet for them every time we get back to the boat from a walk and sometimes she starts limping because she gets one on a foot and we have to de-burr her during the walks. They don’t bother people with shoes much because they’re so small and low to the ground.
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