April 8 - Anclote Key

Day 33 – Long Day…very long day
Anclote Keys – Anchorage

We left Steinhatchee in a light fog along with 30 or 40 small fishing boats. The slogan I saw for Steinhatchee is: A cute little drinking town with a fishing problem. It did look like everyone has a boat.

Today proved again that making plans is a waste of time. We thought we would spend a little time and see some of the small towns along the coast, but after talking to a few locals and checking the charts, we decided to move on to Tarpon Springs. The water is pretty shallow going into Cedar Keys and Crystal River. Maybe we will rent a car and go back to Crystal River. They are known as the place where the manatees hang out. You can even take a tour and swim with them.

The weather was perfect today. The Gulf was smoother than most bays we have crossed, so we decided to go all the way to Tarpon Springs today...14 hour and 116 miles! The water was unbelievable, so clear...we could see the bottom twenty feet down. We saw 6 or 7 sea turtles, several right by the boat, more dolphins and flying fish.

We anchored out…in the dark. It was a little weird to just stop the boat and drop the hook and not even see where we were. We could tell from the chart plotter where we needed to be. It felt good to finally be anchored and relax. It was a very long day.

Leaving Steinhatchee - heading out into the Gulf

Clear beautiful water, we could see turtles, fish and dolphins.

It was a calm beautiful day

Not the greatest picture, but one of the dolphins we saw. I had the wrong lens.

By afternoon it was hard to tell where the sky ended and the water began