Cruising Down Florida's Nature and Sun Coasts

Steinhatchee is a small and charming fishing village that still has its ‘old Florida’ character. Many small homes, bars, and small marinas line the Steinhatchee river. Fishing boats of all shapes and sizes pass by the Steinhatchee Marina at Deadman’s Bay on their way to local waters and into the gulf.. On Saturday, 11/26, we joined our fellow loopers, who crossed the gulf with us, for a celebratory lunch at Roy’s restaurant next to the marina. In the afternoon we took a dinghy ride up the Steinhatchee River. The scenery along the river was beautiful and we even saw a couple of manatees. Sunday was a day to relax and take care of boat chores. That evening at the captain’s meeting, the group decided to leave the next morning at first light and cruise to Cedar Key where we planned to anchor out since there was no marina there.

Thankfully, the weather and sea conditions were good and we did not encounter any fog though we still had to dodge hundreds of crab pots. The trip was pleasant but the best part was seeing all the dolphins. They were everywhere and followed all the boats into Cedar Key. We want to give a big shout out to Cheryl English on Nautic Venture for taking a video of the dolphins playing around our boat as we came into Cedar Key. Cheryl and her husband Chris aren’t related to us but we’re having fun saying we’re ‘cousins’. There were nine looper boats that anchored at Cedar Key (surely this was a record). Once we were secure, we launched the dinghy and rode to Atsena Otie Key. We walked the beach and Karen found several great shells there. Later we took the dinghy to town and met the other loopers for dinner at Steamers, one of the waterside restaurants. Cedar Key is another small and charming Florida fishing village known for providing a laid back lifestyle.

The next morning we left at first light to cruise to Crystal River and spend another night at anchor. We’ve been there before to dive and swim with the manatees. They migrate to Crystal River during the winter to enjoy the warm spring-fed waters. After checking the weather and sea conditions for the hundredth time, we decided to change our plans due to poor incoming weather. After a couple of phone calls, we found a slip at Mar Marina in Tarpon Springs. The dockmaster there said “we’ll find a place for you”, which did not make us feel confident in the reservation. Once our night’s stay was situated we then had a couple of hours of rough seas and had to navigate through thousands of crab pots. Having to dodge all the crab pots makes you rethink wanting to eat crab claws. We followed Nautic Venture most of the way and kept each other company during the long cruise. It’s good to travel with a buddy boat, especially on long cruises.

There are two marinas at Tarpon Springs. One at the sponge docks in the middle of town and one closer to the gulf. We stayed at the one closer to the gulf. As promised, the dockmaster found us a spot. He moved a boat into the sling so we could have a slip. We thought we were the last boat in and had landed the last available slip, but two more boats came in after us. We were thankful they made room for us. This was not a new marina, but it had new owners and we were their first group of loopers. While it was a working marina, they had all the amenities we needed and connected us to a golf cart rental company. We rented a six passenger cart to take all of us around town. Tarpon Springs is also a small charming town known for sponge diving and Greek food. We made plans with the other loopers to ride into town the next day for breakfast and to shop at the gift stores. Later we met up with them for happy hour and dinner at Rusty Bellies. Capel was the golf cart driver and shuttled people from the marina to town. It was one of the more fun days of the trip and we were glad we were safe in our slip when the weather came in. On Thursday, we went to Crystal River to pick up meds at QVC and Karen’s contacts.. The contacts were originally shipped to the marina in Panama City but arrived after we left. That marina graciously shipped them to the AGLCA Harbor Host in Crystal River because that’s where we planned to stay for a couple of days. But plans changed so we rented a car and drove to Crystal River instead. It’s a challenge to have anything shipped to marinas because we don’t always know where we’re going to be or how long we are going to stay there. On the few occasions we book a marina in advance and stay there more than a couple of days, we start placing orders on Amazon and other sites for things we need.

Our next stop was Clearwater Beach Marina. We stayed there two nights. After a walk on the beach, which was across the street, we met up with Long Gone 2 and Summer Place for docktails aboard Arabella and dinner afterwards. The interesting thing about this spot was our dock location and the fleet of tour boats and fishing charters. We sat at the entrance to the marina and there were several charters on big boats that passed by all day every day. The next day we took the Jolly Trolley to Dunedin, which is….another small charming town. There was a holiday market that day which we browsed for arts and crafts and fresh food. That evening we went to the Boat House back at the marina and had one of the best dishes we’ve had on the trip….drunken shrimp. It seemed similar to drunken noodles and had lots of shrimp, bread, and sauce. Before heading back to the boat, we walked to the beach for sunset and the green flash. We didn’t see the green flash but we did enjoy the sunset marketplace and street performers at the pier. It seems Clearwater Beach is trying to replicate the success of a sunset atmosphere that Key West created at Mallory Square.

On Sunday, we cruised to an ‘off the beaten’ path marina in St. Pete Beach that Capel found via the Meridian Yacht Owners Forum. It was less of a marina and more like a few docks located at the end of a canal and in between two motels. It didn’t have restrooms, showers, pump out, or fuel, but it did have power, water, laundry, and the most important amenity of all….LOCATION. It was located directly across the street from the beach! We stayed at Bayview Plaza Motel and Resort in St. Pete Beach for a week😎.

When we arrived we were greeted by a momma and baby manatee. They seemed curious about us and swam around the boat the rest of the afternoon. We enjoyed sunset on the beach every afternoon. Of course the motel Tiki Hut bar and their rum runners helped with the experience. Because we had a clear view of the sunset from the beach we looked each night for the “green flash”. From Google…The green flash is an optical phenomenon that you can see shortly after sunset or before sunrise. It happens when the sun is almost entirely below the horizon, with the barest edge of the sun – the upper edge – still visible. For a second or two, that upper rim of the sun will appear green in color. Fortunately, we did get to see the green flash the first evening, but never saw it again for the rest of the week.

One night, we met up with some friends, Kaye and Keith Browning from our old neighborhood in Alpharetta. They had recently moved to Tampa. They took us to The Don CeSar hotel for dinner. “The Don”, as it’s known to the locals, is a historic and famous hotel on St. Pete Beach. It was a favorite of the rich and famous in the early days of television. After many years of neglect, it was revitalized and is now back to its former glory. While we didn’t see any movie stars, we did enjoy dinner and catching up with old friends.

In the middle of the week, we were visited by our friends from the looper boat Odyssey. As we had discovered in Steinhatchee, they love to explore by dinghy. So, we launched our dinghy and took a ride to Shell Key with them. It was a fine little adventure and Karen found quite a few shells for her growing collection.

When we were children, we always saw the billboards on I-75 advertising “Sunken Gardens” on our way to a Florida vacation. Of course kids had no interest in gardens; amusement parks and swimming pools were all we cared about. Well, St. Pete is home to Sunken Gardens and as freshly minted retirees, we thoroughly enjoyed one of the oldest tourist attractions in Florida. The place had a fascinating history, not to mention the amazing flora and fauna found there.

By the time our week was over, three other looper boats had arrived at Bayview Resort and one of them was a Meridian 459, just like ours. It seems our secret hideaway was not so secret after all. On December 10th, we left St. Pete, crossed Tampa Bay and headed for Sarasota.