January 14: Cape Haze, FL

We've traveled 115 miles since arriving at Tarpon Springs a week and a half ago - 50 miles today! It seemed odd to be traveling almost 7 hours today as we have really enjoyed the time being 'tourists' in the Bradenton area - thanks to Terri and Scott! The blue line is the route we have taken since crossing the Gulf. All of it has been in protected waters except Tampa Bay and we had good winds on that day so travel is peaceful. The sunset last night was again very colorful - maybe it's the salt air? The view are changing again - from downtown Sarasota to stretches of mangroves with lots of birds hanging around in the trees. We also passed through Venice today on our way here to the marina at Cape Haze. We've seen many kinds and numbers of birds - including the white pelican we first saw up north. Apparently this is their winter home. The osprey are well represented here and don't seem to care how close we come to them with the boat. They seem content to just sit and watch us go by! We have also taken to heart the Florida mantra (shared by Suzanne) of "Don't boat where the birds are standing!" Because we are traveling in the waterway that lies between the Florida mainland (to the east) and the barrier islands on the Gulf, we go under the many bridges that connect the two. Fortunately, our "air draft" (distance from the waterline to the top of the mast) is just under 22 feet and most of the bridges are 24 - 26' clearance. Each bridge has a water marking that shows the clearance at a particular time - clearance which changes of course with the tide - so we know whether or not we need to ask for a bridge to be raised. We take note of the potential $25,000 fine if you ask for the bridge to raise and it wasn't needed! Today, there were two that we could not fit under. It still amazes me that all we need to do is call on the VHF radio and ask for the bridge to be raised! The marina tonight is very nice - even has a swimming pool. Somehow though it just does not look appealing in this cooler weather! We have high hopes for the next two nights as we plan on anchoring out assuming the weather predicted actually arrives (sunny and in the 70's). Maybe we truly ARE in Florida??