Caladesi Island State Park

This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)

cruising adventures on the Great Loop!

DAY 220 - November 7, 2017

Today at 7:30 a.m., I heard somebody calling my name outside the boat. I don't wake up easily, but I unsnapped the center window cover and opened the window. There was a gentleman there on the dock who, when I opened the window, told me he had read my blog, He said he wanted to take us to Walmart (according to Patty, I don't remember that, but she is much better at waking up than I am!). He also said he wanted to give me a bottle of bourbon but the liquor store wasn't open yet. He said he had wanted to do the Great Loop back in 2001 but for personal reasons, he was not able to do that. He also said he had guests who wanted to have breakfast on the docks, so he left  But half an hour later he returned and said the liquor store was now open, and gave me a bottle of Makers Mark! This is not just bourbon, but GREAT bourbon (thank you, Jan Risheim, for making Evan Williams forever inferior!). I am such an idiot! I did not ask him what his name was, and so, if he should read this, I hope he will leave a Comment or send me an email via the Contact Form identifying himself, so I can properly acknowledge and thank him!

After breakfast, I went into the marina office to return the key to the private bathroom and shower and pay the bill. This was the first marina that did not collect moorage in advance! We cast off the lines and headed back toward the Gulf ICW, which had started as soon as we were inside Anclote Key, stopping on the way at the Anclote Village Marina fuel dock for the last gas we will purchase on our Loop! With the last fill, we calculated the total fuel used was just over 1,000 gallons. This makes us smile! One Looper reported using 8,500 gallons of fuel, and our friends Nick and Barb on RioMarLago reported using 5,748 gallons of fuel. I guess those numbers are the cost of having a bigger boat and the need for speed! 

I took a few more pictures of the boats along the Sponge Docks as we cruised out of Tarpon Springs. Many boats are name "Agios" this or that, so I Googled it, and it turns out Agios means "Saint" - there are a lot of boats in Tarpon Springs named for saints!

Agios Nikolaos

Boats along the Sponge Docks

It was a long way out the Anclote River to the ICW, but after we were out, it was a very short cruise to Caladesi Island State Park Marina. 

Screenshot of Caladesi Island State Part Marina

The marina, as the screenshot shows, is really in the interior of Caladesi Island. The entire island is undeveloped, and is incredibly quiet and peaceful. The island is immediately west of Dunedin, across St. Joseph Sound. Originally part of a large barrier island, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island, north of Caladesi, were formed in 1921 when a hurricane created Hurricane Pass, splitting the barrier island into two parts. Although Caladesi is still referred to as an island, Hurricane Elena filled in Dunedin Pass in 1985, making Caladesi "Island" accessible by walking northward from North Clearwater Beach.

The marina has some restrictions based on length and beam on the tee ends of the docks and wider slips with longer floating docks, so we had to use a smaller slip. Although the marina has floating docks in excellent condition, they are not really long enough for a 25 foot boat to go bow in. We went bow in, and quickly realized that was not going to work, so we turned Daydream around by hand with the lines, lowered the kicker, and tied up stern in.

Daydream stern in at Caladesi State Park Marina

In the 1880s, homesteader Henry Scharrer and his daughter Myrtle lived on the island. Later in life, at the age of 87, Myrtle Scharrer Betz penned the book Yesteryear I Lived in Paradise, telling of her life on the barrier island. Myrtle apparently rowed to Dunedin every day to attend school. The Florida State Parks website does not say when the State acquired the land, but its completely undeveloped nature indicates it did not pass through many private hands. It is a real jewel, and could easily have ended up looking exactly like Clearwater Beach had it been privately developed.

There is a nature trail that leads to the beach of the Gulf of Mexico, and Patty and I walked it but I forgot to bring my iPhone to take any pictures!  Baxter enjoyed a long walk off the boat as well!

We met several other boaters there, including Ed from a trailer sailboat club, and Duane and Diane, Gold Loopers from Punta Gorda on a 34 foot PDQ power catamaran, Diva Di, with whom we shared a very pleasant evening of conversation and adult beverages!

Tomorrow, we press on. We have tentatively identified where we plan to spend the night tomorrow night, but this is all kind of flexible and we may end up playing it by ear!