Cruising From Clearwater to Sarasota…and sites along the way.

When we started this Great Loop adventure, we knew we wanted to take it slow, especially in the beginning. So for our first month on board we have not traveled very far. Which is fine for us! We like taking our time to really see places. After our big crossing from Carrabelle, we spent a week in Clearwater Beach. Then we stayed in Gulfport for another week. Anchored out for a couple days and spent 5 nights in St Petersburg. We then went back to Clearwater and stayed at the Harbor Marina for almost two weeks, during which time we left the boat there while we traveled to Pittsburgh, PA for Christmas. When we returned to Clearwater after Christmas, we celebrated New Year’s Eve and finally began cruising south again on New Year’s Day. We’ve been traveling almost everyday since and have seen some amazing sites, so I thought I’d write a summary of our cruising from Clearwater to Sarasota and the sites we’ve seen along the way.

Leaving Clearwater…or not?

We planned to start the new year and leave Clearwater Harbor Marina Sunday morning, January 1, but the weather had other plans. Some dense fog rolled in making visibility almost impossible, so we stayed put for a couple hours. Flexibility is key when making cruising plans. We then tried leaving when the fog seemed to be lifting only to turn around and go back to the dock again, as we could not see anything! We were so turned around and disoriented from the fog and could not tell what direction we were going…really not a good thing when trying to navigate a big boat.

The Fog Lifted!

Finally, about 2:30 pm the fog lifted enough for us to leave Clearwater and cruise safely down to the anchorage at St Pete Beach. This is the same one we’ve been to before and is still a great place to drop anchor, but it was a short overnight anchorage this time. However, we did have a fellow looper, Matt on Sea Bear, paddleboard over in the evening for a glass of wine and some dinner. Loopers and boaters are the best people!

Cruising across Tampa Bay to our second anchorage

It was still a bit foggy the next morning, but much better so we began cruising south toward Tampa Bay. It’s a big crossing and can be rough in the wrong conditions or with commercial traffic; but we had nice weather, even with the little bit of fog, no big barges and not many boats. It was a smooth ride across the bay. The Sunshine Skyway bridge, connecting St Petersburg with Bradenton and Sarasota, is a spectacular site in clear weather. But our view was obscured a bit by the fog…however, it did make for some cool pictures.

Made it to the Bayshore Gardens anchorage.

There was very little traffic across the bay, but once back on the ICW, it got busy again. We arrived at the north end of Sarasota Bay in the afternoon and had this nice, open, quiet anchorage all to ourselves. (Bayshore Gardens Anchorage on Navionics). We took the dingy for a ride, hoping to find a place to bring Moose. It was all residential with nothing but houses and it wasn’t looking good for Moose…till we lucked out and found a little beach on a mangrove island which turned out to be perfect for taking care of business.

We are starting to really enjoy anchoring. The peace and quiet of being alone on the water and the usually gentle lapping of the water on the hull is soothing and somewhat musical. And the sunsets and sunrises can not be beat. However, having to take the dingy out for Moose 2-3 times a day can get old. But he’s family and part of the experience, so on to the dingy we go. Besides, we get to see some pretty areas up close and riding on the dingy is fun as well.

Cruising to Sarasota!

We pulled anchor in the morning and headed down the bay to Marina Jack marina in downtown Sarasota. It was a short cruise and we were at the dock and tied up before noon. Eric is getting so much smoother and better at docking. He’s feeling the boat like a pro!

Marina Jack was definitely the fanciest marina we’ve been in. Of course, the cost reflected that, but we needed to be in a marina to finish up the polishing work that began in St Petersburg. The marina definitely caters to the higher end crowd and there are some beautiful and very large boats parked right next to us. When compared to these big yachts, we look so small!

Downtown Sarasota

Since we were here for 3 days, and the marina being so close, we walked around town a bit and took in some sites of Sarasota. The downtown is filled with restaurants, art galleries and shops…much more high-end and not the touristy shops like other coastal towns. Plus it’s just a pretty downtown with trees and art-sculptures dotting the landscape. We even found a French Bakery & Bistro with the same name as our boat, C’est La Vie. Yes, we did visit and picked up some very good croissants and palmier. Yum!

The waterfront park faces the marina and is a great place to walk or sit and watch the boats come and go while enjoying a croissant. Although we did not have time to visit, the Ringling art and circus museum is just a couple miles from the marina and there is a theater within walking distance as well. For even more ideas on things to see and do in Sarasota, visit the ‘official’ visitors site.

Back to the ICW…

We left Sarasota on Friday, Jan 6 and headed back down the ICW, making our way toward Naples, Marco Island, the Everglades and eventually Marathon Key. But those will have to wait for my next post. This one is long enough…;)

Traveling from Clearwater to Sarasota was not a long journey, 58 miles total cruising, but we had plenty to see and enjoy along the way. I hope you enjoyed following along with us as well.

Next post…Naples, Marco and beyond…Be sure to sign up and you will get an email when I post new content so you won’t miss the next chapter.

Thanks for reading, commenting and sharing. As always, keep making your someday, today!

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