Clearwater, FL to Manatee River, FL July 13

We got underway from the Clearwater Municipal Marina in Clearwater Beach about 0745, and headed along the causeway toward downtown Clearwater and the ICW.  It was a beautiful morning with just a few clouds around the horizon, quite a difference from the forecasted torrential morning rains.  We turned into the ICW, and made good progress, clearing many bridges.  One or two we asked to open, but then we lowered the SSB antenna and discovered we could just sneak under most of the others.  Therefore, we didn’t have to wait for the scheduled openings that many of the bridges enforce.  A pleasant surprise at Bridge C was the discovery that it has been replaced by a new, fixed high bridge.  In fact, we had to wander between the barges that were engaged in removing the old bridge.   

At 1115 we turned out of the ICW to take the Tampa Bay alternate route at the Maximo Point Bridge, and ran alongside the Tampa Bay Sunshine Skyway Bridge across Tampa Bay.  This bridge has a remarkable history, somewhat tragic, but was rebuilt about 1980 after a cargo ship rammed its predecessor and dropped it into the bay, killing a number of people in vehicles on the bridge.  At about 1230 we reached the Manatee River entrance buoy, and proceeded to take a short tour upriver to Bradenton, FL before returning to anchor off DeSoto point.  We are adjacent to the DeSoto National Memorial Park, with a monument to the Spanish explorer who landed here in 1539 and later ventured on to discover the Mississippi River.  There is also a large concrete cross commemorating the location of the first Catholic mass celebrated on these shores.  We had a number of intermittent showers, once again reinforcing our doubt about the appellation “Sunshine State”, but afterwards we were treated to a reminder of God’s majesty--a beautiful rainbow spanning almost horizon to horizon.