St. Petersburg to Cape Haze

Sunday, May 29

Time to leave the beautiful Vinoy Marina in St. Petersburg.  Our crew, Dave & Charlene Robson are ready for an adventure.  We slipped out of the marina around 7a.m. with a plan to reach Cape Haze by mid afternoon.  In the distance, we could see the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  On May 9, 1980, the bridge fell during a rain storm after it was hit by a large commercial vessel.  I found an interesting article about the accident by the St. Petersburg Times.  Read about the accident here.

Dolphins & doughnuts were added to the new bridge to keep ships away from supports

Cape Haze is about 80 miles from St. Petersburg.  It is a 30 mile long peninsula overlooking the Gulf of Mexico surrounded by several barrier islands.

Palm Island Marina on Cape Haze sent out three dockhands upon our arrival.  They were fabulous.  It is always great to have assistance when entering a marina with which we are unfamiliar.  The captain got us in safely.  Our crew were of great assistance as well.

After taking Piper for a quick walk ashore, we boarded the Rum Bay Water Taxi for a visit to Palm Island to see the beach.  Palm Island is a non-commercialized barrier island. It is a residential and vacation community.  There is a gift shop, restaurant and cafe located on this resort island.  Its official name is Knight Island but it has been called Palm Island since the development of Palm Island Estates in the 1960’s and with the development of the Palm Island Resort in the 1980’s.

Nesting baby Osprey

We found the beach to be beautiful and found shark’s teeth alone the water’s edge.  The homes are big and beautiful and quite a walk from the beach.  A quick visit to the Rum Bay Restaurant for some refreshing drinks before boarding the water taxi for our return.  We wanted nothing but to cool off in the pool.  

We finished the beautiful day with dinner at Leverock’s.  Our meal was delicious!  


Joy