Day 5
We woke to a foggy morning, released our lines and moved up to the Moore Haven lock which will raise us two feet to the level of Lake Okeechobee. We are traveling with two other Looper boats this morning.
A bit of history- The Okeechobee Waterway was opened in 1937 to allow commercial traffic to get between the East and West coasts without having to go through the Keys. Also a 1928 hurricane devastated the Lake Okeechobee area highlighting the need for flood control. The waterway provides both a canal for commercial traffic as well as a series of lock and dams and canals to assist with flood control.
Back to our trip. The first 12 miles we travel East Southeast around the rim of the lake to the channel at the entrance of the lake near the town of Clewiston. We enjoyed listening to all the bird songs and watched a beautiful foggy sunrise.
The rim route has a earthen mound from dredging on the mainland side built for flood control and on the lake side there are tall grasses, mud flats and cypress trees. There are also lots of herons and birds and we counted at least 40 alligators along the way.
As the sun rose, the fog lifted to reveal a beautiful sunny day.
At the town of Clewiston, we entered the channel that takes us our into the lake proper.
Lake Okeechobee is a 30 mile by 30 mile slightly squashed circle. It is quite shallow so we had to stay in the 25 mile navigation channel route across the lake. Below is a chart of Lake Okeechobee.
We had light winds from the Northeast and a slight chop as we crossed. A very pleasant trip!!
We found a cormorant condo along the way!!
After three hours on the lake, we approached Port Mayaca Lock on the east side of the lake, where we will lock through and continue East Northeast in the man-made canal that connects us to the St Lucie River.
As we approached Port Mayaca Lock we got good news from the lockmaster, The water level of the lake and the canal are the same, so we could pass through the lock without having to change water levels. Saved us a half hour of locking. Yeah!
Once in the channel, we pass under a railroad bridge and enter the second canal section of the waterway.
Continuing east we traveled another 10 miles to Indiantown, a small farming community, and we came to a halt as the railroad bridge was down waiting for a train to pass. After a 30 minute wait an Amtrak train barreled through and the bridge swung open allowing us to proceed,
Two hours later we locked through the St Lucie Lock, our last one in the waterway. As we cruised up to the lock it was already open with two boats inside and the Lock Master called us in. It's like the lock stayed open and waiting for us!
Now we are traveling in the St Lucie River, moving towards the city of Stuart, "The Sailfish Capitol of the World". We will moor here for the next two nights.
Day 6. Lay day in Stuart. March 28
Spent the morning sleeping in and tackling a few chores before meeting our college friend Al who lives in the area. Al volunteered to chauffeur us around Stuart as we went on a provisioning run. Bill needed to get to a marine supply store and a hardware store. I wanted to stock up on some fresh vegetables and fruit., so for me it was the grocery store.
At the marine supply store, Bill was like a kid in a candy store looking at all the used items for sale. He made me take a picture of the old outboard engines all lined up in front of the store, He even convinced Al to join him.
Finishing with our chores, we enjoyed lunch with Al. Was good to catch up with old friends.
We spent the rest of the afternoon putting away provisions and researching the next phase of our trip - staging in Lake Worth to leave for the Bahamas. Bill is anxious to get us there. At present the weather conditions look like we will have a window Monday or Tuesday to cross..
