Homeward across Florida

Our first stop in the USA was at Loggerhead Marina in Stuart.  We stayed here on our way to the Bahamas, so we knew the approach, and they had reasonably priced fuel- which we needed.  Of course, wind follows us where ever we go! WHY!?  By the time we got to the marina, it was really blowing.  Getting to the fuel dock was easy.  With the right maneuvers by the captain, the wind blew us right onto the dock.  Getting off the dock when the wind is blowing on your side keeping you pressed on the dock, was another challenge!  Finally off the fuel dock, and then the slip they wanted us in was easiest to just pull straight into the wind, bow first. I’m always OK with whatever is easiest for the captain.  This would have been a nightmare to try to get the stern in first.  The finger piers were short… so here is how we sat in the slip.  The stern of the boat tied off to pilings.  Lots of gunwale walking to get on and off the boat for a few days!

We planned to stay here for a few days – there was a whole day of rain and storms coming on Sunday.  There was 3 full days between here and home, and we didn’t want to get stuck in this storm anywhere along the way if we could avoid it! (This is what Sunday looked like.)

The little downtown of Stuart was across the river, so we Ubered over.  It was a cute little town, with a river boardwalk.  Several restaurants and shops.

Of course the fountain water stopped right when I was ready to take the picture.

On Monday, we left Stuart and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW), and headed up the St Lucie River toward Lake Okeechobee.  This is part of the Okeechobee Waterway (OWW), which crosses Florida.  These signs were where we went under the bridge for the Florida Turnpike freeway.  It is 145 miles to Ft Myers – where the OWW officially starts and meets the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW).

According to the Army Corp of Engineers, who manages the lake and waterway, the Lake Okeechobee water level was under 12 feet.  This meant that the shallowest part of the waterway would be under 6′.  In years past, when the lake level fell below 12′, the locks would only operate on a schedule.  But this year, they are still running the locks on demand, as they believe the scheduled openings really didn’t preserve water levels like they had hoped.  We were happy to hear that.  It would make getting across a lot easier if we wouldn’t have to wait and time the locks.  Our first lock going west is the big one – about a 12′ lift at the St Lucie lock.

We did see a couple of gators along the banks on our way up to the lake.  The river level was noticeably lower than 2 months ago.

This is the 2nd lock going west.  It is the Port Mayaca lock, right at the edge of the lake.  It was not “locking” but stayed open for passage when we came through in early March.  It was still open for passage into the lake.

Here is what the lake looked like!  What a great day to cross the 26 miles!

As we neared the southwestern edge of the lake, we needed to make sure we followed the channel!  Going across the lake, the depths were 10-12 feet.  But this channel is where we found the shallowest water – about 6′.  Good thing there were markers – this didn’t look like a place where boats other than airboats should be!

On the west side of the lake, from Clewiston to Moore Have, is a canal for the Okeechobee Waterway.  The water level was definitely down.  We didn’t see shore before.  I thought these trees were cool.

And we saw lots of gators!

At one point, we had to move out of the middle of the channel to make way for a larger boat.  Apparently this big gator was disturbed by us getting too close!

The next lock was between this channel along the lake and where the waterway turns west to make it’s way down to Ft. Myers.  This lock was only about a 1′ drop, and we made it there in time to transit.  Just on the other side is the little town of Moore Haven.  It is tiny.  I think there must be something to it somewhere, but all we saw was what was right at the city dock.  I walked around a bit, and there was a library, city hall, and a playground.  No restaurants or gas stations or bars or churches.

There were a few boats there already, and we enjoyed docktails with them, sharing stories of where we’d all been and where we were all going.

I had to get a picture of this little tug boat, John William.  That is my dad’s name!

As we left Moore Haven in the morning, it was as calm as could be.  How can that happen?  The wind must have lost track of us!

The scenery was a little more domestic along this waterway.

And some wild life.  A nice bald eagle watching us go by.

The waterway is really yucky looking water.  This is the Okeechobee water flowing down and becoming the Caloosahatchee River – like boating through coffee!

The next lock was the Ortana lock – about an 8′ drop.  While we were locking through, the boat got covered with ash.  There were fields being burned nearby, so ash was falling everywhere.  The boat was still wet from the morning dew, so the ash stuck to everything!

Ahhh – at one point I smelled orange blossoms!  Yep – orange groves!

We stayed the night at Ft Myers Yacht Basin – same place where we started almost 2 months ago!  We headed out from there, and up the Gulf Intracoastal toward Sarasota.  Once out of the Caloosahatchee river, the water cleared up to a beautiful color again.   YAY!

We were pleasantly surprised to see Stump Pass being dredged.  Amazing the things that change in two months!  This pass is a place where we like to go, but it has been shoaling up and not passable for boats our size.  This will be great!

We saw lots of Osprey.  They really like to build nests on the channel markers.  Several nests had youngins.

Back in familiar waters!  This is Pop’s Sunset Grill in Nokomis – where our daughter will have her after-beach-wedding gathering in just a few weeks!  (The reason we came home 🙂

We got home without any major issues.  At one point we thought we might have had a rope wrapped around the prop shaft or something.  So captain-Kenny turned diver-Kenny went down to check it out.  Part of boating in Florida!

We had a fabulous trip.  No major mechanical or physical injuries or issues.  Kind of sad to be back, but oh so thankful for such an opportunity to live this dream!  We met some wonderful people, and made some great new friendships!  We are really grateful for the AGLCA.  Flying that burgee on the front of our boat is like an instant magnet for meeting some of the nicest people on the waterways!

This sums it up!

Stay tuned – who knows where our next blog episodes will take us!