On our way home.
Monday, April 13, It is time to head home. The Corona virus has hit the world like a storm and we have been quarantined as best as possible and as required by our travels for a long time and it is just time to be home to see this storm out. We hope that you and your family are all safe and healthy. It seems that we have quite a time to get through still.
We left the Sea Dweller dock at 6:45 AM with a slight breeze and current. All good! We have a long day to get as far as we can and into the lake before hunkering down. One of our biggest dreads on this trip is to traverse Lake Okeechobee from the west coast to the east coast of Florida from Ft Myers to Stuart. We know the lake levels have dropped a bit from even a week ago as in normal this time of year but we made a go at it. The navigational depth for yesterday and today was posted at 5'41". We draw 4'7" and our sounder is calibrated to read water below our keel. There are 5 locks and a kazillion bridges and RR bridges that need to open for us. We are a bit rusty in our locking technique as we don't do it often and have not been looking forward to this day.
We had a beautiful sunrise on the Caloosahatchie River going towards the lake. But then, it was in our eyes for hours!
To our surprise, the locks were easier than what we expected.
The Franklin (or maybe it is the Ortona Lock?) after going through. The lake levels are adjusted by rainfall which falls into the surrounding farm lands which runs off into the lake and rivers and so on...
The 10 mile Rim route from Moore Haven to Clewiston was the worst part of the trip. We did slightly bump something hard about 500’ west of where there is warning on Active Captain. With the rock ledges and warnings of boaters hitting hard and having major prop damage doubled with newer, bigger and faster boats than us with no respect for others which had us almost on a rock ledge, we almost turned around to go back to Ft Myers especially after one of those newer, bigger and faster guys came back and said the lake was a no go for them. They draw 4- 4 1/2.
Being too tired to start the track back and looking at the dolphins to tie up to in a 20 mph wind with rock ledges close by did not sound good either and Roland Martin marina is not accepting transients. We decided to go back to plan A and agreed to reevaluate in the morning.
We entered the channel into the lake and our plan was to get past the rocks and sand bars and find a clear spot to spend the night.
We had 1.4’ As our lowest spot between reds 8 and 6 and mostly had 3’ +-. We moved out about 7 1/2 miles and moved far enough out of the channel in approx 8’ of water to anchor for the night. After confirming we were secure followed by more water, an Advil, a bottle of Gatorade and a beer (or vodka on ice) we felt better and knew we could go on!
With 3’ of water under us and the wind and small waves were not opposing so it made for a gentle rocking and a great night with a beautiful sunset, stars and sunrise.
This morning, we had great depths up to 6‘+ all the way to Port Mayaca Lock seeing 2'2" at one point close to the lock but mostly around 3’. We had no trouble at the other locks. Thank God!
And a beautiful sunrise!
The locks are fairly small in size.
One of the several swing bridges in the area.
A RR lift bridge. It only raises to 47' which is too low for many sailboats. There is a guy here that charges sailors $200 to tip their boat as they go under the lift bridge.
Leaving the St Lucie Lock! Hallelujah!
It is done!
We had hoped to stop in Stuart and visit with my sister and brother in law on the way back but with trying to keep up with not getting exposed, we opted to not stop. They are both in the medical field and it is hard enough for them right now. We are currently anchored about 10 miles from their home and we can't see them for now. 😞
Here we are again with the 3 bridges in Stuart! We had to hover for about 30 minutes while the train came by and then to have the 2 lower bridges raise for us. The wind and the current were fierce but we got to our anchorage about 10 miles further and sad that we can't be with our family so close by.
Our plan is to work our way north as fast as we can and not stop at any marinas on the way up. We have enough fuel and we will conserve our water to get us through. It is time to be home.
Sunset tonight with storms on the horizon.
See you guys soon!
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