April 26-27, 2017
Monday, we said goodbye to Fort Myers and continued on the Okeechobee Waterway to Clewiston, which is at the rim of Lake Okeechobee. Our travels took us through three locks, W.P. Franklin Lock (rise – 2 feet), Ortona Lock (rise 8 feet), and Moore Haven Lock (usually 1 to 2 feet rise – today, six inches). For these locks, you enter the lock chamber, pick-up lines that are hanging down the chamber wall, and hold your boat to the side of the chamber with their lines.
We stayed at Roland & Mary Ann Martin Marina behind the Clewiston Lock and Hurricane Gate, which is at the mouth of Lake Okeechobee. Crossing the lake we had light chop and a maximum depth of 7 feet. Coming out of the Lake, Port Mayaca Lock was open and we did not have to lock through, however, we did have to wait for a train at Port Mayaca Railroad Lift Bridge. At St. Lucie Lock we shared the lock with M/V Paint by Number, this time we were being lowered (12 feet) and instead of the lines being on the wall, the lock master threw us the lines.
Along the way, we saw numerous upscale houses, farm and cattle land, alligator alley and a wide variety of birds. From Moore Haven Lock and Dam to Clewiston we saw between forty to fifty alligators. Most in the water with only their head sticking out.
Note: The Okeechobee Waterway is a relatively shallow man-made waterway in the United States, stretching across Florida from Fort Myers, on the Caloosahatchee River, to Stuart, on the St. Lucie River. The two rivers are connected by Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater lake in the continental United States. Geologically, the north bank of the waterway is the official southern limit of the Eastern Continental Divide.
