Short cut for Florida boaters Closed

[BandB]

I've done the rim canal in the dark, never again. The dolphins outside Moore Haven aren't the best to tie between.

I'd consider Roland and Martin in Clewiston. Fun, people watching from the tiki bar. As bar food goes, I'd give it an 8 out of 10. Forget the dolphins outside Clewiston, unless you like billions of flying insects.

Ted

Wifey B: And I have the most critically important question of the year,

Why are they called dolphins? I think of dolphins as beautiful creatures in the water and not nice to tie to and might just swim off with your boat. I knot the structures are dolphins but now most curious as to where that term came from.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. OC. Roland Martin is a legendary bass fisherman.

Home | Fishing With Roland Martin

Rowan and Martin were hosts of TV's Laugh In..

 

[O C Diver]

Greetings,
Mr. OC. Roland Martin is a legendary bass fisherman.

Home | Fishing With Roland Martin

Rowan and Martin were hosts of TV's Laugh In..

I believe the full name is Roland and Mary Ann Martin's marina and resort.

Lake Okeechobee Fishing | Roland Martin Marina

Ted

 

[O C Diver]

Wifey B: And I have the most critically important question of the year,

Why are they called dolphins? I think of dolphins as beautiful creatures in the water and not nice to tie to and might just swim off with your boat. I knot the structures are dolphins but now most curious as to where that term came from.

All I know is that they call it dolphins on porpoise.

Ted

 

[BandB]

All I know is that they call it dolphins on porpoise.

Ted

Wifey B: Well, I give your answer an A++++++

 

[High Wire]

The MH lock lake side dolphins were full up last night so we just anchored in front of the hurricane dam barrier. No wind to speak of but about 100 yard or less vis fog after dark. That didn’t burn off until 0930 or Ortona Lock. Clouds of mosquitoes fortunately the non-biting kind everywhere.
0705 we were entering the lock to beat the same tug that caused yesterday’s issue.

 

[BandB]

The MH lock lake side dolphins were full up last night so we just anchored in front of the hurricane dam barrier. No wind to speak of but about 100 yard or less vis fog after dark. That didn’t burn off until 0930 or Ortona Lock. Clouds of mosquitoes fortunately the non-biting kind everywhere.
0705 we were entering the lock to beat the same tug that caused yesterday’s issue.

Wifey B: Non biting mosquitoes? Miracle.

 

[jleonard]

The tug Jane and barge locked thru Ortona at 10:30. We watched it go thru

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

This is interesting. Keep it going.

Any pictures?

 

[High Wire]

Sunset on the rim between Clewiston and Moore Haven. The delays at St Lucie Lock made us come to the MH lock in the very late twilight.
Oh yea. And as I was pulling up to everyone tied up to the dolphins my plotter (and depth finder) went into night mode so I could barely see the screen. To pull up the backlight control you need to briefly push the Power button. But I pushed it a little too long and shut the damn thing down trying to find a place to anchor! At least the fog held off a little while and no wind.

 

[Capecodder]

https://youtu.be/mDz8dmqKoM0

 

[DWJensen]

Completed our repositioning cruise yesterday. First time doing the cut across the state route rather than south and around...

Departed Satellite Beach Sunday morning (4/3) and made a short run to Vero for fuel, pump out, and a slip - Pretty smooth but windy in the afternoon. Monday found light winds in the AM which built throughout the day - Grabbed a mooring ball at Jensen Beach - rough night on the ball with SE winds all night.

Left Jensen Beach before sunrise headed for Stuart and the St. Lucie. Winds not bad, timed the Old Roosevelt bridge just right and made the 9:00 opening. Continued on but just missed the St Lucie lock so we had about an hour wait for them to cycle back to our side (good practice time for me maneuvering the boat around in the wind). Locking was smooth and easy - 13' or so rise. Crossed under the Mayaca Railroad bridge and noticed someone standing on it - Looked back and realized it was the train engineer checking for boats. After we passed he activated the bridge and lowered it, was pretty cool watching the process and seeing the train actually cross. Winds had picked up (Southerly) and we tied up (b&s) between two dolphins at the Mayaca lock for the night so we could get an early start and cross the lake before the winds built too much the next day.

Left the dolphins at 0645 and was the first boat in line for the 0700 opening onto the lake. No lift, just open gates. Winds were southerly and the lake had a pretty good chop but wasn't bad for the first couple of hours, it did get uncomfortable when we made the turn and then had the wind and waves on the beam - rolly rolly. Once we got into the rim canal at the Clewston lock it was glassy smooth all the way to Moore Haven
Locked through Moore Haven with no wait and saw a 4-5' drop. Continued on to the Ortona lock and had about a 30 minute wait there but it has plenty of room for maneuvering outside. Locking was uneventful and saw about a 1-2' drop. Continued on and grabbed a slip at the Labelle city docks for the night (free with water and electric - We had #3 which has 50amp svc so we even had A/C that night). Nice dock (med moor style) with a three day stay limit.

Forecast was for SW winds building to 20-30 knots the next day so we got an early start. Fairly dense fog early on, but it burned off not too long after we passed the swing bridge. Franklin lock had no wait and we went right in. Drop was another 4-5'. Our initial plan was to run to Cape Coral and anchor out but as the day went on the winds built and the NWS issued a SCA so we decided to find a sheltered slip instead. Ended up at Tarpon Point in Cape Coral - a really nice facility with tons of amenities (but a bit on the expensive side at $4/foot). Super nice people and the guys on the dock handled all the lines and electric too. Wish we could have stayed longer but we left about 30 mins before sunrise to catch slack tide at the Miserable Mile. Winds were about 20 out of the west but other than being a bit rolly, the mile was a piece of cake.

As the day went on the winds built and shifted further north (as forecast) it was a rough run up Pine Island Sound with spray coming over the bows and flybridge. Things settled down a bit as we got closer to Cabbage Key and Ueseppa as the barrier islands did their thing, but once we hit Charlotte Harbor it got rough and rolly again. We ended up zigzagging our way in to keep the wind and rollers off the beam as much as we could and slogged our way into Fishermen's Village for fuel and a pump out (this is close to home and we wanted to be on our dock with fuel tanks full and holding tank empty). Easy entry to the marina but the fuel dock is a bit tight if you're not the only boat in there. Diesel was a bit more than we paid at Vero, but we only took 88 gallons so not too bad. Then it was time to leave but the winds were really gusting and had us pinned hard against the dock. Took several tries and some thruster and prop walk work but I finally got her off the dock and was able to get turned and out to the cheers of the dock walkers and restaurant patrons. Winds had increased even more and I'd say were now over 20 sustained with some big gusts. We made our way back out of the Peace River and up the Myakka to our home lock and protected waters (SGC) and were on our dock at 4:30. Another long and tiring day but we made it.

Total trip took six days (the actual coast to coast portion was three) at 7kts average. When we cross again we'll take our time and explore some of the areas (and wait for better conditions) but this was a repositioning cruise and the goal was to get home quickly.

 

[Steve1.0]

The trip across the Okeechobee waterway is always subject to delays.
Any one of the 4 railroad bridges are usual culprits.

Once in 2020 the Pt. Myaka lock took a lightning strike. They said it may be down for a few days. Fortunately it was only 4hrs.
This unfortunate guy lost his steering IN the Moore Haven lock. Took him 45 minutes to get out.
Bent a prop on an alligator once. That turned into a 2 day trip.
Just goes to show, stuff will break at the most exciting time possible.