Okeechobee Waterway Transit

[Tommy]

Gary,

You asked for a report on my Okeechobee transit, so here goes. We left Stuart (actually the Hinckley Yard at Port Salerno) on Thursday around 7:30 AM and we cleared the last high-rise to the Gulf of Mexico around 12:00 noon on Friday. I was running point on a 39' Sea Vee and the friend that I was helping ran his boss's 112' Westport drawing 5.5'. Other than a few areas of skinny water where the big boat had to idle along, we had no problems and no bottom-bumps (also, no logs or debris were spotted in the waterway). The shallow areas were: entering Lake Okeechobee after the Port Mayaca Lock; transiting the "rocky reef" narrows near the Clewiston entry; and some spots in the Caloosahatchee River near Ft. Meyers. I ran ahead checking the depths and hailing the locks so the 112' wouldn't have any surprises. The shallowest spots were around 6 feet. We got caught at the La Belle Bridge around 4:30, and it does not open between 4:00-6:00 on week days; so that held us up for 1.5 hours. When it opened at 6:00 we only had about 20 minutes of daylight, so we found a private dock near the Ft. Denaud bridge where we were allowed to tie up for the night (public facilities are scarce). When you make the trip, be sure you take time for a visit to Roland Martin's Marina at Clewiston and meet the dockmaster known as "Little Man".

As a bonus, I was able to visit with Bruce down in Riviera Beach before we headed out.

Hope your transit goes as well as ours did.

Tommy

[Bruce]

Glad you had a uneventful trip. Always nice to have a chase boat running point.

[amuh60]

That is a good report. We will be coming from Morehead City in a 53 Hat SF. Only problem is the complete date keeps getting pushed back. Thanks for the report. It is now looking like April before being complete.

-ANDY

[Tommy]

Glad to help; and I meant to post to you (Andy), not Gary. Give us a report after you make the transit.

TD

[amuh60]

WILCO!

Thanks Again for the post

[CTdave]

That is a good report. We will be coming from Morehead City in a 53 Hat SF. Only problem is the complete date keeps getting pushed back. Thanks for the report. It is now looking like April before being complete.
-ANDY

I just made the crossing on my 50 bertram/full tower & had only one problem that you should be aware of. I had a lovely 1 hour visit with the local wildlife boy scout after I jumped up on plane about 50' before the 5mph ended.
I was following another sporty who did the same & I didn't notice the 5mph zone marker until it was too late. The "speeding" ticket was a few hundred $$

[Kevin]

"local wildlife boyscout" That is a good one, never heard that one before believe it or not. Next time I see one of those guys I am going to test it out on them.

[CaptPatrick]

I jumped up on plane about 50' before the 5mph ended

Wow! A B50 from idle to on the step in 50'? Incredible...

[Tommy]

CT,

There were a bunch of the fish & wildlife guys patroling within a few miles of Toland Martin's Marina near Clewiston, but other than there we didn't run into any of them. Were you transiting on a weekend?

Tommy

[CTdave]

CT,

There were a bunch of the fish & wildlife guys patroling within a few miles of Toland Martin's Marina near Clewiston, but other than there we didn't run into any of them. Were you transiting on a weekend?
Tommy

It was on a Friday afternoon. We were a bit West of Roland's.

[CTdave]

Wow! A B50 from idle to on the step in 50'? Incredible...

Sorry I wasn't exactly clear. We passed a semi populated area with a 5mph zone. We were past the last sign of anything man made for 100-150 yards with nothing else in sight when the first sporty jumped up on plane. I did the same & just as I leveled off I saw the ending of the 5mph.
I was just trying to make a point to watch the speed zones without getting into a big long story.