Finally, the East Coast!!



He brought our morning coffee & newspaper!

We got underway early on June 18 in order to get thru the Moore Haven Lock before the big boat left at 0730.  As we were "Making all necessary preparations for getting underway" (as the bosun's mate on the Navy ships say), we saw several alligators swim very close to the boat.  They were our alarm clock. 

Lake Okeechobee collects run-off from central Florida & the water is used for many purposes.  Lake levels fluctuate between 11-14' above sea level.  There are locks on both sides of the lake, controlling the water flow into the Atlantic and into the Gulf of Mexico.  All the locks on the OWW have small lifts/drops - from 1-1/2' to 13'.  All of them change their water level by slightly opening the upstream lock doors to let the water pour in.  This is much simpler than the locks on the Tennessee River, but the process creates quite a bit of turbulence inside the lock.  We got caught exiting one lock when tried to depart before all the turbulence settled.  The Admiral started getting quite excited!

Locking thru with the "big boat".  He had "cheaters" -
bow & stern thrusters.

As we traveled the canal leading to the Lake, we saw typical swamp creatures - lots of alligators, herons, egrets, ospreys, etc.  Kinda like living back in our house in the swamp outside New Orleans.  Lake O. itself was wide and shallow (8-12' deep).  We were careful about the weather (we had read so much about how the Lake would get rough quickly because of the shallow depth), and enjoyed a SE breeze at 10 mph.  By the time we got to the last lock, the 101' Hargrave had caught up to us, so we locked thru with them.

The "big boat" passing by

The "little boat" getting passed "on the two whistle"

Entering the St Lucie River, we saw depths of only 6' (our boat draws 4.5'), since we were at low tide.  The big boat ahead of us was skimming the bottom as they went thru.  By the time we came to the bay around Stuart FL, the afternoon on-shore winds had kicked up to 15-20 mph, so we started taking salt spray all over the boat again (welcome back to the salt water).  We found Manatee Pocket on the east side of Stuart & followed the well-marked channel to Stuart Yacht Sales, a sponsor of America's Great Loop Cruiser's Association who was offering a FREE DOCK to Loopers passing through.

FINALLY!  We made it to the east coast! We secured the boat for the night & tried to cool down.  After traveling 80 miles, locking through 3 locks, in 95F temperatures, we were hot & tired.  Later that night, we had visitors in the form of Sue's nephew & family, who lived about 60 miles north of Stuart.  They brought their son to spend the night aboard & travel with us the next day back to the area they lived in.  He is an avid fisherman, and stayed up half the night fishing from the boat.