The canal is quite unspoiled with a variety of wildlife. Some of the rocks remind me of Hawaii.
We hesitated just a bit before entering the Port Mayaca railroad bridge as this is the lowest lift bridge on the Okeechobee waterway with a bridge clearance of 49 ft. We had measured our bridge clearance when I went up the mast so I knew we should clear it easily. With the water level being so low, the clearance was more like 55 ft.
Entering the Port Mayaca lock. Both ends were open so it was just cruise through.
We cruised through the Port Mayaca lock as it was open both ways and entered the second largest freshwater lake in the entire country, Lake Okeechobee. We opted for the open water route, a 25 mile passage to Clewiston. The wind was pretty much directly ahead of us so we motored almost the entire way.
About 3 miles out we saw a wrecked boat, I don't know how long the boat has been there but it is on the charts.
Approaching Clewiston this is a concrete structure in the lake. We have no idea of its purpose.
The lake depth was minimal even for our boat and we crossed into Clewiston without any problems.
We passed through the open Clewiston Hurricane lock and stopped at Rowland Martins Marina for gas. It is a very nice marina but because of the low lake level it is suffering lack of business. The approach channel was less than 4 ft of water. The dogs enjoyed the walk and the attached store had a good variety of stuff. The walls were plastered with record bass and pictures of celebrities that had fished the lake from here.
Departing Clewiston, we headed up the channel. This channel was wide and deep compared to everything we had been through up to this point. Depths were 15ft or better most of the way.
This section of the waterway boasts more gators than you can count and they were not wrong.
We saw all kinds of wildlife on this stretch. Gators, various birds, manatee, turtles and even an otter.
Clewiston Lock
It was about there that the camera batteries died. It was getting late when we passed Moore Haven lock but we decided to press on and try to make LaBelle Fl. I figured we could make it by 8:30 which is about dark thirty. We motored on and crossed the drawbridge in LaBelle right at 8:30 and docked at the city marina just on the other side. Some people from Texas aboard the motor yacht "Bandit" helped us tie up and we all chatted for awhile. Most of the people we have met along the way have been great people and this group was no exception. The owner of "Bandit" was curious about the layout of Second Chance so I gave him a tour and he gave Beth and I a tour of his boat. A 45 ft Hatteras with twin cat engines ( 2700 Hp ) and two 20kw generators. Wow, what a boat but I wouldn't want to pay the fuel bill. He carries almost 1500 gallons of fuel. I called Little Caesar's Pizza and talked them into delivering us a pizza so Beth and I had pizza and turned in for the night. What a great day, almost 80 miles covered, spectacular views, good weather, great people and pizza for dinner.
We have to be at the Franklin lock at 1pm for the scheduled opening, otherwise we wait till 7 pm and then on to Bob's dock. Bob, a fellow Gemini owner, has graciously offered his dock to us while his boat is being repaired. The dock is in Ft. Myers which is very close to Sanibel where my sister and family have a place. We will stay there for a while to regroup, resupply and decide where we go next.
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