Boating in Florida

The Okeechobee Waterway goes from Fort Meyers (West side of FL) on the Caloosahatchee River to and through Lake Okeechobee (central FL) and then to and through the St Lucie Canal to the Inter coastal Waterway (ICW) at Stuart, FL (East side). The waterway is about 135 miles long and contains five lock and dams. John Dorso and I took a 44 foot Sea Ray on this waterway from Fisherman's Village in Punta Gorda to Riviera Beach. The trip took three days; at the conclusion of the trip the boat was to be loaded on a freighter destined for Australia. Two weeks prior to this trip we took a 44 foot sail boat from Hollywood (just North of Miami) to the same marina. That trip was 51 miles and it took 14 hours as we had to go under 25 bridges, all but one of these bridges had to be opened so we could pass. That boat is also going to Australia. This represents a dozen or so trips we have taken together, some of which went through the Florida Keys, the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the ICW on both sides of Florida, one to Mobil, Alabama and now this last one through the Okeechobee Waterway in South Central Florida. The boats have varied in value from about $40,000 to $1 million. The pictures are from Google Earth.

I should mention that inasmuch as one would think these as fun pleasure trips, which they can be, but rarely are, every trip has presented us with unique challenges. The most recent trip we encountered 15 to 20 mile headwinds for two days as we traveled at 15 knots which put us facing 30 plus mile winds for 10 hours a day in an open cabin. On two of these trips we lost both engines. In one case the boat slammed hard against a railroad bridge tressel due to a very strong tide and winds in the same direction and the second instance we were 100 miles West of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico just at sundown in 6 to 8 foot waves. We have lost our lights in the darkness of night. JD always has his tools and ingenuity to solve our problems and we have been towed just once, for about 50 yards when, to the surprise of the toe boat captain, we got the engines running and we were on our way. But, we have docked next to boats worth millions, famous boats owned by very rich and famous people and have seen unbelievable homes and their yards; homes that are as big as hotels along the ICW. Baby, this ain't Town Lake, in Frazee. Coupled with the 28 different rivers I have traveled in my own boat, it has been a great ride and I have learned a lot about winds, tides, rip tides, markers, shoals, wrecked boats, boating rules and the dangerous mystique of the high seas. It has been very interesting! JD has been a very challenging and excellent teacher!