A "touch of class". A sign on pole as we leave Harborage Yacht Club. (try double clicking the pics to see better)
Pool at Harborage YC
Leaving our slip among the "big guys"behind. Heading west on the St Licie river we are on the first leg of the "Okeechobee Waterway". This waterway connects the Atlantic ocean to the Gulf on Florida's west coast.
St Lucie (south fork) River as we leave Stuart on way to Lake Okeechobee goes thru rural farmland; and yes, here's your chance to "wake" a cow if you so desire!........Yeh...we did too... but not these guys.
The limit of height on traversing the waterway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico is this 49 foot railroad lift bridge. The indians from IndianTown will tilt your sailboat over using 50 gallon drums filled with water on one side of the boat for a fee. This is known as doing the "Okeechobee Limbo"! This pic was not taken by us but I lifted it from the net as I thought it is interesting. Obviously we fit under the bridge easily.
Since the lake is above "sea level" you must always lock "up" when going toward Okeechobee from east or west. Look at the water comming thru the doors!
JoAnn holding the aft line to the lock wall with Doug on the bow. (note the wireing exposed in the corner of the Saloon as Doug was doing some repaire work for me!)
Friend Doug Smith holding the boat to the wall as the current tries to push us away. Okeechobee locks are a century old and the technology is not modern. They raise the water in the lock by slightly opening the doors! Pic taken by our daughter Robin from lower helm. JoAnn is in back in the cockpit also holding a line.
We're heading west out toward the middle of the lake out of sight of all land. Hard to see where sea and sky meet. (just under the clouds)
I zoomed the GPS out to show our route from Stuart to the middle of Okeechobee.
Marker in the middle of lake. I guess we aimed right.
Doug polishing the radar arch while we approach Clewiston, "the sweetest town in the USA" according to them. The main crop in the area is sugar cane.
As we approach Roland Martin Marina we have the whole dock to ourselves since all boat trafic is being held up by a broken lock on the Caloosahattche River. this will hold us up and delay our leaving Clewiston. Roland Martin gave us a special rate considering our predicument and since we were the only boat there.
Bar and resturant at the Marina.
Our crew disembarking as Doug and I tie the "Great Escape" to the dock. We all had "Boat Head", a condition from prolonged rocking due to waves on a boat. You continue to walk like you're drunk for a while when on land even though you have adapted to the waves and walk normally on board.
The crew from the left in back is our daughter Robin, grandson Jon, Donna and Doug Smith ( friends and dock neighbors at Port Charles Harbor back home) and JoAnn, and I in frount. The food was great and the music was also.
This is "Gloria". Who would name a car?? Well Mary Martin, Now owner of Roland Martin Marina bought Gloria Vanderbuilt's car in an auction and now its their loaner for boaters. We used Gloria to go to a store in town.
The iguanas, which are not indigenous to Florida are everywhere. They were originally pets turned loose. They are huge and have no predators. Look like something from a 1950's scl-fi film.
Great Escape all alone at the dock at Roland Martin Marina. When we've stayed here before the place was so jammed with boats that there was less than 2 feet between them! This time of year (Sept). all boats are going east except us and they are all stuck in Ft.Myers Fla. We flew home until the lock was repaired. JoAnn was on a first name basis with the lockmaster "Joe". Joe actually called us one day and said come down the lock will be open tomorrow. We immediatly flew down and picked up the boat, locked thru and then the lock broke down again!!! Next blog will be on to Ft Myers and Captiva Island witha new set of rriends joining us.
A "touch of class". A sign on pole as we leave Harborage Yacht Club. (try double clicking the pics to see better)
Pool at Harborage YC
Leaving our slip among the "big guys"behind. Heading west on the St Licie river we are on the first leg of the "Okeechobee Waterway". This waterway connects the Atlantic ocean to the Gulf on Florida's west coast.
St Lucie (south fork) River as we leave Stuart on way to Lake Okeechobee goes thru rural farmland; and yes, here's your chance to "wake" a cow if you so desire!........Yeh...we did too... but not these guys.
The limit of height on traversing the waterway from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico is this 49 foot railroad lift bridge. The indians from IndianTown will tilt your sailboat over using 50 gallon drums filled with water on one side of the boat for a fee. This is known as doing the "Okeechobee Limbo"! This pic was not taken by us but I lifted it from the net as I thought it is interesting. Obviously we fit under the bridge easily.
JoAnn holding the aft line to the lock wall with Doug on the bow. (note the wireing exposed in the corner of the Saloon as Doug was doing some repaire work for me!)
Friend Doug Smith holding the boat to the wall as the current tries to push us away. Okeechobee locks are a century old and the technology is not modern. They raise the water in the lock by slightly opening the doors! Pic taken by our daughter Robin from lower helm. JoAnn is in back in the cockpit also holding a line.
We're heading west out toward the middle of the lake out of sight of all land. Hard to see where sea and sky meet. (just under the clouds)
I zoomed the GPS out to show our route from Stuart to the middle of Okeechobee.
Marker in the middle of lake. I guess we aimed right.
Doug polishing the radar arch while we approach Clewiston, "the sweetest town in the USA" according to them. The main crop in the area is sugar cane.
As we approach Roland Martin Marina we have the whole dock to ourselves since all boat trafic is being held up by a broken lock on the Caloosahattche River. this will hold us up and delay our leaving Clewiston. Roland Martin gave us a special rate considering our predicument and since we were the only boat there.
Bar and resturant at the Marina.
Our crew disembarking as Doug and I tie the "Great Escape" to the dock. We all had "Boat Head", a condition from prolonged rocking due to waves on a boat. You continue to walk like you're drunk for a while when on land even though you have adapted to the waves and walk normally on board.
The crew from the left in back is our daughter Robin, grandson Jon, Donna and Doug Smith ( friends and dock neighbors at Port Charles Harbor back home) and JoAnn, and I in frount. The food was great and the music was also. 
This is "Gloria". Who would name a car?? Well Mary Martin, Now owner of Roland Martin Marina bought Gloria Vanderbuilt's car in an auction and now its their loaner for boaters. We used Gloria to go to a store in town.
The iguanas, which are not indigenous to Florida are everywhere. They were originally pets turned loose. They are huge and have no predators. Look like something from a 1950's scl-fi film.
Great Escape all alone at the dock at Roland Martin Marina. When we've stayed here before the place was so jammed with boats that there was less than 2 feet between them! This time of year (Sept). all boats are going east except us and they are all stuck in Ft.Myers Fla. We flew home until the lock was repaired. JoAnn was on a first name basis with the lockmaster "Joe". Joe actually called us one day and said come down the lock will be open tomorrow. We immediatly flew down and picked up the boat, locked thru and then the lock broke down again!!! Next blog will be on to Ft Myers and Captiva Island witha new set of rriends joining us.
