Across the Okeechobee Waterway

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 The Okeechobee Waterway consists of two rivers, two canals with five locks, and one very large lake in the middle.

Last Sunday we left the lovely town of Ft Myers Beach to head across the center of Florida on the Waterway.  Ed Occhino gave us a great send-off, waving and blowing a horn as we passed under the Matanzas Causeway Bridge.  We continued on to the Caloosahatchee River past Ft. Myers and through the first lock that raises the boat toward the level of the lake.  These locks are different from the NY Canal system locks.  The doors open about two feet and the water pours through with a good bit of turbulence.  In the NY locks, the water is sent into some underground pipes that distribute the water through the length of the lock more evenly, with less turbulence and a higher speed. 

Ft Myers highrise

One of the locks - note the water coming in the partially open gate

After the first lock we stayed the night at Rialto Harbor Marina.  This has to be the most beautiful and unique marina we have visited.  It is like a old Florida horse farm, complete with barns, horses, chickens, goats, birds and carriage house.  The pool and bath house are surrounded by beautiful gardens, a waterfall and the buildings are all lovely architecture.  The 12 acre property is landscaped with all sorts of tropical trees, vines and flowers.  Each dock has its own sitting area, and the owner came to build us a wood fire in the grill.  His wife brought us fresh flowers, and a newspaper in the morning.  We would gladly spend more time there.  It is a destination all by itself.

Pictures from Rialto Harbor Marina:

Our personal sitting area - with wood fired grill - YUM!

The owner's home

The porch of a guest cottage with a HUGE ship's wheel

Lots of little gems around the property

Tropical Plants

Landscape Touches

Carriage Horses

Chinese chickens with spectacular feathers ...

... and feathered feet

more tropical plantings vines and flowers

Bougainvilla

Antique carriage on the porch

GoodTidings at the dock

waterfall near the pool

Carriage House

Wild Bird (?)

Training the competition carriage horses

True High Stepping Horse

The next day took us along the river and through two more locks that lifted us up to the level of Lake Okeechobee.  We stayed the night in Clewiston next to an outdoor restaurant where we had some good burgers.  We decided not to have the alligator tail sandwiches...  I kept looking for an alligator, but no luck.  My guess is that it was too cool for them to be out sunning.

Herd of cattle

Orange groves

In the morning we crossed the 25 miles to the east side of the lake ahead of a front.  The water was building as we arrived at the lock, but the opened the doors on both ends and we were sent straight through.  Later that day, after travelling through the St. Lucie Canal, we stayed in a marina that is really designed as a hurricane hole.  They are set up for dry storage with bolts set in the concrete for tying the boats down in a storm.  Many large boats spend the summer in their sheds and large lots while their owners are up north.

Ibis in the trees - there were thousands of birds along the edge of the lake

Jeff at the marina

Our last day took us through one more lock that lowered us almost 15 feet to the St. Lucie River.  It is lovely meandering waterway that joins the bays and inlets at Stuart Florida where we crossed our wake and turned north on the ICW.  We continued until we were met on the water by Dick Myers, who led us in to his canal and we docked in front of their lovely home for a few days.  We left yesterday afternoon to make sure we had high water, and took a mooring ball in Vero Beach Municipal Marina.