Cruise from Palm Beach to P.C., Fl in 4 days

HUGE TURTLES:

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Steinhatchee Marina:

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Cape San Blas:

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Train on Beach? (No)

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Not our Best Side, but:

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Our Boat at Home, with Friends - Overlooking the barrier island called "Shell Island," as the sun sets, on "Shell's Island" with our neighbors and good friends:

Our neighbors greeted us at the dock:

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Jim has since passed: Capt Jim Mauldin, Commander, Eisenhauer

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Thanks for Reading!
 
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Hampton,
We're thinking about the cross FL trip in our 250 from Port St. Lucie. We're trying to figure out how much time we'll need. How long did it take from the time you entered the channel till you arrived in Ft Myers? What was your average speed?
 
chazaroo said:
Hampton,
We're thinking about the cross FL trip in our 250 from Port St. Lucie. We're trying to figure out how much time we'll need. How long did it take from the time you entered the channel till you arrived in Ft Myers? What was your average speed?
Click to expand...

That will be an easy trip. There are 5 locks (one was wide open).

It's 151 miles, coast to coast. It took us from 1 P.M. 'til 6 P.M. to get to Moore Haven, and then 8 A.M. to 2 P.M. to get to Ft Myers, which would be about 130 miles. We lost about 2 hours looking for gas.

So, 130/11 is averaging about 12 mph, or take out the extra 2 hours, and you're averaging about 14 mph.

We didn't waste a lot of time, but you can only go 25 mph in the canal. The Lake is not wide open. There are hazards. The Channel is not marked in the lake (crucial areas are, but you still need to beware).
 
Re: 340

jackson said:
Congrats! Great looking boat, I'm jealous.
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Thanks. There's always a bigger, newer boat. I'll take the comfort of owning the same boat for many years (like my 250) over the new boat anyday, except of course, today. You have to upgrade sometime!

Thanks again.
 
wish2fish said:
I don't know if I missed it in the story but how many travel hours...actual boat running hours?
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That's a good question, I don't actually know, but I'll check. I'm guessing around 30.
 
Hampton,
Thanks for the info and the heads up about the hazzards. Sounds like a great trip. Can't wait to try it. You mentioned that the locks are no big deal. Exactly what is the process of getting through them?

-Chazaroo

PS: Terrific photos!
 
That's a great question. Here it is. Approach the lock. You'll see "Dolphins" - Tee-Pees of wooden poles to which you can tie for extended periods. Signal with a horn - 2 long, 2 short, or, call them on Ch 13 and say "St Lucie Lock St Lucie Lock, Shell's Island, West bound."

They tell you stand by for X minutes and watch for the green light, expect a port/starboard tie up. Get your fenders ready, and lines if you think you'll need them. All of the locks we saw had lines in them.

There is a traffic signal outside the lock. If it's open, they'll give you a green light and tell you to come on in. If it's closed, expect water to gush through the gates as they slowly open them. They don't pump water. They close the low end, and slowly open the high end to raise the lock to the higher level, or vice versa for the other direction.

Once it's open and he says to come on in, or gives you green, you idle in. Pick a reasonable spot near the middle, or if crowded, as close as he directs you to one end or the other. We only shared one, and that with 4 small boats. They are 250 X 50' in the Channel.

Grab a line, and tie on loosely. After a couple, we quit tying, and quit using fenders. The highest we move was 11 - 12 feet, and the others were 1 - 3 feet. On one, they closed one end and opened the other - that fast (1 foot).

There is some flow in the big-movement (up/down 10+ feet) locks. Even when they close off the low end, water leaks out. They're just big doors that mate.

Don't tie off securely if going down!!!!! You'll hang you're boat. There aren't any cleats in the locks, just smooth wall with lines hanging down from the top. The walls are dirty. The lines are dirty below the water line. No big deal. We and our boat stayed clean.

Once the new door is open, the light at that end will turn green and he'll tell you that you can proceed out, and to have a nice day. They were nice people.

Caution - The locks are not open all hours! They close at night. They may not be open all year!!!!!! You can get stuck for months in the Summer - they do maintenance. The cruise season is Fall, Winter, Spring.

http://www.sailmiami.com/Okeechobee/okeechobee_tips.htm
 
Moving Lock Door viewed from inside:

Note: This one is probably opening because there's water rushing out. When they're closing, the water is calm because it's level with the outside.

EDIT: Here is a series of shots: The first one shows "dolphins" aka tied up piliings.

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This one shows us approaching an opening Lock. Notice the "Dolphins" and many signs with helpful instructions.

EDIT: One more shot:

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You cannot use one boater's experience as a hard and fast planning guide for crossing the Okechobee waterway....

We made the crossing earlier in the year at a peak travel time.....lots of cruising sailboats and trawlers headed south for the winter. While John's locking experience was very good, quick and not stressful, we found the locks crowded with other boats who were not very courteous. We waited more than one cycle for several locks. We were in a 52 Viking Convertible which takes some real estate to position. There were 2 of us, both quite experienced and we had our hands full controlling the boat at times because of turbulence caused by the wakes from other boats bouncing off the concrete lock walls and the close proximity to other boats.

Our time in transit was still good........From Soverel Harbor in West Palm Beach to Ft. Meyers, about 12 hours.......we went on to Boca Grande and it was a long day ...16 hours
 
Something of note: There were crowds at a couple of the locks. They were just coming to see the boats and watch the action of the locks. It's a neat experience.
 
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