Crossing the Big O

April 04, 2018

On April 2nd our journey from Fort Myers to Fort Pierce across Lake Okeechobee began. We split it into 3 days. The details of the passage from the west coast of Florida to the east coast through Lake O are described in this photo taken of a page from one of our guidebooks.

The first day we locked through the Franklin Lock, which rose us up 3 feet, and then the Ortona Lock, which rose us up 11 feet. The 2 pictures below were taken outside the Ortona Lock since we had a 2 hour delay due to an oil spill detected in the lock before we arrived. We were #11 waiting on the east side of the lock. Luckily it was a very calm day so we didn't have to wait with the wind blowing.

Just a friendly alligator floating along to entertain us while we wait!

This is inside the Ortona Lock. Texas 2 Step, our looper friends from Amarillo, are on the opposing wall from us.

Because of our delay at the Ortana Lock, we didn't make it to the third lock (Moore Haven Lock) until a little after 5 so we had to dock right before it and wait until the next morning. All of the Locks close at 5pm and you must be at the arrival point by 4:30. The wall we tied to for the night was at the Moore Haven City dock and we squeezed 5 vessels along it.

This was quite intimidating off our aft deck.

The following day after going through the Moore Haven Lock, we decided to take what they call the Rim Route around Lake Okeechobee which is 10 miles longer than going straight across. This route follows the ICW along the most southern edge of the Lake until you reach the east side. There was one swing bridge to go through and the gentleman below literally drives over the bridge, sticks a pole in a manual crank and walks in circles to open it manually. He then repeats the action in reverse to close it.

The next two photos below were taken as we travelled along the southern rim of the lake. The channel provides protection from the lake's open water for most of the way around.

We were able to slowly drive right through the Port Mayaka Lock on the other side of the Big O. That's always nice and no delays.

Another railroad lift bridge below. This one is also used by Amtrak. Fortunately, it too was open for our passing.

In our final lock, the St. Lucie Lock, we dropped down 14 feet. Long live Rockport, Tx.....the sticker in the lock is from Mucho Mas - a sportfish from Rockport. People place their stickers on the walls of the locks to mark their spot. In this lock Brent and I were given a small prize, golf towels, for both wearing our life vests! Wahoo!!

Once through this last lock, it was now time to enter the "crossroads" on the East side of FL where the water automatically turned a pretty blue.

The photo below is of our Chartplotter display taken as we approached the "crossroads" at the St. Lucie inlet. This area is notorious for constantly shoaling as the AICW (both north and south bound), the St. Lucie inlet to the Atlantic and the Okeechobee Waterway all converge at this point. In other words, it is easy to run aground here and many do everyday.

In our case, as you can see from the location of our vessel on the display, we had to make a sharp hairpin turn to the left to start north on the Atlantic ICW toward Fort Pierce.

As we came out of our turn the water immediately turned crystal clear again!

Tow Boat US hangs out at the crossroads to rescue anyone who runs aground, etc. They have a permanent mooring ball located there for their daily use.

Welcome to Fort Pierce, FL where we rested for 2 nights before continuing north.

Marinas are busy places as you can see from the map in the Harbor Master's office below. If you can find it on the map, we stayed on E dock, slip 131. Fortunately we were able to be in the inside basin away from the current and well protected from the waves.

A very nice amenity at many marinas we've visited is a Captain's Lounge. The Fort Pierce City Marina was no exception. This was a very comfortable place to hang out.