FL: Fort Myers to Moore Haven

Friday 3/9/2018
Depart: Fort Myers Edison Ford Marina 8:45
Arrive: Moore Haven City Dock 4:05
Distance: 48 nm
Locks: 2 (W.P. Franklin and Ortona)

Yesterday's wind died down overnight, but we had a definite chill in the air. The room temperature in our stateroom when I woke this morning was 63 degrees. Although I did not know the outdoor temperature, I decided that, given the indoor temp, it was definitely a long pants and jacket day. As I dressed, I wondered what happened to the t-shirts and shorts days I had enjoyed in the Keys.

Our destination for today took us along the Okeechobee Waterway and through two locks. We passed familiar sights in the Fort Myers local area on the way to the first lock.

Clark tried for one of his favorite RR bridge pictures.
The weights were in the way of getting a good shot.

Power Plant

Power Lines

"Moos" as Clark called them!

Due to yesterday's windy weather, a lot of boats left Fort Myers today. When we arrived at our first lock of the day, W. P. Franklin, we found three familiar vessels in the lock before us -- Seafarer (a Krogen Express) and Miss Norma (the Ranger Tug we met at Legacy)  and a sailboat, Faith, we had seen in the Fort Myers Marina. Faith  was one of the many boats I saw leave Edison Ford Marina before us this morning.

Seafarer, Miss Norma, Faith 
W.P. Franklin Lock - Okeechobee Waterway

Seafarer and Miss Norma

In order of speed, Seafarer was the fastest, then us, then Miss Norma, and the sailboat last. Since Miss Norma exited the lock before us, we ended up passing them a short while later.

Ramie of Miss Norma
exercising on the cockpit of her boat while underway

After passing Miss Norma we continued to pull ahead of them on the canal until we could no longer see them or the sailboat. Seafarer traveled about 1 or 2 knots faster than we did, so we pretty much kept them in sight up ahead. We locked through the second lock, Ortona, with Seafarer but by then Miss Norma and Faith could no longer be seen.

Seafarer waiting for bridge to open on Okeechobee Waterway

Before we reached our destination for the night, Seafarer haled us on the radio and said he had engine trouble. Initially he considered stopping the night at Moore Haven where we planned to stop. When his engine tech told him how much more it would cost for him to "make a house call" in Moore Haven, Brad changed his destination for the night to Clewistown.

As we pulled up to the Moore Haven dock, we saw Seafarer up ahead waiting for the Moore Haven Lock, so he could continue on to Clewistown. After we docked, they were still waiting for the lock to open, so Clark ran down the side of the canal to talk to them and take a picture before they entered the lock.

Seafarer waiting for Moore Haven Lock

We checked in at the Moore Haven City Hall and paid $1.00 per nominal foot of boat, i.e. for us that equals $52. For that price we got water and electric. Having never stayed here, we pulled out the bicycles to explore this little town.

Downtown Moore Haven, Florida

Truly Moore Haven has little to offer. I popped into the Thrift Shop before they closed, and we visited the Family Dollar store at the edge of town. The contents of the Family Dollar reminded me of the General Store of olden days. Sadly for them, I did not need anything on this visit. I bought a puzzle book for $1.00. All told, I dropped a whopping great $5 in town while shopping there.

As we toured around on our bikes, we saw a couple of interesting murals on buildings in town.

I wondered if they paid any royalties to use this picture of
Dogs Playing Pool

Hunting scene - dog with bird in mouth on left and
birds in flight on right.

Heading towards the business district, i.e. the Family Dollar store, we saw the Church of God

located beside a building that should be torn down.

After my $1.00 shopping spree at Family Dollar, we thought we had seen all there was to see until we passed a "local" on his bicycle. He passed by us and then came back around to ask if we had seen the dike yet. When our answer was "No", he gave us an earful of unsolicited local knowledge as well as the directions on where to find the dike.

As we talked to him, he told us about the local economy as well as the local customs. One fact he told us that I found particularly interesting was the fact that the main industry in town is Sugar Cane. To harvest the sugar cane, the farmers burn the fields. This makes it possible to harvest the sugar cane without bringing in heavy, diesel-powered equipment. He said there has been a long-time difference of opinion regarding the pollution of the smoke from burning the fields versus the pollution from diesel equipment. Thus far, tradition has won, and they burn the fields.

Following the local's directions, we turned left at the intersection in town and headed out to find the dike. The "local" said we should be able to see the lake from here, but we never spotted it.

Sights at Moore Haven dike

View from bike trail at Moore Haven Dike

Evelyn on bike trail "into infinity and beyond"
trying to find the view of the lake we were told about

Although the clerk at City Hall enumerated a number of choices of places to eat in town, we opted to dine on the boat. Since she had indicated we could get WiFi via the public library across the street, I hoped to get some blogging done after dinner and was disappointed to find I had no signal even with our WiFi booster. I had to pass on yet another night of blogging making me further behind still on my blog.