FL: Moore Haven City Dock to Howard Creek Anchorage

Saturday 3/10/2018

Depart: Moore Haven City Dock 8:20

Arrive: Howard Creek Anchorage (St. Lucie) 5:00

Distance: 64 nm

Locks: 3 (Moore Haven, Mayaca, Port St. Lucie)

We pulled away from the Moore Haven City Dock and immediately entered the Moore Haven lock. Clark called them on the radio before pulling in our last line to be sure they would be ready for us. The line provided from the wall was too short for comfort. I had to either bend over which was hard on my back or squat down to hold the line. I kept switching from one position to the other to get some relief and hoped the locking through would be quick.

On our way to Lake Okeechobee, we followed the “rim route” as far as Clewistown and then turned to enter the lake. Clewistown has a lock but only boaters wishing to visit Clewistown need to transit this lock. Other than a couple of boat ramps and a park along shore, the scenery on the rim is pretty consistent.

Side of Waterway along Lake "O" Rim
sea grass on wall shows prior Lake heights

 As we followed the markers taking us into the lake, we immediately started to see black bits of something “flying” in through the front panel of the full enclosure. At first I thought the thing moving past my head was a large bug, and then I figured out it was ash from the burning sugar cane field. Having met the story teller yesterday, I now knew the source of this aggravating substance flying through the air. Very quickly we found it settling everywhere.

Black bits of Ash
from burnt sugar cane

Moving further along into Lake “O”, we saw the source of the ash.

Smoke on Lake Okeechobeee

We closed the opening to the cabin, but it was a little like closing the barn door after the horse escaped. We already had ash collecting on the floor of the pilot house by the time we thought to close the “gate”.

Lake “O” is fairly shallow and the path through the lake is not a straight line. Fortunately, the lake was particularly calm today, and we had a smooth ride across. We followed the chart and markers carefully to cross the lake and arrive at the Mayaca Lock on the far side.  When Clark called to determine port or starboard tie, we were pleased to be informed that it would be a “slow pass through” meaning we did not have to grab lines and the water level would not rise or fall.

Mayaca Lock Up Ahead
(open at both ends)

Entering Mayaca Lock
(no need to tie up, just slow down)

Since we did not have to spend time at Mayaca Lock, we gained some time on our predicted arrival time. We normally allow 30 minutes as an average lock time – waiting, entering, up/down, waiting our turn to exit, … It all takes time.

After exiting the Mayaca Lock our next item of interest became the “guillotine” water-control gate. During the Krogen Express rendezvous, Dave, the presenter, mentioned gates like this in Europe and said, “They just hang there waiting to cut your boat in half as you pass through!” As we approached this one, I couldn’t help but think of his blithe comment.

Guillotine Water Control Gate

After exiting the Mayaca Lock we still had a ways to go to the last lock on the Okeechobee Waterway. Some sights along the way …

Okeechobee Waterway Foliage

Open RR Bridge
(time to look for a "sight down the RR track" picture)

FAIL!
Track higher than our visibility!

The signpost on the wall of the Port St. Lucie lock provides the distances to each of the locks to cross from east to west.

Signpost at St. Lucie Lock
on Okeechobee Waterway

On our way south in late November, we stayed at a secluded anchorage that Clark discovered on Howard Creek in Stuart, Florida. A popular alternative anchorage listed on Active Captain had many complaints in the reviews of rocking due to ICW traffic. In Howard Creek we had the anchorage pretty much to ourselves as we saw no boat traffic to speak of and had no rocking other than the pitching movement of the boat caused by the heavy winds.