We left Clewiston around 6:30am around first light to
get across Lake
Okeechobee before it became too rough. Needless to say it already was building up from a northeast wind with waves that were very steep and close together because of the shallow bottom lake. Crossing depth was no problem for us. The least we saw was 4.3 feet for a short stretch. After that challenge we locked through Pt Mayaka then cruised down the St. Lucie to our final lock. We locked through with two other boats and all was well. When the gates opened the sailboat that was between us and the first boat couldn't start his engine. NOw this was at least a 50 foot sailboat. The locks only have 2 lock times 10am and 3pm. THere were several(like about 10) boats waiting on the other side to lock through. The lock-master asked us if we could pull the sailboat out so it doesn't tie up the lock. Well, the winds were strong, but the Simplicity gave it a shot. I almost fell in and Alan was trying to operate the boat in a strong wind. We finally tied a line to him and attempted this fiasco. Needless to say, we were the little tug that couldn't. It was really because of the wind that plastered us against one of the narrow walls. Somehow we sustained no damage to the boat. We said sorry, but we can't do it so the lock-master called a Tug boat that could. After that we proceeded on to Stuart. We tied up to Southeast anchorage free dock and walked around Old Stuart. We then cruised to Manatee pocket to anchor for the night because the winds were really picking up, but to no success. For some reason our anchor was not holding. We attempted to anchor in another spot and the same thing. Finally we pulled into Pirates Cove Resort and marina got a slip for the night and broke out the wine bottle. Tomorrow will be another day.
get across Lake
Okeechobee before it became too rough. Needless to say it already was building up from a northeast wind with waves that were very steep and close together because of the shallow bottom lake. Crossing depth was no problem for us. The least we saw was 4.3 feet for a short stretch. After that challenge we locked through Pt Mayaka then cruised down the St. Lucie to our final lock. We locked through with two other boats and all was well. When the gates opened the sailboat that was between us and the first boat couldn't start his engine. NOw this was at least a 50 foot sailboat. The locks only have 2 lock times 10am and 3pm. THere were several(like about 10) boats waiting on the other side to lock through. The lock-master asked us if we could pull the sailboat out so it doesn't tie up the lock. Well, the winds were strong, but the Simplicity gave it a shot. I almost fell in and Alan was trying to operate the boat in a strong wind. We finally tied a line to him and attempted this fiasco. Needless to say, we were the little tug that couldn't. It was really because of the wind that plastered us against one of the narrow walls. Somehow we sustained no damage to the boat. We said sorry, but we can't do it so the lock-master called a Tug boat that could. After that we proceeded on to Stuart. We tied up to Southeast anchorage free dock and walked around Old Stuart. We then cruised to Manatee pocket to anchor for the night because the winds were really picking up, but to no success. For some reason our anchor was not holding. We attempted to anchor in another spot and the same thing. Finally we pulled into Pirates Cove Resort and marina got a slip for the night and broke out the wine bottle. Tomorrow will be another day.
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