ACROSS FLORIDA AT 5 KNOTS
An unhurried west-east delivery via the Okeechobee Waterway
Bridges and locks cannot detract from the Okeechobee Waterway’s natural beauty
Ihave delivered many sailboats between Miami and St. Petersburg, Florida since 2004, when I brokered a boat in Bradenton and the buyers asked me to help bring it to Miami. I know the shortest route through Florida Bay is about 300 miles and should take between 50 and 60 hours at a 6-knot average, depending on the weather. I had, however, never done a delivery across Florida on the Okeechobee Waterway and through Lake Okeechobee, mainly because the boats I delivered had masts that were too tall for the bridges you encounter.
Earlier this year, that changed when I was asked to deliver an O’Day 35 from St. Pete to Palm Beach. With an air draft of 47ft and a keel that drew 4ft 5in, it seemed a perfect boat for the trip. I also checked the distance. If I added the extra 70 miles from Miami to Palm Beach to the normal trip around the Keys through Florida Bay, the total distance would be about 375 miles, which meant the delivery would take an extra day. By comparison, the trip across the waterway was about 300 miles, making it a much better, straighter alternative. It would also give me a chance to see what the waterway was all about.
At the time, all I knew about the waterway was that there were locks at either end of Lake Okeechobee and a bridge with less than 45 (or maybe
it was 54) feet of clearance. Indeed, as I began to prepare for the trip and study the available waterway information, I realized how uninformed I really was. For example, while it’s true there are two locks to get into and out of the lake, there are also three other locks (two on the west side and one on the east side) that bring you up to the lake level and then back down again. This seemed straightforward until I learned that the locks only operate between 0700 and 1630.
Then I learned more about the bridges, including the one bridge where the clearance level is a real issue—the famous Port Mayaca Railroad Lift Bridge. Although it is open except when a train is coming, it only opens to 49ft and so this becomes the limiting height for the whole waterway. To get around this, there is apparently something called the “Waterway Limbo” that takes place. The story goes that you can get in touch with the people at Indiantown Marina (about 10 miles east of the bridge) who will come to your boat, put a number of plastic 55 gallon drums along your rail, and fill them with water to heel the boat over while going under the bridge. This supposedly gets you another one to two feet of clearance.
Fortunately, my research—backed up by some actual measurements of the O’Day 35—convinced me I wouldn’t have to worry, even without doing the limbo. Time would tell if I was correct.
Beyond that there are eight other low bridges of various construction types (swing, single bascule, double bascule and lift) that open on demand between 0600 and 2200—except when some are closed during rush hour. To my relief, all of the other fixed bridges proved to have a minimum clearance of 55ft.
The Okeechobee Waterway stretches 154 miles from where it intersects the Florida west coast Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) at the Sanibel Bridge to an intersection with the Florida east coast ICW at Stuart. Given the O’Day’s little 21hp Universal diesel engine, I estimated the journey would take about 30 hours at a cruising speed of 5-6 knots. I did not, however, factor in the waiting times at the bridges and locks and their closing/opening hours—the trip would therefore ultimately take almost 54 hours and extend over three days and two nights.
With my friend Derek Cohen as co-captain, we left St. Pete on a Monday at 1800. The wind was from the northwest and relatively light, but we still sailed out of Tampa Bay and made good time down the west coast toward Ft. Myers, despite it being an uncomfortable, rolly night. By dawn, we had made it as far as the Boca Grande Channel entrance into