Feb 13- Pahokee

Saturday morning the sun was shining and there was very little wind, we continue our trek eastward from Moore Haven which is located on the south west corner of the lake.   We continued along on the  Caloosahatchee Canal until we reached Clewiston  which is the decision point as to whether the Lake route is taken (25 miles in open water) or the Rim Route, which is 35 miles along the edge.  Since we had already done the Lake crossing- we choose to do the Rim route- so that we could see some other places on the lake.  Prior to arriving in Clewiston, we were passed by 11 people on Jet skis,

we weren’t sure where they were headed but on the following day we saw them again just outside the  St. Lucie lock- so they must have crossed the lake and gone  at least as far as Stuart.  At the boat launch near Clewiston, Andy counted over 35 boat trailers- we learned that there was a Bass fishing tournament on the lake- which explained all the go-fast boats zipping around us.  We went by Torry Island-  where there was a camp ground and even more boat trailers.

Here we  watched the  swing bridge” man”ually  cranked open .

It was a nice day so we called ahead to Pahokee mile 50.6, to see if there was a slip available for the night, and were told we could dock in a free space on Dock a, b or c.

The first slip we chose on Dock c, ended up being too short- so we moved to a second one.  Once we were all tied up- we realized the 30 amp  shore power outlet wasn’t working  and our 50-30 amp adapter wouldn’t fit.  So we had to move a 3^rd time- after pre-checking the power boxes to find one that was working  ( many of the power boxes had wasp nests in them  or appeared to be burnt out)– we chose to move to Dock B.    Pahokee likely has about 100 slips, however only 11 were occupied- many were inhabited by gulls and other birds and covered with poop.

While having cocktails on the back deck

 we did meet another Canadian who stopped by after seeing our flag  and later another Looper stopped by and  we exchanged information with  him.

 

The marina has a break wall, where   dozens of people were fishing for ‘crappies’,

and I guess that’s what attracts the birds.  After supper we took some great pictures of sunset,

the wind started to pick up and we learned another reason why there wasn’t many boats there—inside the marina becomes a pin-ball game—the waves bounce around hitting you multiple times.  We put 8 ropes on the boat to secure us to the dock and we bounced all night long- with Andy checking the ropes  every hour—a sleepless night in Pahokee!  This could be a nice Marina- but the maintenance and break-wall design sucked!

February 14- Valentine’s Day

We left shortly after   900 and continues along the Rim Route towards Port Mayaca Lock,  there were a few waves, but nothing like what we had experience the last time we crossed the Lake.  We arrived at the Lock at 1030 and were able to drive right through,

 

since the Lake was high, the lock was wide open letting water out into the St. Lucie canal.  At mile 28.2, we had to wait for 15 minutes  at the Indiantown railway bridge, as an Amtrak passenger train was expected .

We passed throught the  St. Lucie lock at 200, and arrived at our anchorage in the 4 rivers loop at 220.  The boat hardly moved through the night and we all slept a lot better than the previous night.

Feb 15- President’s Day in the USA/ Family Day in Manitoba

We  weighed anchor at 912 and   headed up the  St Lucie Channel into the Saint Lucie River.  At Mile 0 of the Okeechobee waterway, we turned north and  entered the  Atlantic  Intracoastal waterway/Indian River  (mileage 987.9).  We proceeded about 10 miles  to the Nettles Island Marina located at mile 979.2.   Enroute we passed about 50 small sailboats in a regatta—this seemed fitting  for a send-off for Elaine as we had been in the middle or a regatta 3 weeks ago when we picked up Elaine in Miami.  It was quite windy when Andy  tried to dock — the wind was pushing us away from the dock, we finally got our lines secured.     There is mainly sailboats at this marina.