Scott here. Today we will go from Clewiston to Stuart and finally be at the Atlantic Ocean, although we won’t get close enough to see the Atlantic yet. Our hope is to go to the Pendarvis Cove anchorage. Close to everything in downtown Stuart with a park and dinghy dock.

Today we will have three locks, the Clewiston lock we did yesterday to get to this marina and today we will head out. The wind looks much better today that yesterday afternoon.

We will go through Lake Okeechobee and catch the Port Mayaca Lock on the other side. It is always smart to pay attention to the water levels when on Lake Okeechobee. You can do that by going to www.saj.usace.army.mil/ and click on Lake Okeechobee Water Levels. Nov. 20 the levels were reported to be 10.04′ for Route 1 (the channel through the lake.) Route 2 (the Rim Route) is reported at 8.24′. At least I think Route 1 is through the lake, either way we should be OK, but I would rather have 10′ of water with about 6′ under us. If that anchorage is full, we might head to the Bessey Creek anchorage a couple of miles away. We will look at a COE campground near St. Lucie South lock on the way, but our boat is a just a little big for their docks I guess. No matter where we go it will be for two nights as we don’t want to travel on Thanksgiving.

Today’s plan is as follows:

Initial Plan
Date: November 22, 2023
Nebo Link: Click here
Crew: Captain Scott, 1st Mate Rita, & K9 Jazzy
Start at: 8:30 am
End at: 3:00 pm (6:17 travel time + 3 locks)
Total Time: 7:30 hours
Distance: 56.6 miles
Fuel Plan: 28 gallons

Hazards for the day
TM 148′ (mm 65): Clewiston Lock
TM 0.3 (mm64.8): Rocks on the green side
TM 3.1 (mm 62): Shoaling – maybe, none seen on 03/30/23.
TM 8.7: Obstruction – something hard near R14, stay 300′ starboard of it, do not cut the corner on the turn!
TM 25.7 (mm 39.1): Port Mayaca Lock
TM 26.8 (mm 38.1): FL East Coast RR Bridge – open unless a train is coming
TM 36.5 (mm 28.5): Indiantown RR bridge – open unless a train is coming
TM 42.5 (mm 22.3): Shallow stay north
TM 49.6 (mm 15.4): St. Lucie lock
TM 53.3 (mm 11.5): shoaling – Between G35 & G37 vessel grounded here. Stay to the red (port) side
TM 55.5 (mm 9.2): Shoaling reported in 2013, recent reports all had good depth in the area