THE OKEECHOBEE WATERWAY
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The Okeechobee Waterway is a pleasant and unusual trip for boaters.
This peaceful waterway goes through miles of untouched Florida Everglades and thousands of acres of Old Florida scrub and ranchland. It is the only navigable cross Florida canal.
Landlubbers can also enjoy the waterway at the various locks and parks along the route. It's fun to watch the boats pass through the locks along the route.
The waterway is 154 miles long and stretches from the Atlantic Ocean near Stuart, Florida to the Gulf of Mexico at Fort Myers. It is the only true cross Florida canal and river system that joins the east coast of Florida to the west coast.
The eastern reach of the waterway starts in the St. Lucie River, passes through the St Lucie lock and dam, and enters Lake Okeechobee through a lock at Port Mayaca.
From Port Mayaca you cross 451,000 acre Lake Okeechobee by either a direct route to Clewiston, or a longer route along the south edge of the lake called the "rim route".
A more detailed Okeechobee waterway map with water depths, day marker, courses, bearings and other information can be purchased at West Marine or other marine stores either as a chart or a book.
Lake Okeechobee and the Okeechobee Waterway are part of the complex water management system known as the Central and Southern Florida Flood Control Project. This project was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), and is managed by them and by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).
This project covers 16,000 square miles from just south of Orlando down through the Kissimme River to Lake Okeechobee and on south to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay in the Keys.
This project is of vital importance to the Florida Everglades.
The ACOE operates 5 navigation locks and dams along the Okeechobee Waterway. From East to West they are:
- St. Lucie Lock and Dam near Stuart
- Port Mayaca Lock and Dam Near Canal Point
- Moore Haven Lock and Dam at Moore Haven
- Ortona Lock and Dam east of LaBelle
- Franklin Lock and Dam east of Fort Myers
Each lock location has a recreational area that is open to the public for year round use. Some of these areas have camping and picnic facilities.
The Okeechobee Waterway was officially opened on March 23, 1937.
Some 57 years later some friends and I took a trip from east to west along the waterway in my 26 foot Island Packet sailboat, AWOL.
Here are some highlights of that trip.
If you have a sailboat, you should be aware that the controlling height on the waterway is the 49' raised railway bridge at Port Mayaca. A mast as high as 55' can pass through if the boat is heeled over by the weight of water-filled barrels, a service provided by a guy working out of the Indiantown Marina.
Rialto is a great place to spend a few nights. It is owned by a wonderful family. Their few employees are also like family. It was still a cold winter night, and the owners built a fire in the fire ring and cranked up the charcoal grills for a cook out and story telling session around the fire.
AND GET BACK TO OUR REAL JOBS!
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