Okeechobee Waterway Crossing

The owners of Rialto Marina restore antique wagons and buggies in their "spare" time!

 

 

 

 

Marina owners, Bus & Nifty, train a three-year old horse to pull a cart.

  They compete in the World Equestrian Games in one of the eight disciplines; this one is called Combined Driving.

 

 

 

 

Tom & Patsy Conrad, caught up with us during our second day at Rialto in their trawler, True North.

This was the first of many fun rounds of Sequence, a new board game they taught us to play.

 

 

 

 

We traveled 155 miles on the Okeechobee Waterway from Ft Myers to Stuart.

Lake Okeechobee is Florida's largest lake and the second largest freshwater lake in the United States.

It is 37 miles long, 30 miles wide, and is renowned for the number of bass it contains.

 

 

 

 

All along the waterway we are reminded that the land surrounding the lake is rich in agriculture.

Orange groves like this one are plentiful . . . . . .

 

 

 

. . . . . . but sugar cane fields are King!

 

 

 

Cattle are so bountiful you can smell them waayyyy before you see them!

 

 

 

 

Spiritus & True North at the city docks in Moore Haven, a small town on the western edge of Lake Okeechobee.  

Waiting for a good weather window, we spent two nights before crossing the lake together.

 

 

 

Tom & Patsy share the same love of ice cream as our very own Linda!

Yes, the four of us finished the whole tub!

 

 

 

Leaving the canal at Moore Haven, we turn southward and are surrounded by marshland.

 Cypress trees help provide a natural barrier along the shoreline of impressive Lake Okeechobee.

 

 

 

At Clewiston, we make a turn to head out toward the middle of the lake.

For the first time, we begin to feel the vastness of this wonderland of nature.

 

 

 

 

The canal system engineers also installed a huge cork right in the middle of the lake, just in case there is ever a need to drain it! 

 

 

 

 

Seagulls fly off the stern of Spiritus, waiting to swoop down and pick up the tiny fish that are churned to the surface by her wake.

 

 

 

We know some of you have been waiting for a picture of an alligator.

Here's one we didn't see when crossing Lake Okeechobee.

 

 

 

 

After nine hours of cruising, we finally pull in to Sunset Harbor Marina in Stuart, Florida.

Not many couples can say they traversed the width of the state by boat!

 

 

 

 

Our first sunset on the east coast of Florida!

It was a marvelous and smooth crossing.

 

 

 

 

Tom & Patsy help celebrate our successful Okeechobee crossing!

 

 

 

 

These rocking chairs on the marina dock are a perfect place to watch the sunset . . . . . .

 

 

 

 

. . . . . . or indulge in your favorite ice cream!