Three bridges at the meeting of the St. Lucie River and the North fork in Stuart.
Amazing how different the middle of Florida is from the coast lines. Check out these photos as we cross the Okeechobee Waterway with new owners of a beautiful Mainship 400.
We’re not in the sandy beaches of the east coast anymore!
Scroll down past the video and ride along with us as we train this adventurous couple and traverse the Okeechobee though bridges, locks and a bit of fog too (listen for the fog horn in the video)! Don’t forget to click on each photo to enlarge and read the caption with each photo to learn a bit more about crossing the Okeechobee Waterway from the east coast of Florida to the west coast of Florida- more than 170 miles.
Wild weather swings created terrific learning experiences which clarified why schedules should be tossed out with the trash. If it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen out there 🙂
Three bridges at the meeting of the St. Lucie River and the North fork in Stuart.
Fill ‘er up before we cross the Big O – Lake Okeechobee! This Mainship 400 is a comfortable cruiser with four of us aboard for 5 days on this journey of a lifetime.
Captain Chris with Deb & Dan aboard DOUBLE D. Trip planning includes knowing as much about your vessel as you can before untying the lines. This last minute walk thru includes understanding sight lines for helmsman and deckhand.
Below deck checking fluids, every day, every trip. This can help you prevent problems by seeing things and what they SHOULD look like when working properly.
Preparing for leaving the dock. Don’t forget the cable TV cord!
Fingerless gloves can save your skin, especially from splintered dock lines and later, from the barnacle encrusted lines of the locks- Not the St Lucie Lock tho! That lock master takes care to keep all lines from hanging in the water.
First time anchoring. Note the blue color which tells us we only have 75 feet of line out. We need more to set the anchor at the proper scope for overnight in the north fork of the St. Lucie River.
Captain Chris shows the direction of the rode. note the red color on the anchor line which tells us that 125 feet are deployed. Perfect for our depth and expected wind this evening!
Dan is a happy boy…but who wouldn’t be? This is the beginning of an incredible adventure! Whatchuwearin?? these bright yellow FIRST WATCH coats are also life jackets and terrific raincoats. They keep us toasty warm in temps down in the 40s.
First night at anchor living the dream.
The perfect figure eight validated the depths were as reported on the chart and the swing radius is tracked as we move with the wind and current through the night.
