Okeechobee waterway cruise

[cdory25]

Finally got a few days (10) freed up for cruising. We were going to try to get down to the Keys or maybe St Johns but decided to do the Okeechobee Waterway instead. This will be a grand adventure since we have never trailered our boat, never been to Okeechobee and never been thru a lock. Got the boat on the trailer today so we can hit 95S in the AM. Guess we will put in at Stuart, FL and head towards Fort Meyers. Don't know exactly where to put in and stow my truck and trailer so any references would be handy. Meanwhile I'll just keep scouring the Internet for tidbits of info as I have printed quite a bit so far. I'll try to get a pic or two up if we find any Internet frienly marinas along the lake. Wish us luck!

[ddenver]

Cool trip. Please post as many comments - either during or after the trip (assuming you have problems getting internet access on the way).

Gotta boat vicariously for those of us weather wimps suffering thru the cold up here in the Pacific Northwest.

Good luck and stay safe!

Take care,
Dan, Tanya, and Hannah on C-Renity

[Will-C]

We left our tow rig at the Harbortown Marina in Ft.Pierce. It was in a fenced in yard and they were pretty nice you can launch pretty close and they get a taxi back over and get your tow rig and then stay at Harbortown and then head south on the inner coastal the next day and then on to Ft. Meyers. You can get Harbortown Marinas info from the Active Captain site as they list marinas and give reviews of marinas and its all free.
D.D

[Pandy Girl]

Hi, We did that last year, but started out at Fort Myers Beach. If you get over here at Fort Myers Beach give me a PM and we try get to gether and have dinner we have friends here that are C-Brats also We all try to do this to geather. Jim

[cdory25]

We didn't have a computer and can't type much with a smart phone although it was our gps, our stereo, our email and our internet. We trailered 190 mile south to Pirates Cove Resort and Marina in Stuart, Florida where we rented a slip and kept our rig. Had to launch a mile away a Sanscrit Park and get a taxi back. When we returned we couldn't even get a taxi and the captain had to hitch hike! Shame on Pirates Cove for not having a shuttle of some kind.

We started at the eastern end of the Okeechobee Waterway, St Lucie Canal and headed west. Pirates Cove on Friday night was a blast with live music, etc. Saturday morning, after our free breakfast, we were off, along with about a million fishing boats, all big, real big. Made it to Indiantown marina the first night. I think we did our first couple locks that day. We'd never been through a lock before and didn't know lock eticate, only to hail them on channel 13. After a rather rude "stay off the radio and wait for the green light" we had the procedure down.

Sunday started off with a small craft advisory on the Okeechobee Lake until 10am. We went thru the lock at Port Mayaca at noon only to discover that the advisory had been extended until 1pm. Felt like a cork in the ocean, to say the least. And we were even taking the rim route! Running along four foot waves heavy on the throttle when we spotted a break in the seawall and turned around and shot thru it. It was some sort of deserted city marina but a safe haven for our little 25. After waiting an hour or so I got the nerve up to head back out and found the going a little better but still very choppy. We high tailed it to Pahokee, Torry Island, Belle Glade and the canals beyond that afternoon, then past Clewiston where we left the lake and stayed in Moore Haven. Met a couple from Cali that had ran the lake that day in a small Cat. Moore Haven was a small town but had a city dock with hook up and a bar "Franks". By the way, my wife cooked us great meals every morning, noon and night except one when we had pizza delivered to our slip (on the return trip).

Monday it was westward to Franklin Lock and the Caloosahatchee River. Smooth sailing past Ft. Meyers and Cape Coral, which were way to commercial for this West Virginian, all the way to Sanibel Island. We backed into the last slip between a couple huge yachts to the dissaproving eyes of the"Grandma Dots" crowd at happy hour. We dined out to great seafood that night.

Company's coming so I'll have to finish this tale next week, and post some pictures too. Tuesday we head north...

[cdory25]

As we motored through the entrance to the Gulf sometimes finding ourslves in two foot of water we passed lots of little Islands and even Ospreys nesting on the channel markers. Cool boats everywhere, even a couple small cruisers and one other Cdory. Everyone found our boat to be very cool and a definate conversation starter the whole trip. It was also the smallest boat in every marina we stayed at. We are completely self contained even w/o a genset but stayed at docks because of our dog, Darius.

Picking up where I left off, we awoke to fresh muffins on the boat, courtesy of the marina. Time to top off the tank and figure mpg. This would be my only gas stop of the trip and we took 50 gallons having gone about 160 miles. Never really checked miles but that's what the chart said (not including side trips) and I filled up at Stuart. So about 3 mpg. Anyway after taking in water, fuel and ice we decided that we would check out the "Dollar Bill Bar" on Cabbage Key. We were supposed to hook up with Jim and Jenny from Naples (I think it was Valkerie?) but missed them by a day. We had a good chat on the phone (also our only camera) and will hook up in the future.

We left Sanibel Island (again competing with all the fisherman) and headed for ICW and eventually Cabbage Key. The day was spent eating, drinking and exploring this tourist trap with several good photo ops and souvinier T shirts. We learned that a few miles north there was a marina at the state park on Caya Costa so that's where we spent the night.

Woke to heavy fog the next morning. Nobody was going anywhere, even the big guys with radar. We rented a couple bicycles and toured the almost deserted island. We went to the Gulf side and it was a clear sunny day so we played on the beach a while. When we got back to the boat at noon the fog was lifting a ferry arrived full of beach goers. Time to head home. We made it back to the Caloosahatchee River staying at the Rialta Marina, a slice of Florida heaven if there ever was one. We had our own dock, just like at home! This is where we had pizza. It was highly recommended so we had to try it. This would have been the place to cook out as they had big grills waterside and people cooking steaks and playing music but we had cooked out the previous evening so decided to take a break. This resort had everything from chickens to horses and old cars.

In the morning there was a local newspaper on our dock. The showers included a library where you could take a book or/and leave a book. We just remembered that the first mate got us boarded by the Coast Guard yesterday for speeding in a Manatee zone! I had told her to slow down and that you must obey the captain. To top it off, she told the coppers that I was driving. Well I took the heat showing the cops every thing from life jackets and fire exts. to our registration and license. We got off with a verbal warning and the cop wanting to know where we got our doggie life vest. The rest of the trip the first mate was sunbathing on the upper deck while I drove the boat. Later we stopped again at the city dock in Moore Haven. This time Karen went shopping in town and I went to sleep.

We cut straight across the middle of Lake Okeechobee this time. 25 miles instead of 36. A nice cruise although the markers were kind of far apart. More locks awaited us but we're seasoned in the lockage game now. We stayed on the hook this one night on the St. Lucie Canal just so we could say we did. Maneuvering in barely more than a foot of water, we found a dock with a boardwalk to a park for Darius to do his business.

We arrived back at Pirates Cove to find our rig unmolested but no ride to the ramp. Finally the captain found a ride with another boater, thank you.

The trip up 95 saw the tranny temp rise to 180 compared to 165 on the way down. Although that isn't too hot, especailly for a 85 degree day, I'm still shopping for a transmission cooler before our next trip, probably in October to Welfings Gathering.

I will try to post picture from my phone or at least get them to to the Cdory gallery.

[cdory25]

For an FYI, I found out our truck already has a transmission cooler and that anything under 200 degrees is normal.

Next adventure (involving a trailer) will be at Welfing's in October.

[Larry Patrick]

Enjoyed the trip report. Sun deck looks like a good use of space.

[SEA3PO]

I think I would worry about any transmission that was running under 200 degrees...it just does not happen...transmission oil runs much hotter than engine oil... As far as the engine..the thermostat does not usually open until 190 to 198 degrees...so 200 would also be cool...I think somewhere up around 220 is where most engines run.

Joel
SEA3PO

[cdory25]

When not towing the digital trans temp gauge on my 2011 Silverado usually shows temps in the 150 - 170 degree range depending on the weather Towing adds about 10-20 degree again depending on the weather. Guess the tranny cooler is doing its job!

[El and Bill]

Great trip report. Sounds like a fine trip. Brought back fond memories. Thanks for sharing.

[Sunbeam]

[thataway]

I haven't had transmission gauges on many tow vehicles--but our 30 foot RV with modified 4 speed Ford Transmission ran at 160 to 175 towing the C Dory 25. The current 42' RV with an Allison 3000 towing the 22 or the Yukon XL runs 160 to 175. and the Yukon also runs in the 170 to 180 loaded and towing the C Dory 22.

[mgarr682]

[Sunbeam]

Not to discourage any fresh postings (the more the merrier!), but I got interested in this awhile back (while I was shopping for my C-Dory and searching here for various things to read), and I found a few really good threads on locking and single-handed locking specifically - with many inputs. They were so informative I saved them for future reference.

Just figured you might like to read them to supplement whatever is posted in this thread.

Sunbeam