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07-18-2016, 09:37 AM
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#1
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Guru
City: Stuart FL
Vessel Name: Lucky Lucky
Vessel Model: Pacific Mariner 65
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 2,760
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Best Route
Hi All,
I'm looking for suggestions about the shortest way to cruise from the east coast of FL to the west coast of FL without crossing the polluted Lake Okeechobee.
Thanks! Howard
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Howard
Lucky Lucky
Stuart, FL
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07-18-2016, 09:51 AM
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#2
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Guru
City: gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,440
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Down around Marathon under the bridge. decent water all the way. On the inside it might be a bit shorter but essentially same route with some shallow spots at low tide in the "yacht channel"
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07-18-2016, 12:11 PM
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#3
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Guru
City: Punta Gorda, fl
Vessel Name: Escapade
Vessel Model: Nordic Tug 37 2002
Join Date: Jan 2015
Posts: 1,231
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The lake is at 14 feet, which means good water depth.
First night Indian Town marina with courtesy car ride to dinner.
Second night east side of Franklin Lock. Nice docks.
Third night Fort Myers.
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07-18-2016, 01:38 PM
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#4
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Guru
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hmason
Hi All,
I'm looking for suggestions about the shortest way to cruise from the east coast of FL to the west coast of FL without crossing the polluted Lake Okeechobee.
Thanks! Howard
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Take a car.
Otherwise as noted above in first responding post. Nice cruising grounds
Where are you starting Where are you trying to get to? The Okeechobee Waterway is pretty fun to do at least once; a much different Florida to see. The lake isn't all that polluted.
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George
"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
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07-18-2016, 02:37 PM
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#5
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Guru
City: Fort Myers, FL... Summers in the Great Lakes
Vessel Name: Slow Hand
Vessel Model: Cherubini Independence 45
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 12,834
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It's a long 2 day run across the Okeechobee waterway for me. With some Magic, an easy 2 days (140 statute miles from the AICW to Fort Myers. Wouldn't worry about the pollution from this spring's record rain fall and back pumping into the lake. Heck, the water is probably dirtier cruising through New York city.
Ted
__________________
Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
I want to spend some time, Not come and go in a heated rush.....
"Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters
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07-18-2016, 02:56 PM
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#6
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Senior Member
City: Marietta
Vessel Model: Cobalt 246
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 165
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I'm with Ted. It's a nice 2 day trip across from Stuart to Ft Myers, and the ugly green stuff isn't really west of the lake at all, and even the lake is in pretty good shape, and plenty deep right now. It's a long slog around Miami and the everglades, and for 100 miles you are really in the boonies from Florida Bay to Marco Island. Not a casual undertaking (says me, a guy who once had to be towed 8 hours from Little Shark to Marco by TowBoatUS after it took over an hour for anyone, anyone at all, to hear me on the VHF down there.) The Okeechobee ditch is a far better route for anyone with anything less than a 54 foot mast, in my opinion.
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David Hughes
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07-18-2016, 03:16 PM
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#7
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Technical Guru
City: Wilmington, NC
Vessel Name: Louisa
Vessel Model: Custom Built 38
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 6,194
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Down in the Keys, Channel Five near Matecumbe looks like a good place to cross from Hawk Channel to the back country. I would take Hawk from Biscayne instead of the Jewfish Creek back country route. Depends on size and draw of the boat and whether Hawk is stood up. Last two times I was down there Hawk was rough like Pamlico Sound rough. Nasty short and sharp. Took the back country route. Plenty of water for my 38. Not sure how big you can go there and be comfortable with depth.
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07-18-2016, 04:21 PM
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#8
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Guru
City: Stuart FL
Vessel Name: Lucky Lucky
Vessel Model: Pacific Mariner 65
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 2,760
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Well thanks all. I've done the lake route before and I guess I'll do it again. Does seem like a long trip around Marathon. I sure hope that whatever I hit and bent 2 props on is gone by now.
OC--Two day trip even with the help of Magic. My one day record in daylight is 121 statute miles. Left at first light and picked up a town mooring as the sun was setting. That's a tiring day for me.
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Howard
Lucky Lucky
Stuart, FL
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07-18-2016, 04:27 PM
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#9
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Guru
City: North Carolina for now
Join Date: Aug 2011
Posts: 6,348
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Inside is fine, and more scenic down to Channel 5 but we started sanding our 5 foot deep keel after that. The channel to Cape Sable is better leaving from Marathon.
The OP said "shortest" as if time might be an issue. Far SW FL was a destination for us. We chartered boats when we lived in Dallas before buying our Hatteras, just to go there for a week, great wilderness cruising and gunkholing. The Okee was a one and done experience for us, especially since we had already done a lot of it, sight seeing wise, by car. But glad we did cruise it once, it was our intro to using locks of any appreciable depth and it reminded me a bit of cruising in the California Delta.
__________________
George
"There's the Right Way, the Wrong Way, and what some guy says he's gotten away with"
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07-18-2016, 04:34 PM
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#10
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Guru
City: Fort Myers, FL... Summers in the Great Lakes
Vessel Name: Slow Hand
Vessel Model: Cherubini Independence 45
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 12,834
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hmason
OC--Two day trip even with the help of Magic. My one day record in daylight is 121 statute miles. Left at first light and picked up a town mooring as the sun was setting. That's a tiring day for me.
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We know you have the Magic. It's more about the luck of timing the 5 locks, 2 bridges, and the RR bridge that's supposed to be open (but often isn't ).
Ted
__________________
Blog: mvslowhand.com
I'm tired of fast moves, I've got a slow groove, on my mind.....
I want to spend some time, Not come and go in a heated rush.....
"Slow Hand" by The Pointer Sisters
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07-18-2016, 04:47 PM
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#11
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Guru
City: gulf coast
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 3,440
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The reports of thick algae and stink in the lake and rivers would turn me off.
Anyone been there rrecently?
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07-20-2016, 05:26 AM
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#12
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Guru
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 22,553
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The lake isn't all that polluted.
The media has been hyping "pollution" in the hope of bringing OPM (other peoples money) in as disaster relief.
Call the marina in Clewiston and ask them about water conditions.
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