Any of you Captains done the journey across Florida from Ft Myers to Stuart,
Fla

The Okeechobee Waterway? I think that is the name..

What size sailboats can make the trip? Is the mast a problem?

Any limit?

What about water depth?

Janet O'Leary wrote:
Any of you Captains done the journey across Florida from Ft Myers to Stuart,
Fla

The Okeechobee Waterway? I think that is the name..

What size sailboats can make the trip? Is the mast a problem?

Any limit?

What about water depth?



Google is your friend...

http://www.yachtdeliveryusa.com/okeechobee-bridges.htm

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-OkeechoWy.html

6 feet depth

http://www.wildernet.com/pages/area....LKOKWW&CU_ID=1
Maps and aerial photos

"Janet O'Leary" wrote:
Any of you Captains done the journey across Florida from Ft Myers to Stuart,
Fla

The Okeechobee Waterway? *I think that is the name..


Yep, that's the name.


What size sailboats can make the trip? *Is the mast a problem?


Big ones! And no, the mast is no problem at all.


Any limit?


Of course. There are always limits.

What about water depth?

What about it?
IMHO the wise cruiser will choose a boat with some regard to draft,
and the waters he wants to cruise.
Much over 5' is inconvenient on the ICW and much of the East Coast of
the US. Draft of 4' is much more convenient.

The Okeechobee Waterway depth is controlled by locks but the water is
also used heavily for irrigation and for city utilities. In times of
low rainfall, the water level drops and navigation can be restricted.
Last year, the shallow spots were 4.5' to 4'

Here is some more info & pictures of the trip. Yes that is us (my wife
& myself)

http://dnkcruising.blogspot.com/2007...h-to-east.html

http://dnkcruising.blogspot.com/2007...wrong-way.html

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Janet O'Leary wrote:
Any of you Captains done the journey across Florida from Ft Myers to Stuart,
Fla

The Okeechobee Waterway? I think that is the name..

What size sailboats can make the trip? Is the mast a problem?

Any limit?

What about water depth?



Never did it but those who were about to said the height limit was 45
feet and depth 4 feet. There are many references published on this route.

"slide" wrote in message
...
Janet O'Leary wrote:
Any of you Captains done the journey across Florida from Ft Myers to
Stuart, Fla

The Okeechobee Waterway? I think that is the name..

What size sailboats can make the trip? Is the mast a problem?

Any limit?

What about water depth?



Never did it but those who were about to said the height limit was 45 feet
and depth 4 feet. There are many references published on this route.

With a clearance height of only 45', and a depth of only 4' .. that
eliminates many
sailboats, for sure.

In fact, I was just looking at a boat on the net, nice older boat. .. the
draft is 5' 10" I think.

==

So,, if the boat can't go through .. ?? then it is down and around?

How does that trip go? Where is the cut through point?

Route 1: Navigational depths: reported at 8.62 feet.

Route 2 (the Rim Canal) is closed with navigational depths of 6.02
feet. Route 2 has been closed since Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Debris
has not been removed.

This is up 2.46 feet from the last report we gave two weeks ago. All
locks are now open. A Notice to Navigational Interests from the USACE
Jacksonville advises that normal navigation through the OWW could
change on short notice due to direct and indirect effects from
hurricanes and storm systems.

The lowest fixed bridge is 53 feet clearance

Fair Winds

Cap'n Dave

"Janet O'Leary" wrote in message
...

With a clearance height of only 45', and a depth of only 4' .. that
eliminates many
sailboats, for sure.

In fact, I was just looking at a boat on the net, nice older boat. .. the
draft is 5' 10" I think.

==

So,, if the boat can't go through .. ?? then it is down and around?

How does that trip go? Where is the cut through point?


If you're just buying a boat and have little to no passage-making
experience, you'd be well-served by looking for a boat that's already in the
area where you want it to be. If you have your heart set on one particular
boat and nothing else will do, you might want to look into having it trucked
to its new home port -- with older boats, though, this is rarely cost
effective. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

Regarding "cut through points" in the Florida Keys -- not advisable without
good local knowledge, up-to-date charts and good sailing experience in all
weather. Water there gets really thin, really fast, and weather can kick up
just as quickly. It's a good way to run aground and end up with a "totalled"
vessel. The safest route is to stay away from shore and in deep water, going
around the keys rather than through them. This advice has been disregarded
in the past with predictable outcome.

Janet O'Leary wrote:


With a clearance height of only 45', and a depth of only 4' .. that
eliminates many
sailboats, for sure.

In fact, I was just looking at a boat on the net, nice older boat. .. the
draft is 5' 10" I think.

==

So,, if the boat can't go through .. ?? then it is down and around?

How does that trip go? Where is the cut through point?



First, check local and up to date published data. Then subtract some
from both the height and the depth. Frex, last time I wished to passage
Dismal Swamp the clearance was published at 6' but local knowledge said
that there were many sunken logs and the real clearance depth was less
than 5'.

There was one bridge on the ICW which 'rang' my antenna even though I
waited for low tide. This clearly (to me) proved correct local knowledge
that the bridge was below the nominal 65' published minimum clearance.

Yes, it means go around if you wish to get to the Gulf. There are cuts
in the Keys but likewise you need local knowledge. Maybe even more so
because going aground in they keys on that old limestone can be much
more damaging than the mud further north.

"Janet O'Leary" wrote in news:a0u2l.2578
:

Where is the cut through point?


Ask Skip and Lydia about cutting through the Keys.

I believe you'll be told to put it out of your mind and go around Key West
in the deep water.

Go to http://maps.google.com/

Tell it to find Marathon Florida.

Once it does, click on SATELLITE view in the upper right corner so you can
see the bottom from the mainland to Cuba. The satellite pictures are
stunning, not to mention horrifying, of the shifting bars and hazards
around the Florida Keys in such clear water.

Very treacherous waters, indeed.

When you zoom in close, the pictures become even more revealing. You can
actually see the sandbars MOVING when the satellite snapped the photo!
This has got to be the WORST place to sail on the planet.

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Janet O'Leary" wrote in news:a0u2l.2578
:

Where is the cut through point?


Ask Skip and Lydia about cutting through the Keys.

I believe you'll be told to put it out of your mind and go around Key West
in the deep water.

Go to http://maps.google.com/

Tell it to find Marathon Florida.

Once it does, click on SATELLITE view in the upper right corner so you can
see the bottom from the mainland to Cuba. The satellite pictures are
stunning, not to mention horrifying, of the shifting bars and hazards
around the Florida Keys in such clear water.

Very treacherous waters, indeed.

When you zoom in close, the pictures become even more revealing. You can
actually see the sandbars MOVING when the satellite snapped the photo!
This has got to be the WORST place to sail on the planet.


Sorry, Larry, but your ignorance, reliance on book learning and jumping to
false conclusions are showing again. You try to sound like a expert on
everything and it's pretty darned obvious from many of your idiotic
statements that you lack real knowledge in many areas.

The Florida Keys are my home sailing grounds. There is very little shifting
of sandbars. I don't know what drugs you are on but you certainly can't see
them shifting in satellite photos. As a matter of fact sand is in relatively
short supply in the Keys. There is more rock and mud than sand.

On the Florida Bay side it's mostly all mud. There resides the Intracoastal
Waterway and the Yacht Channel up to the Gulf of Mexico. Five or six feet
depth all the way. In and along Hawk Channel on the ocean side it's mostly
coral rock with only a few sandy beaches. The rest of it is bare, water worn
coral rock. Hawk Channel is a very safe place to sail. The barrier reef
knocks out the seas from the Straits. The Island chain provides a barrier to
the north. There are a few areas with charted coral heads and patch reefs
that need to be given a wide berth but it's no problem to do so either
visually or using GPS.

Anybody who can't sail safely through the Keys on either side of the island
chain is incompetent or inept or stupid and poor Skippy was all three when
he came through here running aground at every opportunity and making an ass
out of himself, not to mention giving sailors a bad name. I have been
sailing the Keys for over 25 years and have YET to run aground. There's no
excuse for it.

Wilbur Hubbard