Preparing to leave our comfortable space at the Legacy Marina which we’ve called home for the past three weeks. Getting a little antsy to hit the road again. Yeah, I know, hit the waters again.

We plan to leave tomorrow morning to head across Lake Okeechobee, or Lake “O” as the locals call her, to Stuart and Florida’s east coast. Lake O is big, it’s the second largest fresh water lake in the continental United States.  Roughly circular, it’s approximately 32 nautical miles from north to south and 27 nautical miles from east to west. Depths range from as little as six feet to as much as 14 feet. Its broad surface encompasses 730 square miles of often-restless water. Some say the lake can be likened to a saucer of water. We checked the navigational depth and found it is currently 5.72 feet. Remember – our draft is 3.8. Sounds like fun!

There are two ways to cross the lake. Route #1 cuts across the southern portion of the lake and is the fastest and most direct route.  Route #2 is the rim route which is about eight to nine nautical miles longer and runs along the southern shore of the lake. Route #2 is not recommended due to risk of debris and low water depths. We will travel the recommended Route #1.  Route #1 appears to be about 127 miles from Ft. Myers to our destination in Stuart Florida. There are, however, five locks to go through. I’m told we don’t need our “big balls” for these locks. I guess we’ll see when we get there. We have been warned though that we might have to lock through with Manatees and/or alligators. Interesting!! There are also 21 bridges along the way. We do plan to make a couple of stops between Ft. Myers and Stuart. Not quite sure how long this will take but will check in as we proceed……

Happy to be moving again!