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This trip from Sarasota to Miami via the ICW and Lake Okee Dokey is a must do. Even if you only have time to do half of it. I am sure most of you have been to Cayo Costa, so I will take this trip from St James City. Just briefly tho, we made the trip from Sarasota to St James in about 10 hrs. Maybe a tad more. Noankor took the win to the Jettys in Venice. Walt took the win to Stump Pass. From there it was the ICW to St James. I took the win to the first anchorage at St James. That was Friday. Saturday, early, to early for Noankor, we headed out for the begining of the Calahoohaa River. Just about 2 miles from St James the ICW narrows between two islands. It can get pretty crowded there on weekends. Plus the cops! In a sailboat it is all good tho. Fort Myers to the River is so so. Typical bay ride. As of this writing there is no fuel from North Fort Myers to St Lucie. Fortunatly kind hearted folks gave me a ride into town for fuel in jerry jugs. We did ok. The River is absolutly gorgous and you can skim the banks as the water is around 18ft close to shore. 50ft from shore. Out of habit I found myself in the middle of the river, but corrected to skim the shore for wildlife. You will start out seeing many nice homes. As your progress up the river the homes become far and few with more wilderness. DEFINITLY have your binocs available and use them. A camera with a zoom lens would be nice to have. You will see Eagles, Ospreys, otters, deer, shore birds and so much more. All the locks are a piece of cake and the lock attendents are very very helpful. REMEMBER the bridges operate on channel 9. The locks operate on channel 13. At the Label Bridge there are some new docks with deep water. I made it easy with a draft of 4'8". You can spend a evening there. It is pretty, facilitys, nice park. 100 years east of the park is a convience store with all you will need. East from there you will come to the Franklin Lock. On the port side after the lock is a nice anchorage with a small State campground with docks. also facilities with showers. From there more beauty and just a few locks. Most only raise, or lower you a few feet. One on this side and one on the other side have a 10 to 13 ft height up or down. Depending on which direction you go. Walt and I spent our second night at the Franklin Lock area. Noankor took the first place up the river to the anchorage. From that point Walt had me up real early again We made the 3rd day trip up through Moore Haven, Cleweston, Pahogg, to the Mayaka Lock on the other side of Lake Okeedokey. A nice stop is in Cleweston at Rowin and Martins Marina. No fuel yet but a awesome tiki bar, real nice resturant and town is only a few blocks away. The Marina is located on the other side of a lock and can be missed if not looking for it. The lock is always open so it is just a drive through. NOTE, from here you have two choices to get to the other side. Sail/motorsail the rim or cut across the lake. The lake now has about 14 ft of water in her. The rim route is 10 miles longer but so pretty. Just before the Myaka Lock there is a swing bridge that is manually opened. A historic bridge on the national register. Pretty neat. Walt had us going till the sun went down every night. I was so wooped that I can not remember where we spent that nightBut I am sure I won that race.Checking through the Mayaka Lock the US Coast Guard joined us. Tending the markers I gather. From that point you are now on the St Lucie River. Just after the lock is a low bridge. You better have a mast height of less that 44ft. or you will. A phone call ahead to Indian town will bring up a crew to fetch you boat over for a price. My antenna just dragged a bit going under. The St Lucie is just as beautiful as the rest of what you have experenced. You also have the added current to help assist in speed. You can reach over 6 knots with no problem. If the wind is from the west you can motorsail. I recommend just the Genny. From St Lucie you have another choice. The ICW or the Alantic. Chose this carefully. The inlets can be hell if the weather and tides do not agree. The ICW keeps its beauty all the way to Palm Beach. From there, well, its all bridges and condos and mansions. I now know where all the money is in Florida, Mega mansions, Mega yachts. Before I close for now I must give you some important reminders and suggestions. The Florida Waterway Guide is a must!!! Full of valuable information in regards to bridges, towns, locks and more. I did mention binocs and a good camera. Also remember!!!! from Sarasota to the St Lucie inlet is red on the left, NOT RED RIGHT. Once at the St Lucie inlet and going down the ICW it is back to red right. Coming home from Miami it is red left till the turn and the St Lucie inlet. From there up the ICW across the lake and down you are back to red right all the way through Fort Myers. So that being said I will sign off for now. There will be more to come when I return from this weeks raft up.
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