Stuart

1116 nm   N27 11.517  W080 16.107

Finally, the time to get moving again had arrived!  We checked out of our slip, cast off our lines, and headed out onto the ICW and south again.  Our goal today was to reach Stuart, FL just past the beginning of the Okechobee Waterway (OCWW).

Its a straight shot down the ICW to the St. Lucie River, where we turned inland, leaving the ICW to begin following the OCWW all the way to Florida's Gulf coast.

But not all today!  Our goal was much more modest.  The town of Stuart is just 7 1/2 miles up the St. Lucie river, and we planned to stop there while we arranged dockage for our various stops along the OCWW, as once we entered the narrow canal system, there would be few good places to anchor, so we wanted to have it all setup ahead of time.

This is when we encountered our first hiccup.  Sunset Marina, which operates the large mooring field at Stuart, was full up!  We had called the night before, and they had said to check back today, but still, no space was available. So, New Plan.  I got out the charts, and it looked like a spot across the river near Pendarvis Cove would have good depths for anchoring.  Active Captain confirmed that there was good holding there, with a mud bottom, so that's where we headed.

When we got there, it was obvious we weren't the only ones to figure this out, as there was a half dozen boats already anchored!  But we slowly cruised around the pack, sounding out the depths, and found a nice spot well back from the channel with plenty of depth and enough swinging room for a proper anchor scope.  The anchor bit in immediately and didn't budge a bit as we set it. Drinks all around!

At Anchor near Pendarvis Cove

At this point, we needed to plan out the next two days carefully.  A few miles past Stuart, the OCWW leaves the relatively wide St Lucie river and enters the narrow St Lucie canal.  From that point, up until the lake itself, there would be few opportunities to anchor without blocking the channel.  And then the Lake itself is about a 6 hour trip across and around to the exit off the lake at Moorehaven.  Too much to do all in one short winter day, so we needed a place to stop.  The marina at Indiantown looked like the perfect (and only) marina around.

But once again, another hiccup.  Indiantown was full!  They told us to call again tomorrow after 10 to see if anybody left!

So we sat back and watched the spectacular sunset.

Sunset at Stuart

The next day, we called Indiantown and they STILL had no room, and wouldn't for the next few days!  So, we needed a New Plan!

I did a lot of reading and pouring over the charts, and discovered something that we could use.  Just past Indiantown, before the lock onto the lake at Port Mayaca, there is a series of what are called "Dolphins" along one side of the channel.  These are clusters of pilings driven in together to make one fat "super piling".  Don't ask me why they're called "Dolphins"!   There are large cleats on these dolphins, and it is possible to use a bow and stern line to string the boat between two of them, sort of like the way you would rig a hammock between two trees.  This keeps the boat from swinging out into the channel.  You can get away with this unconventional mooring because there is no tide there.  There's enough room to accommodate up to four boats.

So this is what we decided to do.  Of course by now, It was too late to make it there before dark, so we settled back, had another round of drinks, and watched another spectacular sunset!

End of Day 2 at Stuart

Tomorrow we will head for Port Mayaca.  This will include finding out if our 45 foot mast plus 3 foot VHF antenna will really fit under the 49 foot high Railroad lift bridge along the way!

Life is Interesting (and Good)!