We pulled anchor at 0645 and entered the Port Mayaca Lock at 0705... first boat to lock through for the day...

We were dropped about 6 inches to the level of the St. Lucie Canal... hardly seems worth the times it takes...

Yesterday we were in a pack of boats... today we saw very few boats... go figure.

We transited the St. Lucie Lock and it dropped us 13 ft to the level of the St. Lucie River... takes longer than you would think... maybe 30 to 45 minutes total from in to out... sure kills your average speed for the day.

Approaching the Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart, FL we saw the Railroad bridge adjacent to it lowering... just bad timing for us... spent another 45 minutes waiting on the train to pass and the bridges to open for us.

Did well from there...picked up a great boost in speed with the outgoing tide... we ran 7.5 to 8.5 knot all the way to the ICW... then turned north into the ICW and slowed to 5.5 knots...

We arrived to our destination for the day... Fort Pierce around 1600 and were secure on the hook at 1615... our position for the night N27°28.022', W080°19.053’. We traveled today for 9.25 hours covering 54.4 nautical miles averaging 5.9 knots.

Dropped the dinghy and took the dogs to the beach on the small island we were anchored next to... they can run off lease here and they really enjoy it.

We left Sweet Water Landing Marina this morning at 0715... leaving just before us were 2 other boats.

200 feet from the marina was the Wilson Piggott Bridge... we do not need an opening but do have to lower the mast and VHF antennas... was a great sunrise photo.

We picked up another boat in our pack at the Franklin lock... so we had 3 boats now ahead of us... and just after the lock we picked up 2 more boats behind us... total of 6 boats now all heading east... never have been across the Okeechobee Waterway and had this many boats traveling in very close proximity of each other... the lead boat was about 1 mile ahead of us and the 2 trailing were about the same distance behind us... and all of them were large cruising boats... we were the smallest one at 45ft... largest was 65 feet.

Our initial plan for the say was to stop in Clewiston and Roland and Martin Marina... calling them we were told they were booked full... we tried Riverhouse Marina in Moore Haven... also full...tried Moore Haven Town Docks... they were closed due to a boat file on the docks... that left nothing but to anchor... and there are not a lot of places to anchor in this area.... We opted to continue on across Lake Okeechobee to the Port Mayaca Lock... the lock stops operation at 1700 so we anchored just off the lock to the Northwest.... we will take the first locking at 0700 tomorrow.

We were secure on the hook at 2000... our position for the night N26°59.120', W080°37.508’. We traveled today for 6.75 hours covering 42.4 nautical miles averaging 6.8 knots.

We left Pelican Bay this morning at sunrise... destination Sweet Water Landing on the Caloosahatchee River. Meeting my two sons and their families for dinner at the Boathouse Bar and Grill to say our goodbyes for the winter :(

I had to double check the calendar that it was Monday and not a weekend... we must had over hundred boats pass us today... appeared as if they were all local boats just out for a day on the water.

Overall we did have a favorable current pushing us well over 7 knots all day so we arrived a little earlier than planned at approximately 1345.

Docked for the night at Sweet Water Landing N26°42.941', W081°45.692’. We traveled today for 6.75 hours covering 42.4 nautical miles averaging 6.8 knots.