March 24-30, 2025 – LaBelle, FL to Stuart, FL
Highlights this week: Crossing Lake Okeechobee and crossing our wake on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) at Stuart– completing our 2nd Loop! Goodbye Gold Looper burgee. We’re Platinum Loopers now!
Monday, March 24, 2025 – LaBelle, FL (LaBelle Yacht Club) to Moore Haven, FL (Riverhouse Marina)
Today, we were underway 2 hours and 50 minutes, going 24 miles (20.6 nm), at an average speed of 8 MPH (7.2 knots). The Ortona Lock added 45 minutes – to go up 8 feet.
With a short journey and checkout time of 11:00 AM, we spent the morning cleaning – Tim on the outside and me on the inside. Good thing we got a head start on cleaning, because as we were doing so, we got a call from our broker, Morgan, saying that a couple wants to see the boat at 4:30 PM today!
Bridge Street Bridge was up as we pulled away from the marina. Last night, we went over this bridge. Our friends from home, Willie, Theresa and Roberta, came to visit. Willie and Theresa are spending the month in Bonita Springs and Roberta was visiting them from The Villages. Last year, they visited us in Tarpon Springs. We had a fun dinner and drinks at LaBelle Brewing Co. Tim had one of LaBelle’s beers on Cabbage Key.
We got to Ortona Lock around noon. We were entertained by an alligator as we waited 15 minutes for the gates to open. As we started into the lock, the lock tender said to watch out for a manatee in the lock. I watched from the bow, until onlookers shouted that they saw it at the other end of the lock. Tim got the watch the manatee from the bow as we raised up 8 feet. These Okeechobee Waterway locks don’t have underwater valves to equalize the water before the gates open. The water just releases with the opening of the gates. These locks are the slowest of all the locks we’ve done.
We didn’t see the manatee as we exited the lock. Maybe he went out when the gates opened. We arrived at Riverhouse Marina in Moore Haven, FL around 2:30 PM and immediately resumed cleaning. Morgan and the perspective buyers arrived at 4:30 PM. They seemed to like HOMES and we really liked talking with them. Hopefully we’ll hear from them again. They live in the area and don’t seem to be in a rush to buy. This evening, we ate leftovers for dinner and relaxed.
Thursday, March 27, 2025 – Moore Haven, FL (Riverhouse Marina) to Stuart, FL (Hooker Cove Anchorage)
Today, we COMPLETED our 2nd Loop! We were underway 11 hours and 22 minutes, going 86 miles (74.6 nm), at an average speed of 7.6 MPH (6.6 knots). We crossed Lake Okeechobee; continued through Stuart on the St. Lucy River; entered the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) to complete our Loop; turned around and came back to anchor on the St. Lucy River. We just didn’t want to stop because it was such a beautiful day and the next few days are to be windy and rainy. Our trip duration was 13 hours and 11 minutes.
Our long voyage today had been preceded by three days at Riverhouse Marina in Moore Haven. We booked into that marina from Monday through Wednesday because we didn’t know when the perspective buyers were going to look at HOMES. Since they came on Monday, we used the next two days to do more cleaning and boat projects. Tim made new teak trim for the two pilothouse skylights. It has been on the to-do list since we resealed them in Spring 2023 when HOMES was in indoor storage for the winter. There isn’t much of a town to explore, but we did find a coffee shop not listed on Google Maps.
This morning, we left at dawn with two other Looper boats who joined us last night at the marina. We traveled the short distance to Moore Haven Lock and pulled into the chamber at 7:04 AM. The locks open at 7 AM and the last lock is 4:30 PM.
We pulled out of the lock 15 minutes later into dense fog. Who would think 15 minutes and 4 feet would make such a change in weather. After exiting the lock, we took a right-hand turn onto the Rim Canal. The other two boats sped ahead, but we traveled slower until the fog burned off about 30 minutes later.
I really enjoyed our nearly 2-hour cruise through the Rim Canal before turning left at Clewiston and heading out into Lake Okeechobee. While the right-hand side of the Rim Canal is a made-made dyke, the left-hand side was Florida as it should look- swampy, with alligators swimming and various species of wading birds, like egrets, ibises, anhingas, and herons, feasting on fish or pecking for insects in the mud. I was captivated by it all and glued to my binoculars!
At Clewiston, FL, the Rim Canal has an intersection; turning right goes through a lock towards Clewiston; going straight continues on the Rim Canal all the way around Lake Okeechobee; and going left goes across Lake Okeechobee. We chose left across the lake. Lake Okeechobee is second-largest natural freshwater lake contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states after Lake Michigan. The channel across the lake was narrow and crooked because while the lake is 730 square miles, it is very shallow, with an average depth of 9 feet!
Once across Lake Okeechobee, we had to go through Port Mayaca Lock to enter the St. Lucie Canal, built between 1916 and 1924. The lock master welcomed us to traverse the lock – no lift or drop today. Sometimes there is a 2-foot drop. Its purpose is to help raise the water level of the lake for purposes of retaining fresh water for agriculture, city water and navigation. It also regulates flood water into the Everglades during hurricane season. Unfortunately, the lock can be closed by the Army Corps of Engineers if it sees algae masses, caused by agriculture chemicals, moving across the lake toward the lock. Luckily, we made it through the lock… one more to go.
We changed our plan to moor at the Port Mayaca Dolphins (pylons) for the night when we got into 5 feet of water. Tim immediately pulled away and we decided to continue on and finish our Loop today.
About 3 hours later, we came to our last lock – St. Lucie Lock! After nearly 30 minutes of waiting, we entered the lock for a 15-minute, 13-foot drop down to St. Lucie River.
Five minutes after exiting the lock, we cruised under the Florida Turnpike, with I-95 in the background. About 45 minutes later, we were entering Stuart, passing marinas and homes with yachts that make HOMES look small. We’re back on the east coast of Florida! Our journey through Stuart was eventful. Tim radioed the Old Roosevelt Bridge for a lift. The bridge tender lifted the bridge as we approached and we were happily cruising under when the raised railroad bridge immediately in front of us began flashing red. Tim threw Homes in neutral and radioed the bridge tender, who said we had time to make. At that point, an automated voice came over the radio saying the railroad bridge would be lowered in three minutes! Yes, plenty of time, but a little unexpected drama.
We continued up the St. Lucie River through Stuart and finally around 6:00 PM, the Atlantic Ocean came into view! We turned north on the Intracoastal (ICW) at 6:15 PM – completing our 2nd Loop!
We continued north for a bit and then turned around to anchor in the St. Lucie River to wait out some windy and rainy weather for the next three days. The sun was setting as we finished anchoring. It was a long, wonderful and memorable voyage today!
Sunday, March 30, 2025 – Stuart, FL (Hooker Cove Anchorage) to Stuart, FL (Sunset Bay Marina)
Today, we were underway 41 minutes, going 5 miles (4.5 nm), at an average speed of 7.6 MPH (6.6 knots). This was just a short voyage back up the St. Lucie River– back the way we came on Wednesday.
We had three peaceful nights at Hooker Cove Anchorage. It was a good anchorage to wait out the wind. We used our time to organize and pack to go home. We’ll be home at least two months. We’re hoping the boat sells in that time. We also used the time to relax and reminisce about our two Loops.
Around 11:30AM, we pulled up anchor and retraced our path back to Sunset Bay Marina. We easily cruised under the railroad bridge and drawbridge – less traumatic than on Wednesday. However, the rain hit just as we were docking.
We’ll stay here at Sunset Bay Marina until Tuesday morning. We’re looking forward to walking to Historic Downtown Stuart. We have a coffee shop and multiple craft beer locations picked out to visit. More than one person has said that we should have named our boat “Coffee and Beer!”
On Tuesday, we will be moving about 2 miles to a slip in front of an Airbnb for two months. Being in one spot will make it easier for our broker to show our boat. If it doesn’t sell, we’ll be back in June and head to the Carolinas for hurricane season.
We’ll leave you here. Thank you for following along over our almost 3–year America’s Great Loop voyage! We enjoyed all the likes and comments you made on our weekly Facebook post. It was nice having you along as we traveled 11,084 miles at 7.6 MPH, visiting 19 states, Canada, and all 5 Great Lakes, completing 168 locks and doing 3 overnight crossings. What an adventure!
