From West Palm Beach to Marker 73

The final leg of our Bahamas trip aboard Elske, our 42 foot Grand Banks trawler, began Saturday, July 23^rd, seven weeks after we left her at Soverel Marina in Palm Beach Gardens. We returned to the US on Sunday, June 5 and needed to be back at work on the 7^th. We did not want to travel back through Miami and the Keys and chose to wait until Lake Okeechobee had enough water for our 4'2 " draft. Every day we checked our Iphone app for the Army Corps of Engineers and kept a list of the available draft across Route 1 from Port Myacca to Clewiston. Every weekend we traveled to the East Coast to check on our boat, often staying overnight and exploring  Palm Beach County. Finally I determined that we had about one inch more water than we needed and called my long-time friend, Gary Hudson, to provide crew for the crossing. On Saturday morning, July 23, we left Fort Myers at 6 and traveled with Jackie and Martha Smith, to make the return. After breakfast in historic Clewiston, Gary and I departed at 10:15. Up the intracoastal we went past Jupiter Inlet and on to Stuart and the St. Lucie Inlet. By 3 PM we were headed West and arrived at the St. Lucie Lock. We had to wait for an hour and lost our time opportunity to cross the lake that day and be in Clewiston that night. So we stopped at the Port Myakka Lock, at the eastern edge of the lake and tied Elske between two bollards at the lock entrance. We cooked dinner, watched TV and retired early. Sunday morning found us up at 6 and departing at 6:30. Immediately the water was shallow and we hugged the green markers to port. Out in the big lake we had 5 to 6 feet of water. Ninety minutes later we came to the tough part, a zig zag pattern around the Rocky Reef. We held our breath and slowed to 5 knots. Aground for us is 2.5 on the depth chart and I saw 2.8 briefly and even felt a brief "bump." But that was the worst and we entered the Clewiston Canal, all 5 feet of it. Whew! On our way to Moore Haven we found that lock open and hurried on to the Ortona Lock. There, at 1 PM Sunday, we were told that we had to make the Franklin Lock by 4PM, 28miles away, or miss the last opening of the day. We "streaked " along at 8.8 knots and made it with 15 minutes to spare. From there it was down the Caloosahatchee past good ole Marker 73 and home by 6:30PM. Good friends, the Maxwells and the Ingrahams, met us and welcomed us and we realized that the 2011 Gulf Harbour Yacht Club Abacos cruise was finished. It was fun, and safe, and filled with adventure. We are glad we did it!

David Kelley