OK, You Can Breath Again

Lake Okechobee, FL
29 57.46 N 080 39.31 W

It was a gut clinching moment. For years we've heard about this infamous bridge on the Okechobee Waterway that had only 49 foot clearance. Sailboats had to find a way to heel over to fit underneath without striking the masthead on the bridge.

Of course we're chickens on bridges in all cases. When we pass under the 150 foot bridges on the Hudson it looks like we're going to hit. When we pass under 55 foot bridges we're sure we're going to die. The problem is that depth perception doesn't seem to work at all when looking straight up.

Another problem is that the 49 foot bridge is a lift bridge. It only has 49 feet of clearance if it's fully raised and there is no way for us in the boat to see whether or not it is fully raised. There is also no bridge tender to talk to on the radio.

Last week I went up the mast and removed our Windex, radio antenna and annemometor to avoid them from being knocked off. Then I measured it's height. I calculate 47 feet above the water line. We should have two feet to spare.

Yesterday we approached the bridge. Libby was totally chicken. She handed the helm to me and went below where she couldn't see. I crept up as slow as I possibly could. When the moment of truth arrived, we slipped underneath. Looking up (with my poor depth perception) it looked like we had two feet of clearance. Whew.

The natural environment here is alien. We're used to seeing only the salt water environment in Florida. Here the water is fresh. No tides. No dolphins. No manatees. No mangroves. Only a few pelicans and gulls. Only the ever present turkey vultures remind us that we're in Florida.

The veneer effect is very dominant here. We see banks along the canal raised by the spoils of dredging. Along the tops of the banks are palm trees, pines, and palmettos. What is behind the screen of trees is hidden from us. It could be wilderness, or cattle ranches, or fields with sugar cane or tomatoes. In a few places, permanent houses, vacation houses, or farm houses are visible, but most of what we see is nature.

We spent the night tied up to two dolphins near Port Mayaca. Dolphins? I'll explain later when I post the picture.

I'll write tomorrow about this remarkable lake.