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Canalboating Along Florida's Okeechobee Waterway
Only the sound of fish jumping nearby broke the silence of the early evening. We chose this anchorage for it isolation, having bypassed several possible overnight spots because of inquisitive cattle standing on the river bank solemnly looking at our elegant and beautifully painted 42-foot barge.
We are in the western branch of the Okeechobee Waterway, completed in 1937 by the US Army Corps of Engineers as a link in the Intracoastal Waterway system. This navigable channel joins Stuart on the Atlantic seaboard with Fort Myers on Florida's Gulf Coast to make possible a 152-mile-long journey across the state through Lake Okeechobee.
Our story begins and ends with the Mid-Lakes Navigation Company, a family business now under third generation management. These enterprising people decided many years ago that the famous "narrow boats," the canal barges of England's waterways, could be the blueprint for a more comfortable version for use on the Erie Canal and connected rivers and lakes. The resulting fleet of Lockmaster canalboats, each painted in the traditional colors of forest green, red and gold, are fitted out meticulously to accommodate from two to eight people. Mid-Lakes pays particular attention to the nautical side of things, as they must to conform to the U.S. Coast Guard regulations for safe operation.
Mid-Lakes decided several years ago to base barges at the Pahokee Marina on the eastern shore of Lake Okeechobee (Seminole Indian for Big Water), which is where we caught up with them. Canalboating was fast becoming a permanent feature of "things to do" in Florida's winter season and has moved north to New York's Erie Canal, where summers are filled with a variety of voyages. Canalboating offers a wonderful opportunity for families with children of, say, 5 years and older with a calm temperament, and to multi-generational vacationers looking for boating, fishing, bird-watching and other outdoors pursuits as the principal focus of a unique vacation.
Rendevous with a Canalboat
We were greeted by a cheery soul named Libby who quickly checked our boating credentials (previously submitted with the charter request forms) and gave us a thorough orientation of the barge and a review of the safety equipment on board. In turn we verified the paperwork, insurance and towing coverages; the process is not unlike renting a car.
Then she efficiently guided us through basic boat-handling and elementary maneuvers with tips on using the bow-thruster to good effect in a practice run, which included taking the boat back alongside the dock, "just to make sure you can do it!" We apparently passed the test with flying colors and moments later we entered the Moore Haven Lock which opened its gates to take our barge, aptly named Okeechobee, from the lake to the first stretch of waterway, heading west. The big diesel engine purred away down below, moving us along at a respectable 5 knots (a shade over 5½ mph.) Now we enjoyed the first real opportunity to explore our floating home away from home.
Up with the lark, or at least with the sun, we set off after a leisurely breakfast to see what was round the next bend in the river, and the one after that. Soon, our nautical chart told us, we would come up on the Denaud swing-bridge, a road bridge with very low vertical clearance. When it hove in sight we radioed the Bridge-tender, requesting passage westbound at his convenience. "Well, Cap'n," his voice came back after a brief pause, "we seem to be having some problems this morning. Sometimes she opens, sometimes she don't." As we watched him walk out to the control station, we realized that this was part of a leisurely life on the waterway and if we were held up, well, it didn't really matter. The bridge worked like a charm. The patient bridge tender waved as we went through. We called out to him that we'd be back, he nodded, and waved again. He'd seen it all before.
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