An Interesting Day by Jim Healy
Jim and Peg Healy are full-time cruisers and very experienced boaters who regularly ply the waters of the Intracoastal Waterways. Our thanks to Jim for sharing this adventure! Editor’s note: the links inserted below are from Cruisers Net’s library of postings.
Sanctuary and crew came through the bridge Tuesday, 5/18. Following is my report to family and friends list,
“The best of times; the worst of times!”
Today was an “interesting” day.
The goal was to cross Lake Okeechobee (success) in the early morning (success) to avoid strong winds (success). We departed Clewiston at 06h05, and got to witness the birth of the new day:
The Indiantown RR Bridge is undergoing an extensive renovation. (See Temporary Opening Deviation.), Our plan was to run the 36 miles from Clewiston to the Indiantown RR Bridge to arrive by the bridge opening at 11h00. So all throughout our crossing, “the computer” said we were “on plan” to arrive at Indiantown at 10h30. That gave me 1/2 hour “slop” to get through the lock at Port Mayaca. Getting through the lock all worked fine.
Well… Then it got interesting… Really interesting…
About one mile east of the lock at Port Mayaca is the RR lift bridge that stops sailboats from using the lake crossing. It’s 49 feet open. And as we were pulling up to it, it closed. Closed, we can’t get through. Oh, crap! That’s not in the plan…
And of course, no phone number posted, and no response on VHF09. Just a closed bridge and utter silence…
After some minutes, I called the Port Mayaca lockmaster, who says “a train must be coming;” but, dead silence; except my wailing. So, I then called the Indiantown RR Bridge to ask why his colleagues closed on me. He reports it’s a different RR company that runs that bridge, and he doesn’t have the number for them. But, he know we’re coming, and he said, “don’t panic yet!” Or was it, “don’t panic; yet!”
So now I’m fumbling around looking for a phone number for the US Sugar RR Bridge (FEC owned) dispatcher. All of a sudden, there were horns sounding, and two guys in hardhat and safety vest came out onto the bridge. They look at me and then at each other and then back at me. Bewilderment all ’round…
And then, a miracle happened…. all of a sudden, the bridge begins to open. There’s no damn train. These bozos just closed the bridge without checking for boat traffic. As we used to say in the city, “Oye veh!”
OK. Now it’s petal to the metal to make Indiantown. Sanctuary arrived at the Indiantown bridge at 11h05… Having tested the engine’s cooling system (success) for that hour…
…To a long line of boats backed up in both directions. So we waited about 15 minutes for the bridge to open. This morning, both the eastbound and westbound draws were open, so traffic made it through smoothly. The bridge is that big, black hulk in the center of the picture…
There was one poor sailboat I felt badly for. We were at the end of the line (literally). In the picture, in the distance to the right of the bozo with the dinghy, you can just about see the sailboat. He’d anchored there for the night, waiting for the opening. When it came time to haul the anchor and move through the bridge, his anchor was foul and he couldn’t get it up. When we went through, he was in his dinghy and his lady was on the bow and they were working hard to get freed up. And of course, the bridge is asking them if they plan to come through. I was focused on the traffic, but Peg tells me they made it… Don’t know if they freed the anchor or abandoned it…
It was an interesting day!
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AND BY THE WAY, the bridge on the St. Lucie River at Stuart – the “Roosevelt Bridge” – used to be “on request.” It was “temporarily restricted” because of high rise bridge repairs, but was supposed to return to “on request” status. Well, folks… The Roosevelt Bridge is now PERMANENTLY restricted during the day. (See Update: Old Roosevelt Bridge Change of Schedule.) What used to be one of the easiest bridge on the east coast has turned nasty. Their opening schedule varies during “commuter” hours, but during the day, every 1/2 hour on the hour and half-hour. Those of you who know that bridge know there is a single leaf RR bascule immediately next to the Roosevelt Bridge. If the RR bridge there closes, you can be hosed, because that would cause you to miss Roosevelt’s next upcoming scheduled opening. Be attentive there, and be sure to have your patience stores fully stocked, especially in the afternoon when there are more trains. It’s a very busy area, right off a marina (Sunset Bay) and mooring field, and a lot of residential surroundings. Patience is not a plentiful commodity amongst the locals in that area.
LETTERS to the mayor of Stuart and the USCG Bridge Division are appropriate. The Okeechobee Waterway conditions there are very difficult, and made worse by those bridge restrictions.
Jim
Monk 36 Hull #132
Comments from Cruisers (3)
Jim – I have not been able, with a little research, to find anything which officially codifies the right of the bridge operator to proceed with a delayed opening "off schedule." If I can find it, I will post the link to it. But we did observe it happen several times (from Sunset Bay marina).
Both bridge operators I spoke with also said that in their experience, if a second train is planned to come through within 15 minutes of the first, then the RR will leave their bridge down. Again, the bridge operators have no way knowing if there is a second train.
I fully agree with you that this continues to be a dangerous situation. Those bridges in Stuart are without question a high-traffic and potentially dangerous area. With reduced openings, the boats pile up on either side of the bridges, waiting for an opening. Once the bridges are open, it is bedlam, since there is no "pecking order": boats enter from both sides simultaneously, and the pinch-point is at the RR bridge, which is extremely narrow. Very few boats yield. I would like to see a procedure where the bridge operator directs the order of passage for the waiting boats: "All westbound boats will go through the bridges first."
Cruise safely.
Best regards
Greg Allard
Hi Greg,
Thanks for the reply. Do you happen to know if that word-of-mouth procedure is actually documented anywhere? It looks like both FDOT and the USCG both had to sign-off on permitting that change to become permanent. I would assume that agreement language was in the approved/adopted change order. I would feel slightly better with that. I have been trapped at that bridge by trains, and although they say that they raise the bridge after a train has gone through, I found from my infinitesimally small sample size that is not always the case. It depends on the discipline of the RR dispatcher, and it may not happen if another train is coming through in short order. Add a fixed schedule at Roosevelt Bridge to that mix, and the lack of communications with the RR company and the Roosevelt bridge, and the result is not good for cruisers OR LOCAL TRAFFIC. I can't imagine how that change got approved. I would think local people would have been in revolt. That's why I question whether there was ever a public comment period.
Jim – Great report – but not so much fun for you in trying to make the reduced schedule at Indiantown. Another example of how the Okeechobee crossing can often have some unpredictable moments.
One comment on the Stuart bridges (adjacent to Sunset Bay Marina). We came through them a couple of times in in March and May, and I spoke to two of the bridge operators of the Old Roosevelt Bridge (which is the one which needs to open.) They said that if the regularly scheduled time for their bridge to open could not occur because the RR bridge was down, as soon as the RR bridge opened, they would proceed with an opening of the Old Roosevelt Bridge for waiting boats, even if it was past the scheduled opening.
The bridge operators stated that they have no idea when the RR bridge will open or close. There is no regular schedule, and they have no communication with the RR about when the trains are due. The only notice they have is some flashing lights and horn which will apparently sound when the RR bridge will soon go down.
Enjoy the rest of your cruise.