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

Click Here To View the Cruisers Net Okeechobee Bridge Directory Listing For Mayaca Railway Lift Bridge