Here’s some bad news for anyone planning to cruise around Florida this winter, or those hoping to tackle the Great Loop. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will close the St. Lucie Lock on the Okeechobee for three months, from January 2 to March 31, for repairs.
That means that anyone wanting to cross from the Atlantic to the Gulf coasts will not be able to cut across the lake, but instead have to go all the way around, down to Key West, or cut across at Marathon in the middle of the Keys. The time and cost differential, depending on the boat, will be significant.
Many years ago, I crossed the 154-mile Okeechobee Waterway from Fort Myers to Stuart on my Grand Banks 36, cruising at 8 knots and going through the five locks maintained by the Army Corps along the way. I personally didn’t find the trip all that interesting, although it was a fast way to cut across the state.
Since then, I’ve gone around the long way, on a variety of trawlers and planing boats, and it’s certainly much more fun, at least in my mind, with much more to do. But it will add as much as a week to your trip in most cruising boats.
The St. Lucie Lock was built in 1941; it’s about 15 miles upstream from the intersection of the St. Lucie River and the Intracoastal Waterway. The Army Corps says this will be the first total closure of the lock in ten years, and that “maintenance is necessary to repair aging and damaged infrastructure, in addition to improving public and vessel safety.”
During the closure, the Army Corps will replace corroded steel structures, install new gate seals, and repair Manatee Protection System components.
About 10,000 vessels pass through the St. Lucie Lock every year; 91 per cent of them are recreational vessels. See the Army Corps notice here:
https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Notices-to-Navigation/Notice-to-Navigation-2021-021-Okeechobee-Waterway-St-Lucie-Lock-Extended-Closure-for-Maintenance/fbclid/IwAR2_W9ROuBshYXUo8lZC2m-mdCSwx0NTqUTS1hWQuP7Bktb0IjY39nCmpes/
