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Sunday June 21, 2009 - Labelle to Clewiston Day 6 begins bright and early after a restful sleep at the River’s Side Motel. Jeff and I we’re already to go but before leaving we needed to do some filming and photographs but we had some technical problems -NOT WITH OUR BOAT, but with our video camera. The camera simply couldn’t handle the high humidity outside after spending the night in our cold air conditioned room. I’m very pleased and proud to report that we’ve not had one technical problem to deal with on our Endeavour Hybrid! The D&D electric motor, the 16 Trojan batteries and our MasterVolt Whisper generator are all working perfectly, although we had no concerns from day one. We’re looking forward to reporting to MasterVolt our calculations are even better than their projections… we’ve calculated 3.8 hours per gallon of diesel, whereby they calculated 3 hours/ gallon. Our boats are eco-friendly, reliable, efficient, comfortable, quiet and a whole lot of fun!
Lock number two, the Ortona Lock just ahead.
This one was much more exciting with a 4 foot rise of water and although the Lockmaster opened the gate quite slowly- there was a of turbulence inside the walls as we cautiously watched over our Endeavour. As the gates opened and we were instructed to start our motor and proceed out - the Lockmaster made comment on how strange it is to not to hear our motor. I can only assume he doesn’t see many electric boats – but that will soon change as more and more people start cruising all the waterways the Endeavour Electric way! Shortly after the Ortona lock we came upon the directional sign for River Forest Yachting Center’s first location for us to visit. River Forest is a well protected yachting center, a prefect facility to have your vessel hualed-out and stored in their climate controlled storage. And I’m talking some about BIG boats –in fact we saw a 48’ Endeavour Cat with a sky lounge! We then returned to the ditch, cruising miles and miles and miles until we approached Moore Haven. Reporter Nena Bolan from the Glades County Democrat, who came down and took some photos as we passed by and then joined us at a nearby ramp so we could take her for a ride. We look forward to seeing the story about her maiden electric boat ride.
After the interview, we met up with Rob and Jon, a couple of cool Endeavour cats, who we’re there to help us with the dilemma of the Moore Haven lock’s temporary closing. The only way for us to continue on our way was for Rob and Jon to come to our rescue with not only a trailer so we could go amphibious for less than a half mile and re-launch, but also with burgers, potatoes and corn that they BBQ'd for us to eat during our quick pit stop.
The Moore Haven lock's temporary closing was something we were aware of and thank goodness the Endeavour is so easy to load on to a boat trailer and launch, otherwise we couldn’t have finished our trip. And then, here’s three for the manatees… 1. The lock is being closed for the installation of manatee protectors to help detect their presence and prevent harm 2. Our boats’ keel guards our propeller making our boats manatee-friendly 3. We actually saw a manatee behind our boat at the haul out ramp!
After the Moore Haven Lock you are in the rim canal that goes about
halfway around the lake.
There's not even enough water to float the floating docks.
After the re-launch the rest of the surroundings looked were pretty
much the same so we
Getting closer...
even closer...
and gone.
Okeechobee Sculpture
Great Blue Heron appreciating the silence as we cruise by.
Entering the hurricane gate at Clewiston.
Many Endeavours have tied up to this dock and many a cocktail
consumed at the Tiki Bar.
It was Sunday night around 7 PM when we arrived at Roland & Mary Ann Martins Fishing Resort and with it being off-season and with one of the locks closed there wasn’t the usual crowds. In fact the Tiki Hut even closed before we had time to freshen-up and enjoy a cold beverage.
We made the best of it and walked the out-skirts of Clewiston and found one of the only restaurants open – Dixie Fried Chicken Restaurant and ordered some chicken and catfish, hush puppies, collard green and slaw. After a meal like that, another walk was understandably in order, so we walked around the resort and then went down to the boat to lower the conversion top and make sure we were getting a good charge for the long day ahead.
Sleep Tight
We did what we said we were going to do and that’s get an early start because today is a long day and the fourth and last large body of water to cover – unless when we get to Stuart we keep going and cross the Atlantic…. So we left Roland and Maryann Martins famous fishing resort and entered Lake Okeechobee to begin the 25 mile crossing. The lake is very big and also very shallow, especially now, so any waves kicked up by the wind are steep with a very quick period. Pretty bad for small craft. As we began there was about a 7 knot wind which makes it very comfortable temperature wise, however, the lake already has a 1 foot chop. The winds are predicted to increase to 10 to 15 knots as the day continues – hopefully we’ll be close to the other side when they do.
The open lake is just past those markers ahead.
BEEP, BEEP, BEEP Live Wave Breaking News: I was forced to stop typing when the winds increased to 18 to 20+ knots and the chop turned into 2’-3’ as we were just moving past the leeward side of the somewhat protected water. After careful consideration, Jeff has decided to change course – safety first! I’m grateful now we’re in calmer waters because had we continued to cross the lake- we would have traveled through some really rough water. We decided to play it safe and return to the rim canal around the lake. On this path, instead of 25 miles across we’re now forced to do 32 miles of the rim plus the 10 miles we lost having to return – Needless to say this is going to be a VERY long day. CONTINUE ON TO STUART - RETURN TO MAP
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