March 1 Labelle to Clewiston

March 1


Day number 2 of our trek across mid-Florida.   Honestly, not a particularly interesting day.  Many miles of canals with not too much in the way of scenery. 

Monotonous view to the front

Monotonous view to the rear

  Passed through 2 locks. Ortona Lock  was the “big” lift taking us up 8’.  Moore Haven lock was an easy 2’ rise.  Looked a bit more intense as the front gates are also “Hurricane Gates”. They stand much taller to hold back water in case the lake floods. We’re now up to Lake O level.  On the other side we’ll start going back down to sealevel again.

Moore Haven lock and the Hurricane Gates

We finally started seeing some wildlife in the last half hour or so as we approached the lake.  Lots more waterfowl along the banks.  Even saw a couple of big gators.  First two were just laying in the water and we almost thought they might be logs but then we saw a pair of big ones laying on the bank. 

Blue heron

Two big gators taking in the sun. 

  

We got a decent start this morning at 8AM.  That put us into Clewiston and the Roland Martin Marina at 2:00.  The marina is on a narrow  canal  with barely enough room to spin the boat for a side tie and quick exit in the morning. We had an audience watching but all went fine  today as we docked like the seasoned pro’s  we’re becoming.  

As You Wish spun and tied to the face dock at Roland Martin Marina

Seems like we timed our arrival perfectly as right after we got tied up bass boats started arriving to do their weigh-ins for a tournament.  Watched as over 80 boats came and went. Most had caught the limit of 5 fish. Big fish of the day was over 6.5 lbs. We did not see “The Great American Fisherman” himself but that’s not surprising as his wife got the marina as part of their divorce settlement. 

Bass Boats line the dock as fish are brought to the weigh-in station

This 6.2 lb. fish was contending for big fish. Winner came in at 6.5 lbs.

 Listened to some live music coming from the tiki hut and grill next to us. Finally went up for dinner about 5.  Ordered the  blackened mahi-mahi taco’s based on the recommendation of friends who passed through here a few days ago - very good indeed!! Tried the gator tail appetizer – about like I remembered them – tastes like chicken but a bit chewy.

Not enough time to go explore Clewiston proper.  It's called  the “sweetest little town in Florida” - so named because it’s the center for the sugar cane industry.  We could see some growing as we entered the area.  Lots of industry vs politics vs environmentalist regarding that industry over the years.  They’re the ones who dug a myriad of canals to drain the Everglades to turn it into farmland. Now also accused of generating all the polluted runoff that is causing the green/blue/red tides on both sides of Florida as water from Lake O flows out to both the east coast and gulf waters.

Fields of sugar cane as we enter Clewiston area

Journey for March 1