On the Water with As You Wish: March 4 St. Lucie Lock to Stuart

March 4

The docks at the St.Lucie Lock were a pleasant stop in a very quiet natural setting. They have 8 slips and only 3-4 were ever in use. Plenty of RV parking that was seeing more use, but they kept to themselves. We dropped the dingy and took a ride around but came back disappointed in the lack of wildlife so didn’t even bother dropping the kayaks. Pretty warm day up to the mid 80's so took it easy chilling on the back deck finishing up another book and watching an unusual collection of boats pass on by.

"As You Wish" tied up in the park at St. Lucie Lock Dock

Interesting thing with the locks on the Ockechobee waterway. On the western side (Caloosahatchee River side) we went up through 3 of them all with very small lifts – 2’, 8’, and another 2’ to take us up to the current Lake O level of 12’. On the eastern side (St. Lucie River side) there are only 2 locks. The first one at Port Mayaca was simply open as that part of the canal was at the same level. That left the St. Lucie lock doing all the work and dropping us the final 12’ to east coast sea level. We’re now completely done with locks having gone through 100+ of them.

Entering St. Lucie Lock - our final one of the trip

And leaving that final lock

Today was a really short run to Stuart. Late start and still docked by noon so plenty of time to explore. Stuart is known as the “Sailfish Capital of the World”. Lots of people will dispute that title but there is an inlet that puts you just a short run out to the gulf stream and some very good fishing.

Statue and fountain in the center of town

Fun fact about Stuart – the original industry here was pineapples! Lasted about a decade before it was wiped out by a combination of a deadly freeze and cheaper imported pineapples from the Caribbean. After that it was more about seafood, boat building, sportfishing and tourists. Things that still hold true today.

Mural showing the early pineapple industry

Nice little revitalized downtown area with a pleasant scenic riverwalk. Also had a much-needed barber shop. Off to Ft. Pierce tomorrow for several days to beat another cool front and stronger winds pass through.