Day 24 – Franklin Lock to Clewiston

On Saturday, March 25th our convoy of two boats hit Franklin Lock at sunrise.Franklin LockLeaving Franklin Lock

We passed an interesting boat going the other way named “H200”.  A little later, we heard the captain explain to a bridge tender that it was a new ferry bound for New York Harbor.

Wait a minute.  New York is the OTHER way! Do they have a compass on board?Ferry H200

As it turned out, the boat had been built in Louisiana.  They’d tried to take the short cut across the Okeechobee and ran aground.  They were on their way back to go the long way around South Florida.

Next was Ortona Lock.Ortona Lock

Here we had an audience for the lock-through.Ortona Lock

And finally, Moore Haven Lock.Moore Haven Lock

Now at the level of Lake Okeechobee, we were passing swampland on either side of the long, straight man-made channels.Okeechobee Waterway

H200 wasn’t the only vessel to run into trouble on this stretch.  We never did find out the story on this one.Sunken Tubgboat

We also started to see the occasional alligator.Okeechobee Aligator

Okeechobee Waterway

Okeechobee Waterway

We tied up for the night at the Clewiston dolphins.  A “dolphin” in this usage is 3 or more pilings lashed together in a rough triangle.  These are placed along the waterway to give commercial vessels something to secure to, but recreational boats can use them too, if there’s room.Clewiston Dolphins

We saw a few more alligators, and lots of birds.Clewiston Alligator

Clewiston Dolphins

On Day 24 we’d traveled 41 nautical miles for a trip total of 1225 miles.Day 24 Track

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