Lock Exploration

It may have been a cloudy day, but it was perfect for a road trip on the Honda Silverwing to the St. Lucie Lock. This is the first lock going westbound on the Okeechobee Waterway to Florida's west coast. It is less than 10 miles away and has a really nice park, including a campground and small marina.

We have travelled this route many times in several different boats and it was fun to go by land. Unfortunately, no boats were locking through when we were there. I will always remember how dramatic it was the first time when we entered the lock, the door was closed and, unlike the Erie and Champlain Canal locks that fill and empty from underneath, the Okeechobee locks just crack open the door and let the water in! It was quite the waterfall and as the water came in and equalized the depth, the door would open more and more. We got used to this, but this first lock has the most elevation.

The spillway was interesting too and if Lake Okeechobee gets too high, the swinging door can open up and let the water out.

As an added bonus I was able to get a photo of an African Redhead Agama. These seem to be everywhere now and are quite a bit larger than a regular lizard.

I can still picture us coming from west to east and waiting for the lock opening, knowing that going this way, we would soon be back in saltwater and tides. If it was towards evening, we would tie up between the group of pilings, called dolphins, overnight. The dolphins that the cormorants are sitting on, are also along the shore, and that was a perfect spot to put bow and stern lines around and be secure and out of the way of any water traffic.

Lots of memories came back with this land exploration!