The Okeechobee Waterway (OWW) is the route we will be cruising to bring Traveler back to her new home. She is currently in Stuart, Florida on the Saint Lucie River on the east coast. Cape Coral, where we will dock her, is on the west coast. There are only two ways by water to relocate her to the west coast. One is to go south to the Florida Keys and then over to the Gulf and then north to Cape Coral. While that would be a fun trip, it is over 200 miles longer than cutting through the state on the OWW. We will be taking the Rim Route, also referred to as Route 2, which will be about 10 miles longer than Route 1, as Route 1 cuts straight across the lake. Lake Okeechobee, while large, only averages 9 feet deep. This is the rainy season in Florida and storms explode each afternoon and often times produce strong winds. This in turn makes waters on the lake VERY rough. From where you enter the lake to where you get out on Route 1 is 39 miles. Traveler cruises at 8 mph...no speed demon but very economical. That would make for 5 hours out on the lake and there is no shelter once you commit. The water is too shallow to head to shore and there are large rocks just below the water in many places so...it's the Rim Route and an additional 11 miles for us. it will be a little less than 150 miles from where Traveler is currently slipped to her new location. That is about 19 hours worth of motoring. By comparison, I made the trip over there by car in 2.5 hours. There will be plenty of time to catch up on reading and take pics. Praying for plenty of sunshine and fair winds. :-)

Our cruising adventure 'officially' will start on July 4th with Krew0f2 leaving Anchorage Point in Stuart, Florida where Traveler is currently docked and cruising the Okeechobee Waterway westward across the state to Cape Coral, Travelers new home. It will be at minimum a 2 1/2 day cruise depending on the weather. Planning and preparation is underway to make this as easy a passage for both Traveler and Krew0f2. One of those things is setting up this blog to chronicle our maiden voyage with Traveler and providing a way for those who may be interested to keep informed of our adventure. Fair winds...