3. Lake Okeechobee

We are sailing from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico right across the middle of Florida.

First you have to cross Lake Okeechobee. That is the big hole you can see in the middle of Florida even on a world map. It is about 40 miles across and mostly only a few feet deep. Although it is right in the middle of Florida it is only 14 feet above sea level. That is how flat it is here. It would not even be that high except that, during a drought, some farmers built a dike around it to claim more land for sugarcane. The dike burst and was replaced by a larger dike (which is now being heightened again).

Once across the lake, you enter a waterway dug through the swamp. All kinds of fishing birds live here. The poor fish: the ospreys, kingfishers and pelicans dive on them; the anhingas and cormorants swim after them; big blue and little green herons hide in the reeds to mug them. It is a bird watcher’s paradise. There are thousands of birds. There must be lots of fish.

We are delighted to find that this route is almost deserted. We have only seen a few boats all day. Last evening we dropped the anchor by the reeds at the edge of the waterway and watched the sun set through the smoke from the burning sugarcane fields. A pair of traveling Manatees swam by rising to give a moist sigh every 100 meters or so. This time of year the manatees are migrating. They don’t like the cold. They travel hundreds of miles, always in water less than 20 feet deep, to find warmer water (or the discharge from an industrial plant). They seem to be able to navigate accurately between their summer and winter feeding grounds but no one knows how. At the St Lucie lock a retired couple wearing red armbands labeled ‘Volunteer Manatee Watch’ counts the animals as they lock through. They told us the manatees wait politely by the lock gates until they open and seem to know exactly where they are going.

At dusk we were invaded by a zillion tiny bugs. I guess that is why there are so many fish.