As if the Okeechobee Waterway didn’t already have more than its share of problems with low water levels on Lake Okeechobee. Now, in the extract below from the Local Notice to Mariners, we hear about shoaling and “narrowing” of the channel, east of this Waterway’s easternmost lock. In other words, this reported shoaling is NOT the result of low water levels on Lake Okeechobee, but apparently the product of good, old fashioned silting.
We have studied chart 11428, and discovered that the channel shoaling reported below, lies some 1.4 nautical miles south of Stuart’s Sunset Bay Marina, well north of the St. Lucie Canal, which leads to the Okeechobee’s easternmost St. Lucie Lock.
Note the notice’s advice to favor the “green” (eastern) side of the channel when passing between markers #29 and #30.
We are declaring a “Navigational Alert” for these waters

LOCAL NOTICE TO MARINERS: Week 25/11
All mariners are advised to use extreme caution when transiting in the vicinity of St. Lucie River (South Fork) area between St. Lucie River South Fork Daybeacon 29 (LLNR 51085) and St. Lucie River South Fork Buoy 30 (LLNR 51090). Due to Shoaling the channel has been narrowed by approximately 30 yards. Best water is near the green side of the channel. Chart 11428

That shoal has been there for years, it extends into the western side of the channel just north of the Palm City bridge. It’s the only place I’ve ever run aground in a channel and I draft less than 2 feet in my powerboat.
Skipper Jeff Dafoe

Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To A “Navigation Alert” Position on the South Fork St. Lucie River Portion of the Okeechobee Waterway, For the Waters Described Above