MAYACA TRAIN BRIDGE

As we exit Lake Okeechobee and transit our final lock into the St Lucie River which flows down to the Atlantic, we have one last challenge and we're only 10 easy miles to home at Indiantown Marina. The Mayaca Railroad Bridge is 49 feet above the current river surface; Summer Breeze's mast is 50 feet tall. Oops!
This is where "Billy, the Boat Tipper" comes in handy.
Billy comes running up the river with his little boat full of plastic barrels and his water pump. The barrels are carefully placed on the rail; the barrels are filled with water from the river until the boat tips over far enough to clear the railroad bridge tracks; then you drive yourself, the barrels, & Billy right under the bridge. He's got a tried-but-true system for telling when you can make it which involves a string from the top of the mast down to a bunch of washers at the bottom of the string. When the washers touch the water, you go for it! Simple is best. Since this was our second time doing this in the past 6 years, we enjoyed it this time. Our first time through was kinda scarey. That big steel bridge looks awfully low when you're looking up at it.