What is the Florida Loop and How We Plan to Sail the Route in a Month
After months of preparation and patience, we are FINALLY back to full time boat life! We loaded up the and set out on our first leg of the Florida Mini Loop, also known as “Smuggler’s Run” which will take us about 30 days to complete.
What is “Smuggler’s Run”?
“Smuggler’s Run” is named after a rich history of drug smuggling throughout South Florida and has been a popular hangout spot for pirates, smugglers & thieves over hundreds of years. Looping around Florida wasn’t made possible until the Okeechobee Waterway (OWW) was created, which is the route that cuts across the state of Florida from the Intracoastal Waterway (IWW), if you are traveling from East to West. Since this creation, a number of commercial vessels and recreational boaters have taking advantage of what all the loop has to offer. Many adventure-minded boaters like ourselves cruise the Florida Mini Loop to enjoy the amazing scenery and to experience the towns along the way. We will begin our trip in Stuart Florida, which we will explain in more depth below!
The Florida Loop Route
Our Route: Boating Counter-clockwise
Like most people, we will boat the loop counter-clockwise, so when we travel back north up the East Coast, we will catch the Gulf Stream current. The first couple days of our voyage will be spent on the Okeechobee waterway, which is about 117 miles in length. This waterway connects the St. Lucie river on the east side to Lake Okeechobee, which then connects to the Caloosahatchee river on the west side (see map above). From here, we will reach the Gulf of Mexico, head south to the Florida Keys, then loop around to the East Coast of Florida, making our way back home to Stuart. We plan to make a few fun pit stops along the way, so at a leisurely pace, this route will take us about a month to complete!
Sailing across Lake Okeechobee along the Florida Loop
If you are thinking about setting sail on the South Florida Loop, we hope this can help you. Follow along with us as we post more updates, blogs and videos about our trip. If you can think of anything else you’d like us to post about our trip, get in touch or leave a comment! – Billy, Sierra & Jetty
Watch us as we prepare and begin to set sail on the South Florida Loop ↓
[…] Lastly, a HUGE thanks to Charlie for giving us a tour of his beautiful home, Roseate. We hope you enjoyed this blog & follow along with us as we post more updated about our trip along the Florida Mini Loop. […]