St Lucie & Lake Worth Inlets

[Gone Gypsy]

Thanks, everyone!
Took St Lucie off the list of potentials. Sometimes the guidebooks are too conservative, but you confirmed it’s not a good choice for us.
Thanks!

[Amapola]

Lake worth inlet is large and easy. St. Lucie can be a bear.

[twofingerpoi]

Ft Pierce Inlet is much better than St Lucie. Palm Beach Inlet is popular staging area for Bahamas.

[Peterbreit]

I agree with everything said before. Except maybe The Hillsborough inlet. I draw 6'. Every time I use it I touch bottom! Especially shallow near the green markers. Wait for High Tide! Also, I like Palm Beach inlet even in the dark, no problem. BUT when you exit the inlet and enter the ICW stay left, south side of Peanut Island. Very deep there. Then go north on the ICW for maybe 1-2 miles you will see a very large anchorage on starboard. Very safe and wide open for many boats.
The Peanut Island anchorage is always full and shallow. Below the inlet is a very large Mooring field with private moorings which can be rented for long term.
Lauderdale has a few public anchorages north of the inlet along the ICW. My favorite one is Sunrise Bay.
I stayed this winter in Dunedin, FL and it was too cool for me. The previous winter I was in Marathon in the Keys and it was much warmer. But I may return to Ft. Myers Beach! But it is a 3 week trip from the Chesapeake Bay.
Email me if you need more info. Beneteau461@gmail.com

[justinfinity]

Lake Worth inlet is eminently navigable, day or night, just pay attention to the ICW branches and day markers once you are inside.

My 50' sailboat has been on anchor for most of the 2023-2024 winter from November through April, not counting trips to the Bahamas. The holding is generally excellent but choose your spot carefully because there is the occasional "shelf" where the bottom is uniformly flat and hard with only a few inches of mud, so there is a risk of dragging in those spots. I drop a plumb line around the perimeter of the boat to get a feel for whether I'm on a hard shelf or in good grippy mud.

Otherwise, holding is excellent, and I rode out a 50 knot storm last December, in which other boats dragged/wrecked, but I stayed put (Rocna 33kg anchor, Mantus swivel, 30' Mantus bridle and Mantus M2 chain hook, on 80' of 7/16ths inch chain).

Once anchored, note that there are essentially NO services for boats on anchor. There is no water taxi, no deliveries, etc. You'll have to use a dinghy, and then there is almost nowhere to go ashore so you have to "improvise".
There is a local boater (Zach) who does bottom cleaning and I used his service once a month to keep the fur away.

In the Peanut Island area there is Riviera Beach Marina and some sport fishing fuel docks/marinas who don't seem to understand much about sailboats. Immediately south of the Flagler Memorial bridge, there is Palm Harbor Marina. Dockage rates are generally high in Palm Beach area in my opinion but it may be good for a day or two of provisioning. And a lot of boats use Lake Worth as a staging area while they provision and wait for a weather window to the Bahamas in the Fall or back north in the Spring.

The previous comment about the inlet is correct: be cautious about when you enter (goes for most inlets in FL) so that you don't have wind against current. I try to time my entrance and exit at slack tide.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Gone Gypsy

Thanks, everyone!
Took St Lucie off the list of potentials. Sometimes the guidebooks are too conservative, but you confirmed it’s not a good choice for us.
Thanks!

I've done the Ft Pierce and Lake Worth area a lot with 6-5 draft. It's doable, but you can run aground due to changes in the bottom over time several places in the ICW. A towing policy is highly recommended. And the basic one doesn't cover much of anything, get the platinum coverage.
Many of the bridges on the waterway are opening, but I cant remember how many or if any along the Lk Worth area are fixed at 65 ft ....?
Pay attention to the depth going into Lk Worth with your draft also.

[Dave_R]

I second Ft. Pierce as the only other inlet you may want to consider. It is easily navigable--nearly as good as Lake Worth inlet, but much less traffic.

Several good marinas near the inlet, and I'd imagine their prices are better than marinas near Lake Worth, which is where some of the wealthiest people in the world keep their mega-yachts.

OTOH, there are more good anchorages near Lake Worth, and you have more access to the ICW.

The other downside to Ft. Pierce is you only have acces to a few miles of ICW north of the inlet, and few anchoarge options. There's a 65' fixed bridge immediately to the south, which is where the best anchorages are. There a few anchorages north of the inlet, but its mostly shallow water outside the ICW channel.

[StuartSailor]

I know I’m late posting here but someone has to stick up for the St. Lucie inlet. I will say though that I agree that Ft. Pierce and Lake Worth are “better” as they are more straightforward and seem to have less shoaling.

While I don’t get out the inlet as often as I’d like, I have never had an issue getting in or out as long as you follow the previous advice given. It’s like any other inlet that demands respect, but I don’t feel that it’s treacherous.

I plan on exiting the inlet in May on the way to the Exumas. Good luck and welcome to the east coast.