My neighborhood of boaters

Time and again I get asked, "Where do you live exactly?" We are a one hour drive east of Ft.
Myers.  Follow the Caloosahatchee  River to LaBelle.  That is the closest town to us which
is still 12 miles to our west.  The next ⭐ you see on the map east of LaBelle is the Ortona
Lock, which is less than a half mile away.  The Okeechobee Waterway cuts across the
southern portion of Florida, allowing boaters to sail across the state rather than going all
the way down to the Channel Five bridge just west of Islamorada in the Florida Keys.
The problem for us is that with our mast up, we cannot get through the railroad bridge at
Port Mayaca, on the eastern edge of Lake O.  It has only 49' of clearance, and we are nearly
55' from the waterline. Needless to say, we won't be sailing to Stuart, Florida, though
we could cradle the mast and have it stepped at a marina there, once we clear Pt. Mayaca. ⛵

Our home is at MM 92.5 on the Okeechobee Waterway.  There is a little canal off of the Caloosahatchee River, just west of the Ortona Lock that opens up to our little neighborhood called Turkey Creek. The Waterway Guide describes Turkey Creek as a hidden gem of a community, where "most of its residents are boaters, and their docks are usually full of boats of all descriptions." LOL.

That sounds about right!  This is looking to the east from our
deck, up the canal.  Turkey Creek has four canals in all.

This is looking to the west of our deck, toward the end of our
canal on Helm Lane.  I love that the streets of our little neighborhood
all have nautical names- Anchor, Rudder, Dolphin, Schooner & Helm.
If you look beyond the field, in the distance you'll see River Forest
Marina where the high $$$ power yachts are stored in the off-season.

I love that our 'hood is full of like-minded boaters;
those who are creative, inventive, not afraid to get
their hands dirty, and who are willing to pitch in and
help out their neighbors. Mark fabricated a fiberglass
bimini for his power catamaran, and the neighbors
all helped move it to his boat to secure it in place.

This was done just before one of our regular 5 o'clock Happy
Hours- drinks and finger foods awaited us to celebrate afterwards 🍺

For those that want to continue the party after
Happy Hour is over (as we sometimes do :)
there is music and more imbibing!

I would say nearly 2/3s of the neighborhood are
snowbirds, meaning they live elsewhere for nearly
six months of the year, like Doug, who returns to
Colorado each summer with his wife. We have folks
that hail from Alaska, Rhode Island, Ontario, Nova
Scotia, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio, New
Jersey, New York, Kentucky, Indiana, and parts in
 between!  It's quite an eclectic group, and even those
that live here year round go 'land cruising in their 
campers and motor homes in the summertime to
escape the intense heat here in Southwest Florida.
For us, summer means no school, so it is time for
boat projects and house projects as our home and
property are still a work in progress.

When the snowbird season is in full swing,
in addition to Friday Happy Hours, there
are monthly spaghetti dinners, an ice cream
social, Wednesday night board games, 
Friday night Bingo, and many area 
festivals to attend. I'm livin' large, y'all!

Some of us made a little music...

...at this past year's Ice Cream Social, which typically marks the
end of snowbird season.  It is held in the Ortona Community
building, like most of our gatherings, which also houses a
little library run by volunteers. There's a great selection of books :)

It seems that when the neighborhood is more quiet in the
summer, the alligators are more visible...he's in our backyard!

Summer time also means it is rainy season, and we get some
pretty intense storms- often daily.  That's okay with us, though,
because we have an 850 gallon barrel for our rain water collection
system.  Len thought the whole thing up; first flush, pump,
circulator and all. Nothing is better than taking a shower or
washing your clothes in rainwater. I. Freakin'. Love. It. 

After those summer thunderstorms, we get
some spectacular rainbows!

Everything is so lush and green in the summer,
this is a pineapple palm tree (it cannot be eaten!)

The first crop of mangoes come on in July...
I make mango jelly, and Len makes mango margaritas!

The papaya grow in the summer months, but the
fruit is not ripe until late fall.  The same is true
of the guava trees.  No, my starfruit tree blooms
and produces fruit nearly year round.  That's the
lovely thing about this neighborhood, we all
share our abundance of fruit with one another.

Nothing beats a perfectly ripened guava! 

Iann the early spring, many of the neighbors begin
cruising on their boats...some plan trips together.

The inside of Bill and Kathleen's boat is so cozy :)

April & Dean and Deb & Ed planned a cruise to
Ft. Myers, Pine Island Sound, and up to Cayo Costa.

Deb & Ed have a beautiful boat, and I am so happy
for them that Ed is newly retired so they get to really
enjoy it!  Cayo Costa is a Florida State Park with
miles of sandy beaches, mangroves and estuaries
perfect for exploring by dinghy, kayak, or paddleboard.
They have the perfect set up on Darbama. 

April was calling the other boaters in
the anchorage to come enjoy Happy Hour!

Don't they look happy? Forty-four years and going strong 💕

Our friends Bob & Wan and Steve & Karen
decided to buddy boat together to the Bahamas
in the late spring. We were still in school,
 or we would have joined them!

This is the railroad bridge at Port Mayaca,
just off the eastern edge of Lake Okeechobee.
It's the one we can't get under, otherwise it would be
a pretty straight shot.  One day's sail across the state
of Florida to stage in Stuart, FL, then one day to sail
across the gulf stream to check in at the Biminis, Bahamas.

The day Bob & Wan and Steve & Karen crossed the gulf stream,
the ocean looked like a giant, peaceful lake!

The water looks ELECTRIC in the Bahamas!

Looks like Mini was coming back from a potty run to shore 🐶

Terri and David also cruised to the
Bahamas, but went further south to
the Exumas- my favorite place!

As is customary, they left a token of
their boat at the hill top of Waderick
Wells, in the Exumas Land & Sea Park.

While every body was out cruising and having
fun, we took care of 'Blue' for Karen & Steve.
Here Willis is getting introduced for the first
time, and he is receiving a stern talking.

Willis, you can look, but you can't touch! 

He took his job of 'just looking' very seriously!

While I enjoyed my Cuban coffee, and dreamed
of the time we would also be out sailing the high
seas, Len and I made our project lists to prepare
for our summer staycation.  We are in the midst of
a near total refit on Kantiya, but she's going to be
beautiful when all is said and done. Those blogs will
soon follow.  In the mean time, Fair winds and
following seas to all our friends in the 'hood.

G'nite, y'all!