Boaters ‘locked in’ at Christmas
To the editor:
Cape Coral is advertised as a “boater’s paradise,” but not so much if you live where you must use the Chiquita Lock. Then you are subject to the whim of the Cape Coral City Council.
Those of us that wanted to enjoy our “waterfront wonderland” and the beautiful weather on Christmas Day were literally “locked in” since the city decided to close the lock from 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve until 6 p.m. on Christmas Day. So everyone had to change their Christmas Day plans at the last minute.
And what’s worse is that it was not advertised that it would be closed. It was not on the city’s webpage or on the info page regarding the Chiquita Lock. Only the regular hours and the so-called holiday hours were listed. I stumbled upon the closing via a Facebook comment on Christmas Eve. When I Googled the Lock, I had to search for some information, only finding a small blurb printed in The Breeze on Dec. 23.
Why wasn’t this closing blasted out to the boating public on the city’s webpage, newspapers and TV stations prior to Christmas Eve? How many uninformed boaters went down to the Chiquita Lock on Christmas Day only to find a surprise? Not a nice “Merry Christmas” greeting from the Waterfront Wonderland City of Cape Coral.
Since we were informed in the summer of 2015 that the Chiquita Lock would be removed (we’re still waiting and wondering why it was closed for maintenance in October 2015), perhaps this will not be an issue for Christmas Day 2016.
Jo Ann Nucifora
Cape Coral