The Port Mayaca Lock is one of many locks along the 152-mile Okeechobee Waterway that connects Florida's coasts. The waterway consists of Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie Canal on the Lake's Eastern Shore and the Caloosahatchee River on the Lake's Western Shore. The Rim Canal, formed from land dug up for creation of the Herbert Hoover Dike, is in the foreground. The entrance to the Port Mayaca Navigational Lock is seen at far right. Boaters need only call ahead on marine radio to ask that the lock be opened for their passage.
Boaters anchor themselves to the navigational lock wall as the canal-side gates close.
After the canal-side gates closed, lakeside gates opened and rushing Lake Okeechobee waters were admitted into the enclosed area. While the lakeside gates open, boaters get ready to exit the navigational lock. In the background are the closed canal-side gates and the St. Lucie Canal. With the canal-side gates closed behind them and the lakeside gates open before them, a boater slowly exits from the navigational lock. Boaters leave the navigational lock and head out into the open waters of Lake Okeechobee.