Ellis Boat Harbor offers retreat for houseboat owners

Just off of Ellis Boulevard NW, tucked away, Tammi Janey and her wife, Jodie Curtis-Janey, have created their own personal haven on the water.

Tammi and Jodie call their colorful, well-decorated and vibrant boathouse on the Ellis Boat Harbor in northwest Cedar Rapids 'Tamanjo's Tiki Hut”

Their friends call it 'party central.”

Away from the stresses of work and other responsibilities, the couple's boathouse provides an escape.

It's their 'paradise in Iowa,” Jodie says.

On an early July afternoon, the two are outside on the patio deck relaxing under the summer sun with friends Dawn Bates and Stacey Fox and Tammi's six-and-a-half year old granddaughter, Sarah.

Life in the Ellis Boat Harbor, where there are 140 stationary boats - is all about community, the women say.

'In the summer, we spend every weekend down here,” Tammi said. 'It's like a little community. People help each other out, if you need something.”

On this particular Tuesday, Tammi spent the morning pulling people's ramps out of the flooded water.

'If I'm not down here and somebody else is down here and my walkway needs raising, I've got people that will come down here in the water and raise my walkway,” Tammi said.

Whenever possible, Tammi and Jodie are on the river. They typically spend Thursday through Sunday there, returning to their other home in Cedar Rapids to get ready for work. Tammi works at Rainbow Paint and Blasting in Cedar Rapids and Jodie works at the Nordstrom warehouse.

Boathouse owners are required to have a permanent residence elsewhere where they can receive mail, Tammi said. Boathouses do not have potable water. They do, though, receive 911 emergency services. Each boathouse is labeled with a house number.

Tammi said some of her favorite memories are the weekends when the sidewalks are dry. That's when she and Jodie walk down the path and stop to visit with their neighbors along the way.

'We'll walk down the way and stop in and have a beer, one here, and then stop in and have a beer at the next one,” Tammi said. 'Everybody does the same here.”

Tammi has been active with the Cedar Boat Club for seven years. This year, she holds the title of cruise captain with the club. But amongst the harbor community, she's more like chief fun officer.

When the couple married in 2010, their wedding had a Hawaiian theme. Not wanting to put all those decorations to waste, they used as many of them as they could to transform the boathouse into a Hawaiian Tiki hut.

On the front door to the boathouse hangs a bright yellow pineapple welcoming guests. Inside, it's a relaxing Hawaiian hideout.

There is a Tiki bar. Atop the refrigerator sit two carved coconuts. There is also the hand-carved card hut from their wedding on display.

The theme continues with a themed shot glass display. Even the curtains are made from tan Hawaiian skirts.

In addition to the decorations, the Janeys have a karaoke machine they use to get the party started in the boathouse. Guests sing and listen to music together, they said.

'It's not unusual that people end up down here a lot,” Tammi said.

Attached to the stationary boathouse are two boats the Janeys own. During the summer, the women will get together a group of eight or nine friends for a boat ride to Vinton.

Outside on the patio deck, a light breeze was blowing. Bates and Fox, the Janeys' friends, were talking and relaxing, enjoying the weather. Although the harbor community is technically not far from downtown Cedar Rapids, the combination of friends, boats, the water and the breeze seem to transport visitors to a resort hundreds of miles away.

'It really seems like your day to day life, all your worries, everything, the minute you cross this road over here, they're gone,” said Fox, of Cedar Rapids. 'You're completely in a different world when you come down here.

'It's just amazing at how much you leave behind.”

That's something the Janeys are looking forward to. On display inside the boathouse are other awards and honors they have won for displays in the past, including most colorful and best in show.

The community hasn't always had reason to celebrate.

During the Flood of 2008, 70 of 140 units in the harbor community were destroyed, 'never to be seen again,” said Rob Wagner, the Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation program supervisor.

Wagner said the harbor community and the river provide public recreation and leisure for all. He jokingly called the community of harbor dwellers 'river rats.”

Many of the boathouses are owned by third-generation family members. He described the community as having a fun, 'party atmosphere.”

Wagner would like to the community grow, an expanded nature walk and more room for out of town visitors.

'Cedar Rapids is a river town,” Wagner says. 'It's always been a part of our history.”