Filed at January 14, 2008 under On the Water/Boating and Florida Keys/Lower Keys/Key West by Keys
International fleet competes for world, More than 260 sailboats and sailing crews from around the world are to compete in the waters off Key West during Acura Key West 2008, one of the most prestigious sailing regattas on the international calendar.
The racing challenge is scheduled Jan. 21 to 25.
In its 21st year, Acura Key West 2008, presented by Nautica, is to feature national and international greats from the yachting world. Sailors are expected to hail from at least 20 countries and more than 30 American states.
“We’re pleased to be seeing a really great fleet come together,” event organizer Peter Craig said. “From custom IRC programs and established one-design classes to [Performance Handicap Racing Fleet National Championship] boats seeking the 2008 national championship, it’s going to be an exciting week.” According to regatta organizers, Acura Key West’s primary attractions for race teams include the high level of competition and the opportunity for January sailing in warm subtropical waters.
Competitors are to race on four courses set over a 10-mile stretch of the Atlantic Ocean just off Key West’s shore and inside North America’s only living coral barrier reef, which parallels the Florida Keys. The racing action is slated to begin at 10:30 a.m. daily. Read more »
Filed at under Animals and Environment and Florida Keys/Upper Keys/Key Largo by Keys
The seventh — and largest — Burmese python to make its way into the Florida Keys since the exotic constrictors were discovered here in April was found dead on U.S. 1 at Mile Marker 112 last week.
The snake, measuring longer than 10 feet, has added to officials’ recent concerns about the invasive predator slithering its way into the island chain — and its endangered species habitats. Steve Klett, manager of the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge, said he worries a breeding pair will establish itself here, which could wipe out the population of endangered species such as the Key Largo wood rat. To reach 8 feet in length, a python would have to consume about 75 to 80 wood rats, he said.
A new law that went into effect Jan. 1 will not help the immediate situation, but could curb the problem in the future. It requires people who buy an exotic reptile to pay a $100 fee and have a 2-centimeter microchip with their identification implanted under the reptile’s skin. South Florida has experienced an influx of the snakes as owners illegally release their unwanted pets into the wild, intentionally or by accident.
The six previously found constrictors have averaged a little over 7 feet long. They have been found near the Key Largo School, Card Sound Road Bridge and in the Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park, across C.R. 905 from the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge. One was a live python in the state park that had devoured a wood rat.
Filed at January 13, 2008 under On the Water/Diving and Florida Keys/Upper Keys/Key Largo and Vacations by Keys
When guests visit Jules’ Undersea Lodge in Key Largo, Florida, they discover that the name is no marketing gimmick. Just to enter the Lodge, one must actually scuba dive 21 feet beneath the surface of the sea. Jules’ really is underwater. Diving through the tropical mangrove habitat of the Emerald Lagoon and approaching the world’s only underwater hotel is quite an experience. Even from the outside, Jules’ big 42 inch round windows cast a warm invitation to come in and stay a while, relax and get to know the underwater world that so few of us have even visited.
Entering through an opening in the bottom of the habitat, the feeling is much like discovering a secret underwater clubhouse. The cottage sized building isn’t short on creature comforts: hot showers, a well stocked kitchen (complete with refrigerator and microwave), books, music, and video movies. And of course there are cozy beds, where guests snuggle up and watch the fish visit the windows of their favorite underwater “terrarium”. Jules’ Undersea Lodge manages to reach a perfect balance of relaxation and adventure.
Guests sometimes describe their visit to inner space as the most incredible experience of their lives. One couple decided on a career change after visiting Jules’ Undersea Lodge, and they now operate Aquanauts’ Dive Shop. Another couple named their baby after Jules’, when they later discovered their recently conceived child had accompanied them in their wonderful adventure in undersea living.
Although the underwater hotel may sound like the latest tourist fun spot, Jules’ Undersea Lodge, actually began its existence as La Chalupa research laboratory, an underwater habitat used to explore the continental shelf off the coast of Puerto Rico. The authenticity of the underwater habitat is what really sets it apart from amusement parks and other similar attractions. The mangrove lagoon in which Jules’ is located is a natural nursery area for many reef fish. Tropical angelfish, parrotfish, barracuda, and snappers peek in the windows of the habitat, while anemones, sponges, oysters and feather duster worms seem to cover every inch of this underwater world. Guests of the Lodge explore their marine environment with scuba gear provided by Jules’ Undersea Lodge and are given an unlimited supply of tanks. Jules’ Undersea Lodge may have a comfortable futuristic decor, but its sense of history is inescapable. It is the first and only underwater hotel, but is also the first underwater research lab to have ever been made accessible to the average person. Read more »
Filed at under Government and Florida Keys/Upper Keys/Islamorada by Keys
~Prepared by Robert Page
- Plantation Yacht Harbor was on the market in 1997 for sale for $4 million, a contract had been signed, but with the incorporation vote, the Village elected officials managed to secretly negotiate a purchase price of $8 million, all done very quickly, without any public input or support.
- Borrowed $4 million dollars in 2004 and could not figure out how to spend it until 2007.
- Does not maintain an inventory of all items valued over $500.
- Have never conducted an inventory review to determine, if items purchased with taxpayers money is still in possession of the staff. Have any items been lost, stolen, or given away? Who knows or cares?
- Gave away a street ending at the ocean (no public hearing) on Upper Matecumbe Key to developer Bill Fountain which is against state law.
- Village has never completed one project on time and within budget.
- Former Mayer Frank Kulisky secretly bought property next to Plantation Yacht Harbor (Founders Park) for $700,000 then sold part of it to the Village for $1.4 million.
- Former Mayor Mark Gregg changed a single family residence into eight houses and sold the eight living units for millions of dollars.
- Village has borrowed $25 million dollars with no referendum vote or public support. Annual payments for eight loans are over $1 million a year.
- Village manager does not prepare a full and complete budget for review each year at the beginning of budget preparation time. He doles out the budget, in many small pieces, and the elected officials spend months going over the incomplete budget and never learn the bottom line until the very last moment when the millage rate has to be set He tricks the officials each year and they never catch on. Then the millage is set and nobody looks at the budget again to provide oversight to see that funds are only spent on authorized issues. That is why the left over funds from the previous year disappears.
- During Hurricane Wilma village computers, furniture and valuable documents were left on the floor of the Village Hall, knowing it was going to be flooded and computers ruined. Documents had to be sent to Texas for expensive recovery.
- Since incorporation in 1998, six managers have come and gone and village is now searching for number seven.
- No financial reports for six months in 2006, and none for September 2007 (end of fiscal year)
- Quote from newspaper Reporter “Over the past year, the Islamorada Village Council has spent countless hours and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars searching for answers to issues that will undoubtedly shape Islamorada’s future” “as the year comes to a close, the majority of those answers remain elusive, leaving Islamorada cash strapped, without a manager and still working out ways to fund projects already underway.” Fire chief Wagner said “we have no reserves in the capital fund, we’re in really, really desperate conditions here” This is the guy that left his fire trucks on Lower Matecumbe to be caught in salt water during Hurricane Wilma and had to purchase new truck replacements. Councilman Reckwerdt said “we have no idea how bad our finances are”. Finance Director Fillinovich said “we need to set money aside for construction projects instead of taking out loans and paying through the general fund. She urged the council to put money aside for a rainy day” but it has not done so.
- The Free Press newspaper said “2007 was a year when the Islamorada Village Council had trouble making up its mind –repeatedly” ” Council spent nearly $600,000 on the municipal complex, much of it for architectural fees. Initially budgeted for $4.4 million, the complex earlier this year was expected to cost nearly $10 million.” “The council also had a difficult time making up its mind about this year’s tax rate. In an effort to protect village reserves, council members in July voted to override the 7% tax cut recommended by the state. But they reinstated the cut in September”.
- Newspaper Reporter called the Village of Islamorada “Dysfunctional”.
- When documents that might reveal false or embarrassing information are requested by the public – the Village Attorney just labels them ”exempt” from the public records law.
- Spent over $200,000 studying whether to ship sewerage to Key Largo.
- Plantation Key Colony Sewer program is mismanaged, resulting in cost overruns, sewer backups, resulting in houses being condemned, and torn down, family dislocated, insurance claims being ignored and the sewerage collection system is years behind schedule. The Fla Dept of Environmental Protection has cited the village for many violations and fined the village for the violations. Re-use of the treated sewage water has cost nearly $2 million and all we have is a tank full of salt water that cannot be used.
- Plantation Key Colony Sewer program budget is overspent by $1,055,709. Poor fiscal management.
- Village does not evaluate employee performance.
- Village has a turnover of personnel reported to be 60%. No exit interviews to find out why high turnover of staff.
- Village Manager gets an annual evaluation but the format is flawed by being too subjective resulting in a convoluted and meaningless report..
- Village Manager does not have a clear set of measurable performance standards. He needs to be told what is to be done, how much money the elected officials are giving him, and how long it should take to finish the task. Monthly progress reports will reveal if he is doing his job.
- Village attorney has been paid about $8 million dollars for legal services. Village should have in-house legal staff.
- Over 900 petitions were signed to require any expenditure of the village that exceeded $1 million dollars must be by referendum. Ignored by elected officials.
- Elected officials interject themselves into the operation of the village and continually give instructions to the staff and not the manager. Village attorney has repeatedly warned the elected officials that their job is to set policy and not to interfere in the management of the village. All of the elected officials like to micromanage the daily operation.
- I could go on with horror stories of incompetence but I think the message is clear.
Filed at under Commercial Fishing and Environment and On the Water/Fishing and Florida Keys/Upper Keys by Keys
Groups hoping to show the governor a good day of fishing and the bad algae bloom threatening Florida Bay.
January 10, 2008 Tavernier FL -A coalition of leading angling and conservation organizations today formally invited Florida Governor Charlie Crist to come down to the Keys for a day of fishing and to witness firsthand a destructive algae bloom threatening the region’s recreational and commercial fishing industry.
This is the third consecutive year that a persistent blue-green algae bloom has compromised the health of Florida Bay with potentially disastrous consequences for the region’s fishing industry, including die-offs of fish, and the seagrass and invertebrates upon which they depend. Conservative estimates in October, 2007 placed the extent of the bloom at 300 square miles. Over the summer there were reports of the bloom at the reef line off Islamorada and Long Key, and as far south as Vaca Cut in Marathon.
Read more »
Filed at January 12, 2008 under Commercial Fishing and On the Water/Fishing and Florida Keys and Florida Keys/Lower Keys/Key West and Animals/Fish/Lobster by Keys
The Keys celebrate the bounty of the sea — Florida lobster, yellowtail, sweet pink shrimp, grouper, stone crab claws and more — during the third annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Jan. 19. The event, at Key West’s Bayview Park at Truman Avenue and Eisenhower Drive, features music and children’s activities as well as such specialties as conch chowder and conch fritters. All the seafood available for purchase will be prepared by fishermen and their families. Admission is free. Proceeds benefit the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association and scholarships for college-bound children of commercial fishermen. Call 800-527-8539.
Filed at January 11, 2008 under Animals/Fish and On the Water/Fishing and Florida Keys/Upper Keys/Islamorada and Vacations by Keys
I am sure most of you have spent some time on the bank or dock or your favorite waterway feeding the local fish or ducks. If you were lucky you might have caught sight of that legendary 20 pounder nobody ever seems to be able to land.
What if I could guaranty you the chance to hand feed fish in the 100 pound range, and have your picture taken while shaking hands with the fishes mouth. All you need to do is find your way to Islamorada’s Robbie’s Marina in the Florida Keys.
Robbie and his wife Mona started feeding a tarpon they named Scarface 18 years ago. Scarface appeared floundering in the shallow waters near the dock; Robbie saw the struggling tarpon and, thinking it had swum too shallow and gotten stuck on the bank, went out into the water to free it. He lifted the fish and saw that the right side of its jaw was torn open. Hoping to revive the tarpon, Robbie placed it in the oxygen-rich shrimp tank and called old Doc Roach. The doctor showed up with his wife’s mattress needles and some twine, and Scarface became the first known tarpon with stitches. After several days of force-feeding, Scarface showed good recovery and weight gain; six months later he was released into the waters off the dock. Afterwards, Scarface continued to frequent the docks; sometimes bringing a friend. Soon more and more of the fish began to appear.
Today, the tradition continues, with visitors from all across the world coming to marvel at the spectacle and offer these magnificent creatures a snack.
More on Islamorada. Read more »
Filed at January 10, 2008 under Environment and Florida Keys/Lower Keys/Key West by Keys
Smathers Beach will soon have 11,600 tons of fresh sand for locals and tourists to enjoy with financial assistance from the city of Key West and the Florida Department or Environmental Protection. The city has available $1.32 million approved by the state for Key West beach renourishment projects; $880,000 of that will be used for Smathers. That cost will be split between DEP and the city, each paying $440,000. That leaves the city $420,000 to spend on other beaches: C.B. Harvey Rest Beach near the White Street Pier is possibly the next project, city Engineering Director Roland Flowers said.
Despite Commissioner Dan Kolhage expressing dissatisfaction with the cost of the project, the rest of the commission gave the go-ahead when it met in regular session Wednesday. Commissioner Clayton Lopez pointed out that Thursday was the deadline to approve the contract, otherwise the state money “may not be available in the future,” city documents read.
Consulting firm G.M. Selby has been subcontracted for design, permitting and construction phases of the project, while E.R. Jahna will deliver the sand and Charlie Toppino and Sons will contour and grade the sand all within the year. Besides aesthetic benefits, the Engineering Department said such projects increase the likelihood of receiving post-disaster funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Kolhage doesn’t want the city to pay nearly a half a million dollars for the planning and designing phase of the Smathers project. “I’d want to see more spent on the sand and not the placement of the sand,” he said. Flowers told the commission the state says the design phase is necessary given the sensitive nature of sea grass, adding that particulars like grain size and color are scrutinized by DEP. “We are getting taken for a ride,” Kolhage said. “This is absolutely ridiculous.”
More Florida Keys Beaches.
Filed at January 9, 2008 under On the Water/Boating and Florida Keys/Middle Keys/Marathon by Keys
It was tied up in governmental red tape for some time, but it appears the city of Marathon has gotten the go-ahead to begin refurbishing its 33rd Street boat ramp. The ramp has been in disrepair and Deputy City Manager C.J. Geotis said miscommunications between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the city held the project up.
“Once we took care of that, FEMA was great. They did a great job looking into this and [allowing] me to go ahead and start the project,” Geotis said. FEMA allocated $869,088 toward the ramp’s repair, which Geotis said would cost a total of $905,000. “FEMA is going to be paying for almost the entire project; before, we had half of that and were able to get the balance,” he said.
Geotis said the city is finalizing a contract with Coral Marine Construction, which was the lowest original bidder on the project. The city will replace the current ramp with a double pre-stressed one, remodel the bathroom facilities, place a wooden deck to the left of the ramp and repair the seawall around the ramp. City Manager Mike Puto said the city might contract with an owner of a private ramp to provide public access while the 33rd Street ramp is closed. The city had planned to complete the project prior to season.
Meanwhile, $180,000 in mitigation money from Marlin Bay Yacht Club development earmarked for 33rd Street can now be used to fund repairs at the ramp adjacent to the former Quay property near mile marker 54 bayside. The money must be used toward public water-access projects. “The [state Department of Transportation] is moving ahead with retiring that piece of property to us and we have a commitment from them for $90,000 toward the repair,” Geotis said.
Monroe County had pledged $375,000 over three years toward Quay boat-ramp repairs. Geotis said those funds are still available to the city but will be used for other purposes.
More Florida Keys Boat Ramps.
Filed at January 8, 2008 under Commercial Fishing and Environment and Animals/Fish/Lobster by Keys
A commercial lobster diver faces an arraignment hearing in local court Friday on a count of possessing artificial-reef materials on the water.
Manuel Ravelo Jr., 35, of Key West was booked into the Monroe County jail Dec. 24 and released after posting $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor count. Ironically, Ravelo was named in 2005 to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Spiny Lobster Advisory Board as a commercial diver. The panel later voted to ask that he be removed because of missed meetings.
An information report on Ravelo’s case was filed Nov. 21 by the office of Monroe County State Attorney Mark Kohl stemming from an incident at sea June 11. According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report, officers on patrol three miles north of Key West conducted a boat-safety and catch inspection aboard a 29-foot boat carrying Ravelo and another man.
Officers reported finding “many pieces of rebar approximately [3 feet] in length” along with a sledgehammer and tool bag. The iron reinforcing rods and tools were suitable for use in building an illegal underwater habitat to attract lobster, according to the FWC. Ravelo would not offer an alternative purpose for the materials aboard his boat, officers reported. Ravelo could not be reached for comment this week.
Underwater habitats, also known locally as casitas, are used to provide spaces where lobster congregate. During lobster season, divers can go to the site and collect many crustaceans rather than looking for them in their natural habitats. While commercial divers maintain such habitats are beneficial to the marine environment, biologists fear the structures could be detrimental to the lobster’s normal behavior. Hundreds of these structures are believed to have been built illegally around the Keys, according to government officials.
Under current state law, it is illegal to build such an underwater habitat without permits, or to carry on the water “any materials reasonably suited … for use and placement as an artificial reef.”
Florida Keys Lobster
Next »
International fleet competes for world, More than 260 sailboats and sailing crews from around the world are to compete in the waters off Key West during Acura Key West 2008, one of the most prestigious sailing regattas on the international calendar.
