Outlook for the Atlantic, Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico…

Hurricane Whodat is predicted to make landfall on the South Florida coast in the vicinity of Miami on 7 Feb 2010 at approximately 2200Z (5:00 PM EST).

This extremely powerful hurricane is expected to produce damaging Shockey waves and Category 5 Brees. Reports from shipping indicate that this unstoppable storm has blown a huge flock of Cardinals all the way to Arizona, and that it has sunk a replica Viking longboat, the Brettigfarvren.

Predictive damage estimates are unavailable at this time, but they are expected to be significant. Livestock, in particular young horses, will be in severe danger of being decimated. All interests in and near the Miami area are advised to prepare for a storm surge of catastrophic proportions as Hurricane Whodat begins to arrive in approximately 2 days.

Hurricane Warnings extend from Key Largo North to Ft. Lauderdale. Hurricane Watch extends from Key West, through out the Florida Keys, to the Palm Beaches on the East Coast.

Residents of New Orleans, Louisiana and Indianapolis, Indiana should pay close attention to this EEE (Extremely Exciting Event).

Next advisory 07 Feb 2010 at 1500Z (10:00 AM EST).

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1. You have a power worm dangling from you rear view mirror because you think it makes a good air freshener.
2. You wedding party has to tie tin cans to the back of your boat.
3. You call your boat “sweetheart” and your wife “skeeter.”
4. Your local tackle shop has your credit card number on file.
5. You keep a flippin stick by your favorite chair to change the tv channels with.
6. You get 40 to life because your teenager asked you to buy a jet ski.
7. You name your black lab “Mercury” and your cat “Evinrude”.
8. Bass Pro Shop has a private line just for you.
9. You honeymooned in Islamorada – ALONE.
10. You have your name painted on a parking space at the launch ramp.
11. You have a photo of your 40 lb. grouper on your desk at work instead of your family.
12. You consider viennies and crackers a complete meal.
13. You think MEGABYTES means a great day fishing.
14. You send your kid off to the first day of school with his shoes tied in a polomar knot.
15. Your wife wears green lipstick so you’ll kiss her more.
16. You think there are four seasons – Pre-spawn, Spawn, Post spawn and Hunting.
17. Your $30,000 boat’s trailer need’s tires so you “borrow” the one’s off your trailer house.
18. Your wife tells you she is feeling “frisky” but you don’t know what she means until she explains she wants to spawn.
19. You trade your wife’s van for a smaller vehicle so your boat will fit in the garage.
20. Your kids know it’s Saturday – because the boat is gone.

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Two Bay Point men were sentenced to a year in prison on charges that they conspired to poach lobster, a judge ruled Monday, closing the last chapter on two illegal lobster harvesting cases that snared eight people.

John Buckheim, 23, and Nick Demauro, 24, both apologized to federal Judge James Lawrence King, their friends, family and wildlife officers.

“I acknowledge and take full responsibility for what I did,” Buckheim said. “I was young and stupid and I’m not implying that I’m old or wise now, only that I’m heading in the right direction. … I’m sorry for this major mistake and you won’t find me in this position again.”

Demauro told the judge he had “taken everything for granted.”

Both men pleaded guilty in October to harvesting lobsters by diving on illegal artificial habitats, called casitas, primarily in the Content Keys area north of Big Pine Key, from July 2008 through October 2008, according to court documents.

The judge granted U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald’s request to delay their prison sentence 100 days so both men can continue their work removing as many as 600 casitas from Florida Keys waters. The judge ordered both to surrender to corrections officials on May 12.

The judge also allowed both men to resume legal commercial fishing immediately upon their release from prison, despite the prosecutor’s recommendation that both be prohibited during the two years of supervision that is to follow their release.

Miami defense attorneys Bruce Alter and Steven Potolsky urged the judge to consider the defendants’ ages, their clean criminal histories and their desire to make amends as mitigating factors at sentencing, but the prosecutor was unmoved, painting the men as astute fishermen who knew the risks involved.

“These were not youths who stumbled into this,” the prosecutor told the judge, describing taped conversations between the two men, and the hundreds of casitas they fished.

Buckheim and Demauro worked for David and Denise Dreifort of Cudjoe Key at one time. The latter were sentenced in July for spearheading a large lobster poaching ring that involved four other people, in a separate but related case. David Dreifort was sentenced to 2¬½ years in prison in July. His wife was sentenced to seven months in prison. Prosecutors found thousands of lobsters at one of their homes on Lookdown Lane last year.

Buckheim and Demauro began their own illegal operation after their stint with the Dreiforts, and they sold lobster to a Stock Island seafood company in 32 separate incidents for a total of $45,974, records say. The company has not been charged in the case, the prosecutor said.

Both men were warned by David Dreifort to cease their operation after he was indicted, but they continued, the prosecutor said. Federal agents began visual and electronic surveillance of Buckheim and Demauro during the larger investigation that involved the Dreiforts, reports say.

Both pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped two charges that could have added at least 10 years to their sentences.

alinhardt@keysnews.com

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Casa Marina Resort

The 311-room beachfront Casa Marina is in tropical, laid-back Key West, Fla., where Ernest Hemingway bummed around in the 1930s (The Old Man and the Sea is based on his experiences here).The historic resort, built in the 1920s, hosts the largest private beach on Key West, a sinewy strand of white sand over 1,000 feet long. Book a day of water sports—which range from snorkeling with dolphins at a nearby coral reef to jetting around on WaveRunners—or relax in a cabana by one of the two oceanfront pools. On-site Spa al Mare offers treatments like the full-body Sun Soother Water Lily Mask, which soothes sunburned or windburned skin with naturally hydrating water lily oil. The Ernest Hemingway Home & Museum (admission $12) is a 10-minute walk—see the house & original furnishings from Paris, the $20,000 pool, and 60 cats, some with six toes on one paw, descendants of Hemingway’s beloved litter.

All-inclusive? No.
On the beach? Yes.
Price From $149.

via Best U.S.Budget Resorts.

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Now, at anchor in Key West Harbor, she is held in the clutches of an insurance dispute. And while the dispute plays out in court, Legacy will remain where she has been for more than four years; off the coast of Key West, Fla.

Owner Peter Halmos has an insurance policy on his yacht for $16 million. Costs to date have exceeded that amount, Halmos said. Once an insurance company pays out its claim, it typically declares the vessel a total loss, giving it the right to lay claim on her. Halmos disagrees.

Halmos, too, has been paying millions of dollars for Legacy’s recovery and restoration, he said.
In addition, Legacy underwent a refit prior to Wilma, and Halmos said he has proof that he instructed his insurance company to raise the coverage to $30 million. The coverage was not raised before the storm.
So Halmos is suing his insurance company, first to remove the clause specifying that it can take the yacht. It has been reported that the insurer stated it does not want the vessel, but Halmos said he wants to be sure, legally. Second, he wants the insurance policy to reflect the increased replacement value he had asked for.

Initially, the case was to have been heard in January, but it has been postponed to May.
Until then, S/Y Legacy will likely remain at anchor off Key West, still waiting for her day to sail again.

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January 15, 2010
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554
Executive Order 10-02 (Dead Fish)
Executive Order 10-03 (Snook, Tarpon, Bonefish)

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has issued executive orders to protect Florida’s snook, bonefish and tarpon fisheries from further harm caused by the recent prolonged cold weather in the state, which has caused widespread saltwater fish kills.  The FWC has received numerous reports from the public and is taking action to address the conservation needs of affected marine fisheries.  The orders also will allow people to legally dispose of dead fish in the water and on the shore.

One of the executive orders temporarily extends closed fishing seasons for snook statewide until September.  It also establishes temporary statewide closed seasons for bonefish and tarpon until April because of the prolonged natural cold weather event that caused significant, widespread mortality of saltwater fish in Florida.  The other order temporarily suspends certain saltwater fishing regulations to allow people to collect and dispose of dead fish killed by the cold weather.

“A proactive, precautionary approach is warranted to preserve our valuable snook, bonefish and tarpon resources, which are among Florida’s premier game fish species,” said FWC Chairman Rodney Barreto.  “Extending the snook closed season and temporarily closing bonefish and tarpon fishing will protect surviving snook that spawn in the spring and will give our research scientists time to evaluate the extent of damage that was done to snook, bonefish and tarpon stocks during the unusual cold-weather period we recently experienced in Florida.”

Snook season currently is closed in Florida under regular FWC rules, and there are also regular closed snook seasons that occur in the summer.  However, the FWC executive order extends the statewide snook closed seasons continuously through Aug. 31 and provides that no person may harvest or possess snook in state and federal waters off Florida during this period unless the fishery is opened sooner or the closure is extended by subsequent order.

The order also establishes a temporary prohibition on the harvest and possession of bonefish and tarpon from state and federal waters off Florida through March 31, unless these fisheries are opened sooner or the closures are extended by subsequent order.  The FWC executive order for the snook, bonefish and tarpon closed seasons takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 16.

The other FWC executive order temporarily removes specific harvest regulations for all dead saltwater fish of any species that have died as a result of prolonged exposure to cold weather in Florida waters.  It also modifies general methods of taking dead saltwater fish from Florida’s shoreline and from the water to allow the collection of saltwater fish by hand, cast net, dip net or seine.

All people taking dead saltwater fish under the provisions of this order may not sell, trade or consume such fish, and the dead fish must immediately be disposed of in compliance with local safety, health and sanitation requirements for such disposal.

In addition, all people taking dead fish under the provisions of this order are not required to possess a saltwater fishing license, and all fish taken under the provisions of this executive order shall be those that have died as a result of prolonged exposure to cold weather.

This FWC executive order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Jan. 16 and will expire at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 1, unless it is repealed sooner or extended by subsequent order.

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To claim to know the five best beachfront eateries in the Florida Keys betrays the typical arrogance of a travel writer. The Keys — from Mile Marker 110 at the top all the way to Mile Marker 0 in Key West — are a series of islands; makes sense that youll find a full menu of bistros on the water. But — arrogance at the ready — here are five not to be missed:

1. Marker 88 Restaurant: This bistro on Islamorada offers gourmet dining, with seafood the speciality and tables on the sand. Its popular with higher-end guests, an occasional dining spot for the presidents Bush Sr. and Jr.. The romantic setting is highlighted with live music on the beach.

2. Key Fisheries: In Marathon, it aint much to look at — but its your other senses, taste and smell, that are important here. Superb seafood ordered at a rustic window beside a handwritten menu — stone-crab soup, key-lime scallops, whisky-peppercorn snapper, about 60 items — including their famous “Lobster Reuben.” Tried the Reuben. Instant addiction.

3. The Morada Bay Beach Café: At Mile Marker 81.6, this is an exquisitely romantic setting. The menu is wide-ranging and inventive, including but not exclusively seafood most entrées in the mid-$20 range. Theres a lovely selection of tapas, superb service, and the setting — on the sand, gazing over the bay … well, if youre not in love during the appetizers, you will be by dessert.

4. Sunset Pier: You must have at least one meal — or even just a drink — in a waterfront eatery adjacent to Key Wests Mallory Square. Our choice would be Ocean Key Resorts Sunset Pier Zero Duval St., on the boardwalk facing the iconic sunset. Surprisingly, the menu is not pricey, and the view at sundown — when everything stops for a moment — is unparalleled.

5. Little Palm Island by boat from Little Torch Key, Mile Marker 28.5: High end? Heck, if you get to High End, you can just glimpse Little Palm Island. This is luxury at its finest, and the food served in a restaurant, or on a deck with a 180-degree view of the ocean, or on the sandy beaches, and always on linen is fabulous. You can stay over at a grand and up per night, or arrive just for lunch or their famous Sunday brunch. Do.– Paul Knowles, a travel writer based in New Hamburg, Ont., is a sucker for seafood, seafront and sensational service.

via 5 best beach bistros in the Florida Keys.

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via Mile Markers | KeysNews.com.

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1/15-1/16            50th Annual Key West Historic Home & Garden Tours, 305-294-9501

1/15-1/17            NAMSA North American Championship Open Cat Nationals,Islamorada, 305-451-3287

1/16                       No Name Race, Big Pine/Lower Keys, 305-743-5452

1/16                       Art Under the Oaks, Islamorada

1/16                       5th Annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival, Bayview Park, 872-9026

1/18-1/22            Premier Racing Key West Yacht Race Week, 781-639-9545

1/21-1/23            Cheeca Lodge Presidential Sailfish Tournament, 305-451-5094

1/23                       6th Annual Big Pine Nautical Flea Market, 305-872-2411

1/23                       Moradapalooza, Islamorada, 305-395-6344

1/23                       Ann McKee Artists Fund Auction, East Martello Museum, Key West

1/28-1/31            Key West Food & Wine Festival, 305-292-1622

1/30                       January Jamboree, Marathon, 305-743-4971

1/30-1/31            Key Largo Stone Crab & Seafood Festival

1/30-1/31            25th Annual Key West Craft Show, 305-294-1241

1/31                        Key West Master Chefs Classic, 305-294-9526, ext. 25

1/31                        12th Annual Key West Half Marathon, 305-296-7182

via Florida Keys Events for January 2010 | Florida Gulf Vacations Blog.

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