Flight to Key West

Scenic Views

2011-11-22T09:38:00.000-05:00

Not sure why, but this picture I took at Vestal Shoal makes me think of a dark medieval forest. The big green wall-like coral behind the little yellow hill just looks ominous and menacing while the cute little yellow hill with the spindly little tree looks so innocent and vulnerable. Just thought I'd share.

What is this Bird?

2011-08-01T11:03:00.004-04:00

I think it's some kind of woodpecker. The top of the head is a bright red color and he's got his eye on the palm tree trunk, like he's debating whether it's peckable. This was taken in November 2010 in Key West. Does anybody know what kind of bird this is?

Summer in Key West

2011-07-31T10:12:00.000-04:00

Well this is a picture of what we are missing right now: clear water. Summer in Key West brings warm water and the big fish go out to sea, so hogfish and little mangrove snappers are a big part of the catch, usually. This July, it's been bad vis, too.

This is actually a shot from last November, when clear water came in. You could see 80 feet that day, so getting shots of people spearfishing was really fun. This shot was taken right after a grouper was shot, and he kicked up a bunch of sand.

Whack Nature Trail

2010-04-07T08:11:00.005-04:00

Key West has a nature trail- it's through a shady mangrove area and ends up on the beach. Sounds nice. But actually rather than enjoying a pleasant walk, you get a swampy trek across the back yard of a condo building.

I'd much rather try some Key West fishing and get out on the water, come to think of it...

There's nothing to see but some mangroves which around here are like weeds. You can also spy on what's happening on people's balconies which overlook the wooden walkway. It would just be a cool little pathway to the beach but for the fact that whoever made the trail announces its presence with a glorious official-looking sign that promises much much more than it delivers.

Trees in Key West

2010-03-31T09:00:00.004-04:00

Key West is a small, flat island so trees are sparse here. Palms are often cut down for building so even large palm trees are special. These beauties are along Higgs Beach, one of the most popular Key West beaches.

Beach Walking

2010-03-18T14:33:00.003-04:00

Key West has skinny, fragile beaches, so we're not known for them. Also, we don't have much in the way of waves, so there's another whole aspect of the beach vacation that's lacking. But we do live on a sub-tropical island, and it's nice to know there are some beaches you can stroll and explore. Higgs Beach is fun because you can start at the eastern end (the end in the picture) and continue in front of West Martello Tower, ending up at the White Street Pier.

Dog on a Boat

2010-02-28T10:18:00.008-05:00

Fenway is a Boston Terrier belonging to a spearfishing buddy and his girlfriend. He goes out in the boat all day long with us, and even though that sounds brave and tough, he's really a big baby dog. Just take a look - click on any picture to see a larger version.

Drilling for Oil in Key West

2010-02-22T11:07:00.007-05:00

It started with President Bush , who pushed congress to lift a 27 year ban on offshore drilling. Actually, it started 20 years ago in Key West, when citizens formed a drilling ban symbol on the beach to protest drilling for oil and natural gas in Keys Gulf waters. Florida has always had a strong citizen voice against drilling for oil. Since tourism is the economic powerhouse of Florida, opposition to drilling has always been strong enough to keep the rigs away.

Not so in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, where there are rigs close enough to be visible from the beaches. In fact, in the western Gulf of Mexico, there are 4,000 platforms dotting the map. There are no rigs off the coast of Florida.

Since 2008, this is starting to change. That's when Senator McCain switched his position on offshore drilling and joined the call for lifting the ban. And since McCain changed, so did Governor Christ. And the public is changing its tune, too. Since gas hit the $4 per gallon benchmark a few years ago, there is less public outcry at possibilities of lifting the offshore moratorium.

According to one report I read, lifting the ban means drilling for oil and natural gas could take place as close as 3 to 10 miles from the shores of Key West!

Drilling in the eastern Gulf may yield as much as 3.6 billion barrels of oil. That's as much as the United States uses in just six months. We could potentially ruin our marine ecosystem for six months of being able to continue to guzzle gas.

Alabama has been allowing drilling in its offshore waters since the early 1980s. Natural gas generates $500 million a year in state revenue. They even pipe their natural gas to us in Florida. Many citizens in Gulf states where drilling is allowed consider the drilling part of their duty, as in they are "doing their part".

How about doing your part to protect the marine environment?

Yacht Races in Key West

2010-01-16T08:27:00.002-05:00

There was some sort of Key West yacht race in town this week, take a look at the photo. It's been windy lately, around 20 knots each day, so it must have been pretty exciting to be on one of those sailboats. They looked beautiful when the wind caught their big sail as they came around and switched direction in Key West harbor. The sun hits that big sail and they zip across the water pretty fast. It was kind of like a painting, all those dozens of big colorful sails set against the blue water and sky.

Wildlife in Key West

2009-12-06T07:49:00.001-05:00

This is exciting to me- a giant neon green lizard in my yard is noteworthy, especially if you're not from Florida.! A mid-sized Iguana munched away as an older one, visible but blurry in the background, skulked around the fence. The colors are amazing.

Worst Silver Girl Ever

2009-11-27T07:35:00.007-05:00

Mallory Square is full of professional street performers who've honed their crafts over the decades. There's a tightrope walker, fire juggler, a modern-day houdini, hypnotist, and one all-around skills guy who does a little bit of everything while his dog collects tips from the crowd.

Big bucks are made at Mallory Square every night, and the best spots for performing are doled out by lottery each night according to a system that's closely watched by a governing board of performers. Permits are required, and the entire sunset scene is very closely monitored for un-licenced performers, etc.

If you're not signed up for a Key West sunset cruise that night, hanging around in Mallory Square at dusk is a good way to start your evening.

So I was puzzled during a recent visit to the Sunset Celebration at Mallory Square when I came across the worst Silver Girl ever. There's a Silver Man there, and he's pretty good. If you give him a dollar he'll whistle and pretend to fix his bike with a wrench, robot-style. Next to him is Silver Girl, painted up in wings and a long fancy dress. Give her a dollar and not much really happens at all.

She wanly kisses her finger tips, first left and then right, then completes the lamest, most passionless curtsy ever. I don't even know how you can perform physical movement and be so limp at the same time. The whole thing takes maybe five seconds and after she's done, you stand there not even believing that was her whole schtick and would it be wrong to take back your dollar.

Floating Ships Museum

2009-11-25T17:59:00.001-05:00

Key West's budding Floating Ships Museum has a new member: the US Coast Guard Cutter Ingham. It arrived just a few days before Thanksgiving this year and is now settled permanently at the East Quay Wall at Truman Waterfront.

The Ingham was launched in 1936 and served during World War II, The Korean War, and the Vietnam War. During World War II, she escorted supply ships across the Atlantic. She was decommisioned in 1988 and this week brought to Key West to become a permanent installment in the Floating Ships Museum at Truman Waterfront. She joing the USS Mohawk, another highly decorated war ship.

She's not only part of this museum, but also a memorial to Coast Guardsmen killed in action during World War II and Vietnam. A total of 912 casualties are memorialized on a plaque at the quarterdeck area of the ship. She's also a National Historic Landmark.

To get to the Floating Ships Museum, drive west on Southard (it's a one way street) all the way to the end and park on the gravel near the fenced waterfront area.

Fantasy Fest 2009 Red Party

2009-10-27T20:53:00.006-04:00

Red costumes are awesome- fun to make, wear, and watch! Here are some of the best of 2009 Fantasy Fest, Wednesday night out in front of the Red Party.

Li'l Orphan Annie is the first one, I think. How original is that, what a great costume. It's body paint but it's prim!

And sometimes, if you have a great body and impressive tatoos, that's all the creativity you need. A red corset and you're all set for the Red Party. That's the second photo.

And group costumes are always great looking, too. Those guys, I don't know what they were supposed to be, but they looked fantastic.

2009 Pet Masquerade at Fantasy Fest

2009-10-26T18:18:00.006-04:00

With so many things in Key West, it's Location, Location, Location. They couldn't have picked a better spot for the 2009 Fantasy Fest Pet Masquerade than Casa Marina. A lovely resort facing south and right on the beach, Casa Marina offered the perfect venue, and a lovely afternoon. In the past, the Pet Masquerade has been set at the Westin at Mallory Square and it was just too crowded and windy there.

Pets and their dressed up owners strolled the beach and the walkway, displaying their costumes before the actual show. Not sure why it's called a "Masquerade", since it's really set up more like a talent show with a stage, etc, but whatever!

The theme for 2009 Fantasy Fest was "Villains, Vixens, and Vampires". In keeping with the theme, there was a Cruella De'Ville, possibly the most apt costume since it involved not only a Vixen but also pets (i.e. dalmations). Perfect!

First to Freedive the Vandenberg

2009-06-02T08:52:00.005-04:00

Very big day: we drove out to the Vandenberg and became, I think, the first people to freedive the USS Vandenberg artificial reef. The vis was so good you could see the ship from the surface. I mean, you could even look down from your boat and see the Vandenberg without getting into the water. It won't be that way forever, as things growing on it will cover the white paint and obscure it more and more. But as it stands now, you can snorkel the Vandenberg!

We spent at least an hour there, and nobody took out any guns. It was just that amazing. There were fishermen trolling the thing- I bet all they caught was barracuda, if anything! It's a little too early, guys! There were some good-sized cudas hovering a few feet off the Vandenberg, unfazed by anything, loving their new home, welcoming visitors.

Also present on the Vandenberg were various groups of scuba divers. Now I know why they call them "bubble makers" or whatever the phrase is. The stream of tiny bubbles flowing out their tanks created a column of bad, bubbly vis that went all the way up to the surface. I think we startled a few of them!

The top deck of the Vandenberg is about sixty feet down, so it was good practice for all of us, since that's just about everyone's limit. Mine is about 45 feet. The satellite dish was fabulous, and creepy at the same time. Great picture taking opportunities and the best day freediving I've had in a while.

Key West Snorkeling- Never the Same Twice

2009-05-24T18:55:00.003-04:00

Painters can paint the same scene every day and see something different every single time. Monet did this in his impressionist paintings of haystacks, lillies, and anything else he found to be beautiful. Key West snorkeling is the same way. You can go out to the same spot every day and see a totally different scene. And it's not just that there are different fish there each day, it's the quality of the light coming through the water, just what Monet was painting. It's the vis- some days it's very blue and clear. Freedivers and spearos call this "blue water", which is optimal conditions for seeing and spearing fish. Some days you can only see 10 feet in front of you. This day, the vis was ok in some spots, but tinted a very distinct green. We called it Green Water Day. Take a look.

The Vandenberg!

2009-05-17T15:13:00.003-04:00

It's a big deal, and it's here now, soon to be sunk on May 27. The Vandenberg, to be an artificial reef just south of Key West, was a war ship from World War II that's been cleaned and picked apart so there are no contaminants or pollutants which would harm the real reef once it's sunk. This cost millions and millions of dollars, and took at least ten years, I think. It's going to be the second largest artificial reef in the world, at 528 feet long. It'll be in 140 feet of water, good for scuba but not so accessible for Key West snorkeling. If you can freedive down to forty feet, you will be able to see the dishes, which will be at that level. But too bad it's not a little bit shallower for snorkelers.
She has to be sunk by June 1, 2009, which is the official start of hurricane season. Hurricanes can seriously mess up sinking plans! Anyone who has a boat has to stay outside a one-mile radius of the deployment area, so I'll be curious about what we'll be able to see when we go out to watch. It'll be located south of the Cayman wreck, convenient for dive boats out of Stock Island as well as Key West.

Best Fish Sauce

2009-04-29T11:59:00.003-04:00

We catch a lot of fish, (spearfishing) and eat almost all of it ourselves. So eventually the need for lots of fish recipes and fish sauce recipes became an urgent matter. You can get tired of fried fish pretty quickly. Here's one of our favorite sauces, the all-purpose sauce for fried fish and baked fish too.
It's called Red Reef Coral Sauce and it's from Mastering the Art of Florida Seafood.
Fast, easy and delicious.

Coral Sauce
Just stir it all up in a bowl and then put it on your fish!

3/4 cup Mayonaise
2 TB ketchup
1 TB prepared horseradish
2 TB pimento (optional: we never put it in)
juice of 1/4 lemon
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp worchestershire sauce
1/8 tsp tabasco sauce

Star Gazer Reef

2009-04-16T08:16:00.004-04:00

One of the coolest snorkel spots in Key West is Star Gazer Reef. Not really for the fish, but for the whole scene. It's a sculpture, kind of like a series of tables under water, with small balls of coral growing all over. Under the "table" there are lots of mangrove snappers and other fish, and one giant resident Jewfish underneath. There's a pair of angel fish here that are ginormous, too.
Star Gazer Reef is lots of fun to snorkel or dive because it's so strange. You can take some pretty cool pictures, too. The challenge is trying to get as close as possible to the Jewfish. Poor thing, he can't really hide himself here. He doesn't like to be bothered, so you feel kind of rude trying to get close. He will keep his eye on you and keep swimming, although slowly, to different sections of the Star Gazer to avoid you. Best option for getting a good picture is to find a place in the sculpture where there's a hole and look down through it, or peer over the top of the "table" at him.

Dolphins at Key West

2009-04-15T19:05:00.005-04:00

Seems like every day on the boat becomes an impromptu Key West dolphin tour. The dolphins are everywhere these days, frolicking and feeding within just a few miles of the shoreline. These guys were just south of the island, maybe two miles out. There were more than just the two in the photo, but these were the only ones offering to have their picture taken.

Coral Beauty

2009-04-11T08:44:00.006-04:00

My latest passion is taking pictures of the gorgeous coral all around Key West. Coral has always been the backdrop for fish pictures, but sometimes the fish just aren't around. This is some sort of parasite coral living on a bigger rock style coral. Did you know that the colors on coral is not the actual coral itself? It's algae that lives on the coral. When you see the dead coral fields in front of Key West, all bleached out, that's just coral without its algae. This coral would look bleached too, if you took away its friendly alage.

Tired Pidgeon

2009-04-09T09:00:00.004-04:00

We were out on Sunday, well all weekend actually, spearfishing. On Sunday, the winds were a little strong, but nothing radical. Maybe 13 knots but current made the waves larger than what you would have expected. Anyways, I was eating my sandwich and doing drift duty with the boat (others drift and dive with the boat, and I keep the boat near them) and felt a presence behind me. I looked up at the bow and there was a pidgeon perched on the boat. He was tired, I guess. How did he get so far out? We were near Sand Key.
His leg was tagged, so ...I don't know. I don't know what any of this means, but here he is.

Dolphin Scars

2009-04-02T08:49:00.004-04:00

Recently on the way home from a day of spearfishing, we embarked on our own private Key West Dolphin Tour. We saw a pod and slowed down to idle speed and there they were. This poor guy must have run into a boat prop. He's got some major damage going on right there on his dorsal fin.

Key West Fishing at 30 Knots

2009-03-28T08:22:00.003-04:00

March is for die-hard Key West fishing fans only. This March it's blown average of 20 knots most weeks, making huge rolling waves out there on the reef. Beyond the reef, well you're taking your life in your own hands if you go out there in a fishing boat.
Luckily, there is one type of Key West fishing that's possible on any day, no matter what the weather has thrown our way. It's on White Street Pier.
Now if you're used to fishing in a boat and in deeper water, this is going to be a big disappointment for you. But for people on vacation or fishing addicts who just have to fish but can't take the skiff out in 25 knots, we have White Street Pier. You can see here how horrible the Key West weather is on this particular day in late March:
The sky is gray and the water is brown from days of high winds from the south. But these folks have figured out that none of this matters to the fish below White Street Pier.

Florida Keys Beach, Wild Style

2009-03-25T18:51:00.007-04:00

Key West is great, but let's face it there is a lack of wild places to explore on land. The ocean is a whole world of exploration, the Silent World, full of mystery and strange creatures. What to do if it's blowing 30 knots and you are stuck on land?

Drive out to Geiger Key, just east of Key West, to satisfy the explorer in you. It's a strip of beach adjacent to fenced-off military land, wide enough to traverse and explore. It faces the Atlantic and the beach is narrow with rocks behind it. As Key West beaches go, this is my favorite because it's so untouched and wild.

Walk far enough down the beach, westward, and you'll hit the most incredible little beach hut. It's got a stone foundation and the walls are made of woven driftwood. There are rooms, stairs, a ladder to the roof, hallways, and secret little dens that could also be altars, depending on your point of view.

The beach hut is made to the scale of hobbits, and the little kids we saw there were delighted when they saw it. What a great place for a kids' birthday party. Check out the pictures:

Key West Barracuda Fishing

2009-03-22T08:34:00.005-04:00

Key West Barracuda Fishing

Key West barracuda fishing is, believe it or not, quite popular and exciting. Although most Key Westers don't eat barracuda, they are considered a pretty good fighting fish, and they make the best bait if you're going to go shark fishing later. For first-timers to Key West game fishing, hooking a barracuda is going to be the hilight of the day. Key West barracuda fishing is fast and easy, since there are so many of them in the waters around this island. They can be found in shallow water, on the reef, and in deeper water just beyond the reef. They can get quite large, like five or six feet long, too. And they are strong fighters! Once reeled in, you will see that their teeth are very impressive- large, plentiful, and sharp! Makes a great picture to impress the folks back home.

Barracudas have a reputation that is not quite warranted. Most people, when they hear that you have been Key West barracuda fishing, will have some sort of danger alert pop up in their minds. They will be concerned that perhaps you were in danger while on vacation in Key West. And if you go snorkeling you will almost definitely see barracuda. Folks back home will be shocked! That's because most people know about barracuda only from some exaggerated notion from a movie.

Let's set the record straight. Barracudas don't attack people. They attack the fish that people catch, whether it be on hook and like fishing or spearfishing. But barracuda are afraid of people. They lurk around boats and try to steal hooked fish, but they aren't waiting to ambush actual people!

Barracuda also hang out on the coral reef, which is why Key West reef fishing is sort of popular. Some captains will incorporate barracuda fishing into the first part of a day of fishing, as a way of catching bait. They make great bait because barracuda is a very bloody fish and they are easy to find and catch. Ask you captain about it, try it and you'll see why barracuda fishing in Key West is so much fun!

Top

Half Shell Raw Bar

2009-03-07T09:46:00.004-05:00

Right down on the water in Key West's Historic Seaport, you'll find the Half Shell Raw Bar. It has one of the best logos in town (how can you go wrong with a pinup girl holding a platter of raw clams?) and some mighty cheap oysters at happy hour. From 4:30 to 6:30 you get fifty cent oysters, served up fresh at the bar. Pull up and order a dozen, it won't break your budget. They also have Blue Moon on tap, usually. Recently we went there and they actually didn't have it, however.

Woe to the hungry diner who doesn't like raw oysters, however. You will be rushing to make it in time for happy hour only to find that the raw oysters are the only real deal on the menu. You'll end up ordering a seven dollar cheeseburger while your raw shellfish-loving buddies chow down happily. Don't fall for the $5 conch fritters 'cause they are the worst ones in town.

Another Drug Sub

2009-02-04T13:16:00.004-05:00

Look, I painted a picture of a drug sub being towed through Key West Harbor. No, really, it's just a terrible picture, but I was on my way out for one of my favorite Key West activities, spearfishing, and the boat didn't stop for pictures. If you look closely at the photo, it's a yellow Sea Tow boat behind a light blue vessel. The blue vessel is another drug sub, only smaller this time. The tow boat really was towing but when the picture was taken the drug sub had rushed ahead with the currents.

Key West Spearfishing

2009-02-02T11:13:00.003-05:00

It's been cold and windy, but the spearfishing in Key West is still going strong for those of us with thick skin (or at least thick wetsuits). Here's a Dog Snapper caught in Key West area waters. Notice the teeth.

Key West Seafood Festival 2009

2009-01-18T12:09:00.002-05:00

The annual Key West Seafood Festival took place again at Bayview Park. The best part was the touch tank, where you can see sea stars (aka starfish), sea urchins, conchs and the biggest lobster we've ever seen!

What is Wrong with this Jellyfish?

2009-01-15T09:45:00.002-05:00

Key West snorkeling will show you a whole world of strange new creatures. Take for instance jellyfish. We see them all the time. I know what moon jellyfish look like. But what is going on here? Take a look at this thing and tell me it doesn't look strange. The second picture is untouched. The first picture has some retouching so you can see the contrasts.

Ikelite Underwater Camera Case

2009-01-07T15:19:00.003-05:00

Since moving to Florida I have become an amateur underwater photographer/videographer. I've been using a Canon S1 IS camera with the WP-DC20 underwater case. It has been great, but there have been some issues. First, the Canon S1 has some serious zoom capabilities in it. With the fantastic optical 10x zoom and combined 32x zoom, it's way beyond lots of other cameras in terms of zoom. This also means that the camera isn't pocket-sized. So with its underwater casing, it's quite bulky and...BUOYANT!! So, basically I'm pushing a huge very buoyant bubble down each time I dive. That takes extra effort, which I can not spare. Extra effort = extra breath. And being challenged in that area already, it really handicapped me.

Between my astronaut-like 5mm winter wetsuit and my huge camera-bubble, I was missing spearfishing shots and not able to keep up or even get down as far and fast as I wanted.

All this wasn't even on my mind when we decided to purchse the $700 Ikelite underwater housing for our newer and better S3 IS. The S3 has a larger LCD (can't see a thing on the S1 LCD under water) and better burst. Plus, the old S1s keep getting purple streaks in the images, and I'm on my second one now. We figured the Ikelite would also be great because of the huge handles on each side, easy to maneuver.

Boy were we wrong about everything. The Ikelet turned out to be a huge albatross that didn't even work! Yes, that's right, it didn't even work. The buttons didn't line up with my camera's buttons! and the even if they did line up, the were hard to press and very close together, making underwater operation very clunky because I wear gloves under water, as do many divers. The local dive shop up the Keys from which we ordered the monster gave us such a hard time about returning it, too. They took weeks to even figure out what the procedure was, and only the "owner" could talk to us, and he wasn't always there. The employee was nice enough but never seemed to be able to help at all, even though we talked to her so many times she knew us by name. She was just getting her $8 an hour, or whatever, she didn't care. Turned out she was the owner's wife! Care about your business much?

We had to call Ikelite and report how bad the customer service was at this place, and after so many phone calls trying to get the LDS to communicate with Ikelite and vice versa, we finally got our money back, minus a ciminal $50 "stocking fee".

Ikelite sucks!

Great Walks in Key West

2008-12-08T09:36:00.004-05:00

For us, Key West is all about the water and the coral reef. But when we can't get out on the water in our boat because it's too windy or we have other obligations, we have spots around the island we can visit and it's the next best thing. One of these is to drive to South Roosevelt Blvd and park near Higgs Beach. Drive past White Street and continue on to where the "Bum Pagodas" are found on Higgs Beach. There's a walkway out onto the water, made of metal. It's just before Casa Marina. It's fun to walk out on it and look out to sea or back onto the island, since it gets you out over the water and you can check the vis or at least feel the wind in your hair.

Shrimp Road Now

2008-12-02T16:26:00.007-05:00

Shrimp Road and the waterfront area behind it is going to change drastically in the next few years, if development plans go forward. Much of the land along this road has been sold amidst the recent Key West real estate bubble, and developers plan to recreate the entire waterfront area from Shrimp Road around to Safe Harbor. We'll be seeing fancy shopping areas, a 300-room hotel, and fancy boat slips. Current liveaboard tenants will have to move, and old buildings will be torn down. Rows and rows of old boats up on stilts for "repairs" which seem to have been there for decades, will have to be removed. Take a look at this one:

Robbies Marine is the only place where they can bring real big boats out of the water, since it's so deep. REAL big boats. How will the upscale development plans incorporate this necessary part of the waterfront?

This old metal ship is leaning over, this can't be good.

Shrimp Road, Stock Island Development

2008-12-01T13:51:00.010-05:00

I recently had a ride around Stock Island, up Shrimp Road with an excellent tourguide. He's known the area for years and years, and showed me what is going to be developed into mega-deluxe waterfront shopping, hotel, and slips. As it looks now, it's old Key West: wooden boats up on stilts, offshore fishing charter fleets like the one above, and their offices. parking lots, and live-aboard slips. The property formerly owned by FishAndy has been sold. This includes 80 or so slips which have been occupied by houseboats and liveaboard yachts and sailboats. They will have have to vacate early next year, 2009. Here's a picture of that area:

One huge warehouse, built just two years ago to house a company that makes giant catamarans often used by watersports companies to ferry touritsts out to the reef, is going to be flattened. In its place will sit the anchor of the newly developed area, a 300-room hotel. Here's that building now:

There's already one building built, near the Fish Andy charter business, which is already moving to spots near the Hogfish Grill on Stock Island. It's a professional building, right on the water, very nice:

There are all kinds of interesting stories sitting quietly over there on Stock Island on Shrimp Road. There's a mega yacht over there, more like a small ship. It was once owned by some former Soviet-bloc country which has been re-divided, perhaps Czechoslovakia before it split into Slovakia and Czech Republic. When power changed hands, nobody paid the dock bill on the yacht, here in Key West. They racked up such a high bill that the owners finally said "Take it". So now it sits in harbor, and the lucky guy who got it now lives there. He owns the tug next to it, too. It was supposed to tug the yacht away to be renovated but in the meantime they discovere the yacht wasn't exactly sea-worthy and couldn't be moved. Here it is:

There are some condo/apartment/workforce housing units overlooking this waterfront area. You can see them in the background of this picture, in pastel colors. Nothing special, but they are going to have one heck of an interesting time looking out their windows for the next few years while development goes forward. You can also see one of the big cats they build in that building which is going to be torn down.

Drug Sub

2008-11-22T14:48:00.003-05:00

The US Coast Guard pulled in a Drug Sub near Ecuador a while ago. It's parked on the pier here in Key West. We go past it every time we go out spearfishing. At first when I heard "Drug Sub" I imagined a small sub. A real sub, in other words. This thing is just a big old boat with the top sawed off! It ran just under the surface of the water and was stuffed with drugs bound for the US. Exiting stuff!

Key West Lobstering

2008-11-20T08:05:00.006-05:00

Since Novemer hits, there can be some cold nights in Key West. Well, some years this is the case and this year it's cold. The overnight temperature one night just before Thanksgiving was in the 50s. Yup, that means the shallow water on the south side of Key West is COLD. But with my wonderful new 5mm Oceanos wetsuit I didn't even feel it. We can go lobstering all season, in fact. Some good coral heads in shallow water around Key West, so even in rough weather we have a destination and a way to get out on the water. My new under water camera setup is sweet, take a look at the pictures I got.

Manatees in Key West

2008-11-15T14:36:00.001-05:00

Well, with cooler water coming in we get the manatees in our canal looking for warmth. They feed on the mangroves just across the way from our dock and they like to get fresh water when we flush the engine on our boat. These behemoths glide up and roll over under the effluent of water and drink it up. I want so badly to feed them a stick of celery but I know I shouldn't. They shouldn't associate people and especially boats with anything that's good. That will make them fearless around props when they're near boats. Scars are visible on the manatees' backs from the props of boats. Look closer and you'll also see barnacles and what looks like moss or lichens.

They're so big, naturally people used to eat them. Manatees are also slow, friendly and fat. I'm guessing they must have been easy pickens for hungry pirates and settlers in Key West.

They come in packs usually, and sometimes seem to send out a scout in front to zip up the canal and see what's up there. This guy was alone but his pack was certainly nearby.

Confused Parrot Fish

2008-11-14T08:15:00.002-05:00

While lobstering recently in Key West waters, a silly parrot fish swam into Ben's net. Are parrot fish dumb or was he addle-brained from the cold water or what? I hear they eat parrot fish in the Bahamas, or is it Hawaii?

Improvements at Key West Botannical Gardens

2008-11-08T09:51:00.006-05:00

A year ago I went to the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Gardens on Stock Island and I came away with the feeling that it will be a great place in about five years. Gardens need time to grow and get bushy. Tropical gardens and botannical gardens also need more than just a bunch of plants. They need bridges, benches, art, and all kinds of points of interest like that to engage the visitor.

I was there yesterday and looks like there are some major improvements going on. For starters, looks like a lake is being dug. There are some large trees set up around the lake as well, propped up by two-by-fours. This is exciting, and they've already put in a bridge over the water. Sounds like a point of interest and something that will engage the visitor to me.

Key West Super Boat Races

2008-11-07T07:27:00.010-05:00

This week the Key West Super Boat races are on, and we went out Wednesday afternoon on the boat to watch preliminaries, I guess that's what they were. The harbor is closed off from around in front of the Hyatt, on out to offshore, where the course extends. We watched for about an hour and a half then felt the urge to get some lobster.

To get across the harbor, you have to wait until they're in between races, then radio for a Coast Guard escort. They will send the "Coast Guard Auxiliary", which curiously has downriggers on it and some dirty fumes pouring out the back! It's really an offshore fishing boat that's been deputized for the event.

The best thing about the Key West Power Boat Races are the sounds of the engines and the helicopters flying with the boats. The best way to watch the power boat races is from a boat anchored in front of Sunset Key. There are red bouys marking the race course so stay behind them. For pictures, it's a good spot but get closer to the red balls for better shots. Standing at Mallory Square is fun, but it's HOT and crowded. The boats come really close to the pier there so you can see close ups of the boats, but you lose perspective and only see each boat for a few seconds. Watching from in front of Sunset Key lets you see more of the boats' power and speed.

We didn't want to wait for an escort across the harbor in order to get out and do some lobstering, so we went around the back of Key West. Behind the Coast Guard pier, and took a look at the Drug Sub they have captured there, from off the coast of Ecuador. Then over near Sunset Marina on Stock Island, then through Cow Key Channel and around the bend to the south side of Key West. It took about 25 minutes.

Superboat races are super exciting for about an hour, then it's time to move on.

Saturday Night Of Fantasy Fest 2008

2008-10-30T08:11:00.007-04:00

Well, this was the big night, the big parade the big crowds. We actually stood in one place this year rather than strolling up and down, and really, you get to see more costumes that way. We went out around 8, while the big parade was in session. Whew, you gotta plan your moves while the parade is going on. The street is blocked off with metal fences all the way down Duval, to Mel Fisher's and beyond. You just can't cross anywhere! We went a block or two past Mel's, down Whitehead Street, I think. The one with Audubon House. There, the crowds thin out and you see mostly locals who bring lawn chairs and know they won't be bothered by the masses up at that end. The metal barriers are gone and here you can cross. But if you're wearing heels like I was, this is a long trek. Good thing my heels were wedge heels.

In general, high heels last about twenty minutes, then most girls will change into flats. I did that last year, and knew this year to wear wedge heels if I was going to survive the night.

More Sarah Palins out tonight, but in general not so many political themed costumes. The theme was difficult to dress to: political stuff. Be an elephant or a jackass or Sarah Pahlin? Not sexy or fantasic enough. There was a flo

at in the parade full of Monica Lewinskys and a few Bill Clintons, but not that exciting either. Last year's theme was great: basically Alice in Wonderland. All kinds of crazy tea party costumes and fantastic attire.

Here are few of my favorite Fantasy Fest 2008 costumes. It was another great year, and I still can't wait for next year. I guess that means I'm not yet a local.

Friday Night of Fantasy Fest 2008

2008-10-29T07:49:00.005-04:00

Less rain, more people.

Now Duval is really blocked off and the costumes are out. People are here for the weekend now, who are, thankfully, younger. Not that there's anything wrong with all ages enjoying the freedom of expression that Fantasy Fest offers. But it's good to have a balance, with all age groups represented.

Tonight was the Pimp 'n Ho party and the Pirate Bash. More pirates out there, but surprisingly few pimps and hos. Well, I think some costumes were ho-ish anyway, but not for the party. And ho-ish is part of the spirit of Fantasy Fest, so it's a good thing.

Costumes were excellent tonight. Raggedy Ann and her Raggedy Andy were awesome. They win hands down for best couple's costumes. Not only were their costumes perfect, but their personalities seemed to match the Raggedy persona. They were so, I don't know, floppy and happy. Kind of like giant dolls on E.

Seemed like the boxing couple also chose their costumes according to personal aura. They were in fabulous shape, maybe they were personal trainers. I just loved their whole look. Good job.

99% of the people out there love having their pictures taken. They worked hard, obviously anyone dressed up at Fantasy Fest has a little exhibitionist in them. So it's fun to dress up and be wierd and have people want to take your picture. From experience, it's a great feeling. Everyone should feel it once in their life.

Too bad those girls in the ivy costumes didn't agree. Girls, enjoy yourselves! Or have a drink or something if you need one. Fantasy Fest is not the place to feel shy or unfriendly. You won't get the full benefit, darlings. This is not a cocktail party!

Toga Party, Thursday Night of Fantasy Fest 2008

2008-10-24T12:53:00.006-04:00

There is just so. much. rain.

Is body paint waterproof? It's not just rain, it's downpour and flooding. However, Fantasy Fest 2008 rolled on Thursday night. When the downpours came, people crowded under awnings of Duval Street and into bars, still happy. If you spend all year looking forward to Fantasy Fest, and pour all that energy into a fabulous costume, why let a little rain stop you? I only worried for the guy whose toga costume was made entirely of body paint. Yes, he painted his toga right on!

There was a PJ and lingerie party too, but we didn't see many costumes for this one. The toga party is definitely very popular and famous. Plus it's at Sloppy Joe's, one of the most famous Key West bars.

Those two tall tall men whom I remember from last year's Fantasy Fest were out again. They have the best costumes! I was transfixed by the huge black feathered headdresses they wore with their trojan outfits. Wow. They definitely carry the spirit of Fantasy Fest with them.

Speaking of the spirit of Fantasy Fest, what is it with locals? Today my survery continued, "So, all geared up for Fantasy Fest?". "Oh, it just means more work". Yo, idiot, work is money. You were probably crying out for business just a few weeks ago during the off season! Locals are so whiney. I swear, they love to complain. Oh, business is so bad. Oh, I have to work so hard. Which is it?

Fantasy Fest Green Party 2008

2008-10-22T14:02:00.008-04:00

Finnegan's Wake had its new annual Green Party last night. If you wear green you get in for free, but it wasn't actually enforced so even white t-shirts passed in with no cover. There were people standing out front, which was cool because you could see their outfits. Inside, people sat at booths and mingled but somehow it seemed more lively out on the street.

The band tried a few times to corral people inside, using a megaphone even! Well, the megaphone was part of their act so why not use it to try and get people inside the bar where they might buy some drinks. We were there for a few hours and heard maybe three songs played. They were on break or something when we arrived, but oy what a long break! Once they started playing again people actually moved out of bar and back outside again!

I'm going to have to say that sitting inside a bar during Fantasy Fest is like going to a movie and spending the whole time in the bathroom because you ran into someone you know in the next stall. Don't you want to see the show? You're missing all action! Why sit in a bar, talking to the same people you see every day, looking at a tv screen or whatever, when there is a festival right outside those doors, with people dressed elaborate costumes, body paint, or nothing at all. The mood on the streets during Fantasy Fest is so much fun, so positive, such a great time. Why would you want to sit in a bar and listen to people blathering on about nothing at all or just talking about themselves?

Anyhoo, there were some awesome costumes. Even if it was a fabulous little green dress, I love the festiveness of people who get into the costume part of Fantasy Fest. There were some girls dressed in green hotpants and tube socks, some sort of green sports theme. Some great ultra Vogue designer dresses with matching shoes, and some silly leprechauns. That was mostly outside the bar, but hey that's part of the Green Party too. Next year maybe go with the tried-and-true Irish band. There certainly isn't any shortage of Irish bands in the world to pick from, right?

Leather Night at Fantasy Fest

2008-10-21T14:46:00.003-04:00

Monday Night of Fantast Fest 2008 could be called Leather Night. There was the Dungeons and Dragons party at 801 Bourbon Street. 801 Bourbon Street is a drag queen gay bar at 801 Duval Street. Their party is on the official Fantasy Fest 2008 website as the only party that night. But that's incorrect. There was also a leather and bondage party at Kelly's Caribbean Bar on Whitehead Street. That party was pretty interesting, even if you didn't pay to go in. The sidewalk in front of the bar had plenty of action!

People in their favorite leather costumes, masks and whips showed up from all over the place, and since this isn't a gay bar, maybe it's the biggest leather-bondage-fetish party during Fantasy Fest. There's also a Leather and Lace party at Club Zu, but don't know anything about it yet.

Leather and bondage people haven' yet realized that it's not the 80's anymore, and those high-waisted thongs aren't really in style any more. But I guess that's what they think is attractive. Then we had the lineup of butts, which a friend called "The Timeline of Butts" since it went from young to more mature, left to right. I'd show you but I don't think I'm allowed to post pictures like that on Blogger.

Snorkeling at Dry Tortugas

2008-10-19T08:57:00.006-04:00

We went snorkeling at Dry Tortugas last week, around the pylons that used to be a dock, and off the beach. It was calm out, maybe just 10 knot wind, but that was enough to stir up the sand around the island and decrease the vis. I'm sure that when the vis is better, or if we had swum around to the moat on the northwest wall where the vis might have been better, it could have been amazing. There were lots of small fish on the old dock pilings and it was beautiful. There was a 25" or so mutton snapper on the furthest out piling, and it wasn't at all afraid of us! It's used to being watched but never shot at or having a hook dangled in front of it. Pretty amazing to see how they learn from their environment and adjust accordingly. Out on the reef, we never could have gotten so close to him. Otherwise he would have been dinner!

Have you heard of Reverse Phone Number Lookup?

2008-10-17T17:55:00.004-04:00

Did you know that when you get a phone call from a number you don't recognize there's a way to look up who is trying to call you? It's called Reverse Phone Number Lookup and it's available on the internet. Instead of looking up someone's phone number by name, you're looking up someone's name by their phone number. Take that, crank callers and telemarketers! There are sites that list National Phone Numbers in a database searchable by anyone who needs to attach a name to a phone number.

when I see a phone number on caller ID and I don't know who it is, I usually try an Google the number and see what comes up. Half the time, if it's a business, I can get an answer. But I think with the reverse phone number lookup, you get better results, and more information. Usually you can find out the city and state of the phone number for free. Then if you want the full report you will have to pay something. It's information that's been collected and it has a value so don't expect anything for free. But detectives use this type of service, and anyone who wants to find out about someone. This is a great service for nosy people too!

4ppl Online Dating Personals

Fantasy Fest for Locals?

2008-10-15T09:19:00.002-04:00

What's up Fantasy Fest is starting this week, with Goombay. This will be my second one, and I'm pretty excited. Last year's Fantasy Fest 2007 was a blast. The vibe on the street is super friendly and communal, bacchanalian and cheerful. The best costumes are the ones people dream up themselves, or the body paint done by a very good artist. And I like anything with plumage, so the more feathers the better. That's why this year, for Fantasy Fest 2008 I decided to be a raven. That was about six months ago. Now, with just a few days left I have given up and will go with the pieces I did buy here and there. I will still call myself a raven, only now it's impressionistic.

Locals I've talked to are not enthusiastic about Fantasy Fest. I guess year after year it loses its shine. If you just go to look, then I can understand why it goes stale. Drunk people in scimpy clothing is only interesting for so long. But if you go to Fantasy Fest to participate, wear a great costume and have fun, well how can that ever get old and boring?

Of course you have to have a little bit of exhibitionist in you. Or even if you don't, you can wear a mask and be somebody else. That's the beauty! Costumes can hide your identity while you behave outrageously.

One local said it's weird to go and see friends of daughters of friends in such scimpy clothing. He will just go and have dinner on a balcony and watch from above for a few hours. Another local just didn't want to talk about why, but said she doesn't care about it. Another said she's boycotting it altogether, perhaps because of some body issues she's having lately. I have yet to find a local who is excited for Fantasy Fest 2008.

Audubon House

2008-10-14T15:39:00.002-04:00

With family visiting, it's time to hit the tourist spots again. And bonus, it's slow season in Key West so locals get discounts left and right this time of year. Mel Fisher's even gave my parents the locals discount just because they were with us. $6 admission!

Audubon House is right across the street from Mel Fisher's Museum. It's just a white house with a white picket fence and lots of lush foliage from the outside. I have to say I wasn't thrilled about visiting this attraction. But I was pleasantly surprised. We got a personal tourguide who knew more than we ever wanted to know about John James Audubon and the Geiger House which is now called the Audubon House just because Audubon stayed there for a few weeks in 1837. She gave a great speech and the house was beautifully preserved. The Audubon lithographs were stunning in person, and I came away with a new appreciation for one of our earliest conservationists.

The tropical gardens surrounding Audubon House are nice too, although their billing as "the best tropical garden in Key West" make it kind of a letdown. But the yard is great, beautiful enough for people to book their weddings there all the time. If you like orchids, then visit Audubon House. They have them growing on tree trunks there.

The gift shop is beautiful but not the place to pick up that cheap trinket souvenir of your Key West vacation. Items for sale include precious bird sculptures and prints of Audubon's work that cost in the hundreds. Some of the nicest things are the cards featuring his birds from Florida.

Birding at Dry Tortugas

2008-10-13T19:25:00.009-04:00

After almost two years of living in Key West, and five years of visiting the Keys, we finally made it out to Dry Tortugas. Parents visiting, the perfect time to go. And BONUS: LOCALS' DICOUNT!!! It's half price for locals until mid December I think. That's $75 plus some fees making it closer to $80. Excellent.

Let me just say that the guide was the best ever. I wish I could remember her name because she is so good at her job. She's a scientist, a park ranger I think, and she's hired by Yankee Fleet to tell us about the Dry Tortugas and the wildlife we encounter on the way and while we're there. She loves birds, so she brings a telescope to the fort and sets it up on the beach. There are two smaller islands near the island where Fort Jefferson is located. One had tons of peregrine falcons on it and the other had frigates. She knew all about the plight of various bird species in the area. She pointed out and counted boobies on a nav marker as we approached the fort by boat. She had stories, facts, and anything you wanted to know.

Benihana's Key West

2008-10-13T15:14:00.006-04:00

What happened to Benihana's? Just five months after reopening, it's gone downhill from the fabulous experience with delicious food it first was. After being shut down after Hurrican Wilma, Benihana's Key West finally reopened Spring of 2008. We went one week after reopening and there was an exciting buzz about the place. It was jam packed, the chefs were excited, and the food was delicious and plentifull. Now, in October, it changed, at least for us on that night it was our experience.

With a party of four, we got an 8-person table to ourselves, which gave us more elbow room. The waitress was attentive and very nice, but hard to hear above the noise. The chef was disappointing and hardly did any tricks or made any jokes. He just kind of cooked the food and made some pathetic jokes. Our fist visit was so good because the chef worked off any type crowd and handled some very hungry people, who'd been waiting an hour and a half for food. This guy could hardly make the onion volcano! He was not even paying attention, kept looking around the room and over our collective shoulder.

The yakisoba was not good at all! Yuck, blechho sauce poured all over it, and just mostly cabbage. Two orders of yakisoba got one paper thin piece of chicken the size of a saucer between them. Benihana's is trying to save money by handing out itty bitty pieces of chicken? The filet mignon and Hibachi steaks were tiny as well. Ripoff!!!

I just wouldn't recommend it anymore, but maybe it was just the one chef. And don't order the yakisoba. The beef is great, but there's not enough of it. And why take a chance you get the bored chef? Cross it off the list.

Stop off at Walt Disney World on Your Way to Key West

2008-10-08T12:02:00.003-04:00

Key Westers are used to having house guests. When you live on a tropical island, everyone wants to visit! A nice vacation for folks up north is to drive down, or fly into Orlando where the airfare is cheap, then rent a car to drive to Key West. The bonus of driving or flying into Orlando is that you get to stop off at Walt Disney World. Walt Disney World Vacations may not necessarily be on your agenda if you're coming to Key West, but with the drive/fly combo, you get two vacations on one.

Walt Disney World is actually pretty interesting for all ages, not just kids and parents. Disney Theme Park Tickets are worth it for the food alone! You'll sample German, Chinese, Japanese, Morroccan and French Cuisine just at Epcot Center! With a Small World created around a lake featuring ferry rides from "country" to "country", you can explore the cuisine of the world. From a German Beer House with long tables and large steins of beer where you can watch the oompah show, to the other side of the lake where you'll feast on sushi and sashimi.

Disney world Tickets are easy to purchase, either online or at the gate, and you'll get a full day's worth of entertainment, excellent food, and happy memories to last a lifetime.

Bike Week, Key West

2008-09-20T12:52:00.004-04:00

Thank God Bike Week is here, all the Key West hotels are probably saying. After totally empty parking lots after Hurricane Ike, now they are full of $60,000 motorcycles and middle-aged dudes and dudettes dressed in black T-shirts and bad denim jeans. There are hundreds in town, and we can hear them rumbling all day long across Garrison Bight. Here are just a few pictures from Friday night. It rained so you can see rain drops on the bikes but they still look pretty good.

Here we have a Hooters Bike, with a big fat tire. It's parked near Sloppy Joe's bar, on Duval Street.

Tarpon Fishing in Key West

2008-09-16T13:54:00.004-04:00

Tarpon fishing is usually great near Key West. We anchor up there at night and jump a few all spring. But early September, I guess they are mostly gone, or it was because the tide was coming in. We jumped one tarpon and everything else we caught was nurse sharks. Or maybe the same nurse shark over and over. Here's Cal, a spearo buddy, on his first time tarpon fishing. He was psyched to catch a nurse shark because he wanted to eat it. But captain Ben wasn't into it so it was no go. Cal did manage to lift the nurse shark out of the water, before it flipped out and wrenched itself out of his hands and into the water. This is really a whole different take on Key West flats fishing.

Hurricane Ike on Tuesday

2008-09-09T14:19:00.000-04:00

Here's a shot of the waves crashing on Tuesday, the day Hurricane Ike hit Key West. This is near West Martello, where they have the Garden Club, next to White Street Pier. Not a serious hurricane for us but still exciting. Fox News was here, reporting on nothing as usual.

Hurricane Ike in Key West

2008-09-08T14:15:00.004-04:00

Monday before Hurricane Ike hit Key West, it's a kite boarding party on Smathers Beach. The wind was perfect for these guys, and White Street Pier provided the perfect photo-taking platform for their jumps. You can see that we actually have waves here in this picture. Usually we don't because the coral reef breaks them up before they hit shore.

Here's a video of a kite boarder doing a jump right in front of us while we stood on White Street Pier.

Hurricane Gustav

2008-09-03T18:26:00.005-04:00

Gustav was a bust! It was windy and it rained for about 24 hours straight but that was it. Thank goodness we didn't get it but it's hard not to just think about all the work done to prepare. We didn't even take our boat out of the water this time because the "cone" wasn't going to hit us. Here's what the radar looked like:

The only thing was, the wind was so strong our boat pulled the cleat out of the concrete on our dock so when we woke up the tail end was across the canal.

Spearfishing near Rock Key, Key West

2008-09-02T17:36:00.002-04:00

We had a good day a while back on the reef in front of Key West. It was just Ben, me and Ted but the catch was a good mixed bag. Ben got a grouper then Ted saw a huge shark so we moved to another spot. Then in some shallower water we got some hogfish and a mutton. It's kind of no big deal anymore to get hogfish. I mean, they are so darned DUMB, and you can find them in easy shallow water. My goal is to get one of those huge hogfish you see in Hawaii Skin Diver magazine, in deeper water.
Anyways, here the picture of that day's catch. We all had a great time.

Vacation Rentals by Owner

2008-09-02T13:00:00.002-04:00

If you are coming here on vacation or to any of the other Keys for that matter, and you plan on staying more than one week, you might want to consider a vacation rental. Terms are for a week, multiple weeks, a month or more. Some people even rent vacation homes for an entire season. It is often much more cost effective than a hotel for the same amount of time, especially if you are a family or group. There's a good website lists vacation rentals, called Vacation Rentals by Owner. On this site, you can search properties by state and find rental information for each property listed. The owners themselves put up the info, and there's no third party fee for booking. You can save money by booking directly with the property owners. If the property you're interested in has a website, there will also be a link to that site as well. Amenities are neatly listed on the right hand navigation menu for each property, each of which also has its own page on the site. Clicking on the Florida page you'll see a list of all the areas on Florida plus the properties. This makes it very simple and enjoyable to find Florida vacation rentals.

At the time of writing, there were seven Key West vacation rentals and every single one of them had a pool. The vacation rental that was in the Key West area is on the beach and desribed as 88 miles from Havana Cuba!
The section that lists Orlando vacation rentals seemed to be the largest section with the most listings. Again, every place has a swimming pool and it's easy to scroll down and see how many bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. The design of this website makes it easy and fun to find your vacation rental!

My New O'Neill Wetsuit ROCKS

2008-05-31T19:33:00.004-04:00

Warm water is here, and I can finally ditch my 5 mm Scuba Pro wetsuit and three million pounds of weights, plus hooded vest and lycra suit. Srsly! I got a 1mm wetsuit for sun protection and yes i will admit it, for a little warmth. I LOVE it. It fits, I dont' look like a frog ninja, or a michelen man-lady. I can lift my weight belt easily. It hugs my curves, it's stealth looking, it's easy to get on. For summer, it looks so much better than the lycra suit I was wearing...see picture here . I guess that's all I really have to say about a wetsuit, so now let me talk about my new fins.

I got Omer Millenium fins, smallest size they make for my ladies size 7 feet. The foot pocket is still too big so my boyfriend helped me order some 4 or 5 mm booties to wear. The thick socks not only fill up the space but also protect my feet from rubbing and blisters. BF has to tape up toes every time he goes out. I, all I have to do is yank on my tight booties. Each time they are a little looser, too, so if you get some and you just can't believe how tight they are, they do loosen up after four or five wears.

Can I just warn people a little bit about long freediving fins? They displace LOTS more water than soft little short fins like my old Mares VOLOs. Those things were bending right in half with every kick right before I got the new fins. Look, here's a picture I took to prove it:

The freediving Omer Millenium fins are longer, harder, and MUCH harder on your ankles. Yes, my ankles were useless after my first day with the fins. It felt like sprained ankles. Have to practice and then your ankles get used to it. But still, if I forget and go all out kicking to catch something in the water (a fish, the boat in a strong current, or BF), I still get the fake sprained ankle feeling for a while. Remedy is just to take a half hour break and it goes away.
Here's a picture of me trying out new fins for the first time. You can see my ankles breaking:

Another cool thing about Key West

2008-05-20T09:10:00.005-04:00

Not only are scooters way cool in Key West, but even the bicycles are totally awesome. They're kooky and painted and modified and still totally rad looking. Not kooky clown looking. Kooky funky art looking. Nobody likes clowns. But someone who rides down Duval on a 100% chromed out bicycle is SO southern Florida, so cool.

Sometimes when I can't find things to culturally relate to, being from the world of northeastern cool, dark moody art and tons of personal expression, and I can't believe I'm living in a state where so many people still wear neon tank tops (originals from the 80s) and visors, and there doesn't seem to be much variety, these fancy bicycles pick my spirits right up.

Or when the world seems over populated with Tommy Bahama, let Elvis roll down the street in his leopard prints and totally funked out bicycle. Then the world seems right. One brave local Elvis with Viking Hat balances out all the preppiness around him.
Here's Elvis, sans bicycle.

Spearfishing Girls

2008-04-16T08:19:00.007-04:00

Ok, where are all the girls out there who spear fish? Where are all the female spearos? I read spearboard, my boyfriend and I occassionally meet people and go spearfishing with people from the board, and so far only one other girl has come out with us and shot fish. Come on girls, where are you? I have gear questions, I want to bond! I need girlfriends with common interests and crazy outlooks on life. I know you're out there, come on this is Key West. Leave a comment, let me know who you are, how long you've been a spearo, or anything you want to tell me about spearfishing.

I've been at it for about 8 months and I can get down to almost 30 feet. My goal is 40 feet by the end of the summer, but I think I need actual longfins for that. My current fins are Mares Volo, which are kind of short and flexible. It takes me considerable effort to get down to the bottom, which is killing my bottom time and endurance. Longfins might help but I'm not really 100% sure. Well, that's what they guys wear, and freedivers wear longfins for a reason, so why wouldn't they help?

The problem is, I can't seem to find longfins in women's sizes. I'm a size 7, which is European size 37 or 38. Cressi garas come in size 40 and up. That's a women's 9!

I've seen Omer Milleniums at size 38/40 online, but I can't find someone who actually sells them anywhere, even online. The store that has them in the smaller size is out of business (spearfishinggear.com).

So, how do you spearos out there fit your fins? Someone suggested I buy some thick (like 5mm) booties to fill up the larger fin. I guess I could do that, but at over $100, I'm going to try and find the right size.

If anyone out there has some advice, I'd surely appreciate it!!!!!!
-SpearCat

Too Much Lobster

2008-02-20T10:01:00.002-05:00

Ben is getting so good at getting lobster, I'm can't even believe I'm not excited anymore about how much lobster I get to eat. I don't even try and help anymore, instead practicing shooting fish in the shallow waters while he searches under rocks for entrenched lobsters who've managed to survive this long into the season. We've been eating so much lobster all winter, it's hard to believe there are any more out there. And we don't even go far from Key West. They're right there, so close to home. Still!

I haven't yet warmed up to the idea of reaching under rocks into the darkness, which is why I also don't seek out grouper. Whatever. Let me kill my jacks and I'm happy as a clam. I LOVE killing jacks. Although a GIANT hogfish, the kind with the gaping mouth like a flopper would be nice too. People have lists, well, the giant hogfish is on my list. I kind of like getting snapper who hang out on the bottom next to coral, too. They are challenging and very smart. They keep their eye on you, so when you get near, they run away. very keen senses.

Here's a nice little catch we got recently. As usual, most of the stuff is Ben's catch but I'm getting better. Now that I have a super 5mm wetsuit the cold doesn't get to me anymore. I'm such a coldness wimp! You can tell we were in shallow water because there are lobster and the hogfish are small. The jack is random and just passed through.

Key West Weddings

2008-02-08T16:08:00.006-05:00

I was recently at Mallory Square for an event and there happened to be a wedding in front of the Westin hotel. It was gorgeous, with huge flower displays set against the ocean water.
The whole scene kinda makes me see the attraction of Key West weddings, set against the harbor, with the setting sun. They do a bang-up job here.

Conchs are Cool

2008-01-18T08:47:00.004-05:00

Conchs, which is what they call the natives in Key West, can do lots of things that regular folks have never even tried. For example, most of them ride scooters. Also, they perform advanced scooter tricks like balancing packages between their feet while driving. Old scooters loaded down with groceries, purchases from K-Mart, or cases of beer. Even grandmas ride scooters, and ladies with dresses on, ladies dressed up for work, of all ages. Sisters ride together, one driving one holding on. Conchs put their pets on scooters, they ride in flip flops and no helmet.

They can park anywhere, they're cool.

They can zip around stuck traffic, that's cool.

The only other place I've been where I've been impressed by scooter culture was Rome, Italy. Since everyone dresses to the nines there, and since traffic congestion is outrageous in the city, you'll see fabulous people on scooters everywhere. Women wear perfect Italian shoes and their clothes flap in the scooter-made wind. They look like angels, only they're wearing lipstick. Italian scooter riders are cool too, but in a more elegant, unattainable way.

Here are some of the amazing objects I've seen on scooters in Key West:

fishing poles
buckets of bait
big dogs
parrot on shoulder of driver
bulletin board
case of beer plus ice
an 8-foot long 2x4 from Home Depot

None of the drivers I've seen with these things had any trouble manning the scooters, except one with full bait bucket. He fell off and spilled the bait but that was because he was drunk. That's not cool, but it's funny.

Mystery Phone Numbers

2008-01-02T17:49:00.000-05:00

If you see an incoming call on your caller ID but there's no name associated with it, there's a way to look that number up and find out who is calling you. The process is called Reverse Phone Lookup and it works like a phonebook but in reverse.

First, there are lots of free services out there that will actually tell you what city the area code is associated with, whether the number is a cell phone or a land line, and who the carrier is (for example AT&T, Verizon etc). Just look up any National Phone Lookup site on the web and you can get all this without paying a cent. It used to be easier to tell where a phone call came from just by looking at the area code and the second group of numbers, called the exchange. That's all changed now, however, with new codes and with cell phones.

At least knowing that the number is from a land line or not will direct you to your next step, which is looking it up in white pages online if it's a land line. There are also several websites that let you search a phone number for free, provided you know it's a land line not a cell phone.

If you didn't find the number in the White Pages, or if the number that shows up on your caller ID is a cell phone then you have to upgrade your search. Cell phone numbers are more private and only paid databases will reveal who is calling you if it's from a cell phone. You will have to find a National Phone Registry and pay a fee. The fee is either a one time fee for that particular number, or you can subscribe to the service and pay a monthly fee. That's if you're a private investigator or someone who gets lots of mystery calls and can't stand not knowing what's going on.

Famous Writers in Key West

2007-12-01T16:04:00.001-05:00

Key West has been known as a writers' haven for decades. It's a tropical island so of course lots of writers find it perfect. Starting back with Key West's most famous author, Ernest Hemingway, there has been a string of authors calling Key West home at least for a temporary period of time.

I recently had occasion to meet one of Key West's current writers, one who writes books for girls. She's maybe the best author ever for little girls, and her books must certainly be considered classics by now. I read them when I was little, and they were the best ever. I remember when a new book of hers came out, and rumor got around that there were racy parts in it. My best Saturday friend and I checked it out of the library one weekend and we were so excited to get our hands on it we sat down on the front steps of the library and read it right there, aloud to each other, skipping to what we thought were the juicy parts.

So I was pretty excited to discover that one of patrons of the establishment where I work was this very same Key West writer. At first, I only learned who she was after she'd left the building so I had time to build up excitement and hope by the next time she came in. When she did, I let her know I was a huge fan, and I loved her work. She was... well, she didn't care. She smiled but I could tell she wanted to get away from me. Now when I see her at work and she has to exchange with me because she has to pay for stuff, she hides her eyes and hurries away. She just didn't care and I felt kind of let down in the way that fans always have expectations of who famous people are and how they should behave.

She's a famous writer. Shouldn't she have a way of addressing fans and acknowledging fame by now? She looks to be in her 70's, and she's been a prize-winning author for decades. Hasn't she figured out how to just say thank you I'm glad you enjoyed my books? That's all I wanted to say, I really didn't remember her books enough to have an actual discussion about them, or even the title of my favorite one. I just wanted to say I loved her stuff, and she still matters.

Key West Power Boat Races

2007-11-12T12:40:00.000-05:00

Key West Power Boat Races just finished for the year. For a first-timer, it was thrilling to hear the jet engines on those big boats as they practiced their runs during the week. Starting on a Wednesday they were out there in front of Key West throughout the day, with their close-flying helicopters tailing them in amazing precision. At first I thought the helicopters were there to film the boats as they drove at full speed. But they were also there during the actual Key West power boat races so it must be something to do with navigation. Maybe the boats go so fast and the drivers are situated so low in the cockpit they really can't see much around them. It's crazy to think they're racing around to close to Key West and other dive and fishing boats, not really able to see much. What?

Races were on Friday and Sunday, with practice and preparation on Thursday and Saturday. The power boats gather and register at Truman Annex waterfront and race a loop course that begins in Key West harbor and goes south towards Sand Key Light. They used to race eastwards along the south face of Key West but no more. People tell me it was pretty exciting in those days to watch the power boats come around the corner of the island in front of Fort Zachary Taylor, taking a sharp right turn into Key West harbor. Depending on the weather and the roughness of the seas, boats would often flip doing this curve. Someone even told me that a driver had a bad flip one year and the accident decapitated him. I haven't been able to verify this yet.

IF you want to view the Key West power boat races from up close and you want to sit down, you will have to shell out $15 for entrance in the bleachers area near the entrance to Fort Zachary Taylor. To save money, veer left into the park instead of going straight through the gates, where you will have to pay, even if you arrive on foot or by bicycle. Either go into Fort Zachary and pay the usual daily fee, which is about $2 or $4 for a bicycler, or bike over towards Mallory Square and squeeze in for a position at the water's edge against the rail. Few people go to the area between Fort Zachary and Mallory Square, which is where the cruise ships usually board. That's also an option.

The race consists of power boats doing a loop with their helicopters, zooming into the Harbor in front of Mallory Square where viewers can take action shots with their cameras. The noise of the helicopters is the first to arrive and serves as cue to get your camera ready for a picture. That's kind of it in a nutshell. You can't really tell who's winning or how each boat is doing, or whether a boat is having technical or mechanical difficulties. And after a while the thrill of the loud engines kind of wears off, until it's just some noise. After the races end, the helicopters gather in a group just off Sunset Key, and they look like a swarm of hornets hovering over the ocean. Then the crowd dissipates and it's just Mallory Square again.

Some people think part of the fun of Key West power boat races is the scene on Duval Street each night. Drivers and their teams wear their team jerseys and hit the bars or stroll proudly down Duval Street. There's added energy to the Duval Street scene when the Key West Power Boat racers are in town. They love to wear their jerseys everywhere they go, even if they're just going out to eat for lunch. And that, from a newcomer's perspective, is what Key West Power Boat races are all about.

Key West Body Paint

2007-11-05T14:17:00.000-05:00

Key West body paint might be the largest single phenomenon that makes Fantasy Fest one of the largest events of the year. Body paint is often the costume of choice for a lot of people attending Fantasy Fest. It's a great way to go naked without really exposing everything you have. Key West body paint is an art form, and indeed body paint artists come to town for this major event. Local tatoo artists get in on the body paint action as well, applying their craft to more than just one medium. The styles and skills range from pretty good to truly amazing. I saw some body paint costumes that I thought were actual cloth costumes at first glance.

If body painting is done by an expert artist, the paint will look like really tight clothing. Even denim. I saw a woman wearing a western theme body paint costume, with red tied shirt on top and cutoff denim shorts on the bottom. You could tell the shirt was paint but the shorts looked real. Lots of women chose to have lingerie painted on. How to get a perfect fit...use body paint!

Sometimes Key West body paint becomes a show when artists apply their craft in a storefront window. Some nights during Fantasty Fest, for example, you can stroll past Fast Buck Freddie's, a gift store famous for its large display windows and ever-changing displays created by local artists. It's kind of like the windows at Macy's in New York at Christmastime. Anyway, during Fantasy Fest, they get a Key West body paint artist to paint willing and daring customers right in the display window. It's a tight squeeze, but the customer sits on a stool with her back to the street and the body paint artist applies the "costume". It's a spectacle and of course there's always a small crowd watching.

Fantasy Fest 2007

2007-11-01T14:26:00.000-04:00

Fantasy Fest 2007 was a blast. It was my first Key West Fantasy Fest, and what I can say is I'm already counting the days until Fantasy Fest 2008. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to roll around again. It's a week long series of opportunities to become somebody completely different, or at least dress up in a totally different style and become as freaky, sexy, or magical as you can. Only your imagination will limit you. If you've never been to Fantasy Fest, it's really kind of difficult to imagine what it's like, and even more difficult to picture yourself dressing up in costume. If Fantasy Fest 2007 was your first time, then you
most definitely saw some inspiring costumes and body paint. If you were like me, you felt the vibe and joined in the fun and dressed up yourself.

The theme of Fantasy Fest 2007 was something about the mad hatter and being late, kind of Alice and Wonderland I think. It was a tough theme to follow, but most people did their best with Queen of Hearts costumes. There were a bunch of women who chose this costume, but that kind of left most men without a theme costume idea, except if they wanted to be a mad hatter or a late rabbit. In any case, most of the costumes I saw during Fantasy Fest 2007 didn't follow the grand theme. People were more likely to go as their own
personal fantasy, or to dress according to which party they were attending that night.

Each night of Fantasy Fest there are several themed parties sponsored by local Key West bars. For example there's the Plaid Party at Captain Tony's Saloon. Then there's the Toga party at Sloppy Joe's on Duval Street.
There's also the Red Party at Fogarty's, and the PJ's and Lingerie Party at another local Key West bar on Duval Street. There were also some new parties for Fantasy Fest 2007, including the Green Party at a local Irish bar, off Duval Street. The Red Party seems to be one of the favorites, as is the PJs and Lingerie Party. You see lots of devils at the Red Party of course, and well lingerie and PJs is an easy costume.

The theme parties at the Duval Street bars usually spill out into the street. The Plaid party at Captain Tony's Saloon is on a side street just off Duval, and the Key West Police block off the street so there's lots of room for Plaid people. As the week wears on, and more people show up in Key West, Duval Street is blocked off for pedestrian use every single day and night. Vendors line the streets, along with artists hawking their items. The crowds build and build and the town's population swells to triple its normal size. Fantasy Fest 2007 was no exception, with 60,000 people in town. By Saturday night, the night of the big parade event, it was
hard to press on through the crowds. If you had a Fantasy Fest costume with wings, good luck. There simply wasn't room! Good advice for Fantasy Fest 2008: don't wear any costume that incorporate wings or anything else that sticks way out. It won't survive the night.

Fantasy Fest Plaid Party

2007-10-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

Fantasy Fest in key West is probably the biggest event of the year. What started out as a way to drum up business in the off season of Key West has become a nationally known event that's famous for good times, outlandish behavior, and zany adult antics that feature body paint, elaborate costumes, and lots of nudity. What more could you ask for? Like Mardis Gras, Fantasy Fest has beads and topless women, but it's better. That's because Fantasy Fest is smaller and less famous, so it hasn't been overrun by problems such as crime waves and a disproportionate number of loutish drunken people who spoil the fun. Yes, Fantasy Fest is partly fueled by drugs and alchohol, but you can still feel safe at night, even the final Saturday night when the crowds swell and out of towners flood the city and things get raucous. It's still fun and safe and probably nobody will pick your pocket or mug you.

Fantasy Fest starts out on a Tuesday night, with the Plaid Party at Captain Tony's Saloon, just of Duval Street. Even if you don't plan on paying to get into Captain Tony's, and you just want to hang out in the street and enjoy the fun, my advice is to wear plaid. Once you get downtown and see the great sexy costumes people come up with, you'll want to get into the spirit of things. Even if it's just a plaid pair of shorts or a plain bikini. One of the most popular plaid outfits for girls was a micro mini skirt with pleats, as short as can be. One of the coolest outfits was a plaid corset, worn with a white mile-high Louis XIV wig. Awesome! Another good one was a woman body builder who wore just an itsy bitsy plaid bikini.

Around 9pm or so, the Key West Police block off the side street where Captain Tony's Saloon is located, off Duval Street, so the Plaid Party can spill out into the street area. People in plaid mill about, comment on each others' costumes, take pictures with each other, have some drinks or some vendor food, and it's a great atmosphere. You can't help but feel the energy. As the night wears on, more and more plaid people come out and the costumes get more daring.

Fantasy Fest

2007-10-27T12:56:00.000-04:00

Fantasy Fest is one of the best things about Key West. The coral reef is the best thing, hands down, but
Fantasy Fest comes in at a strong second. No other place in the country do you get a week long festival that
inspires so much adult creativity, so much baudy good fun and such energized street life. The atmosphere is
contagious because everyone is in such a good mood so you just can't help getting into the spirit of things.
The energy is positive and fun, and even those not used to even wearing a bathing suit in public will feel less
inhibitions at Fantasy Fest. I'd say a third to half the people in the streets are either scantily clad or
topless altogether. It's like going to a topless beach. If everyone is doing it, it's no big deal and you can
just be one of the crowd. Unlike Mardis Gras, nobody will grab you. Almost all of the women going topless are
also body painted, so it's an art form for people to admire. And they do admire. Strangers approach topless
strangers and complement them. Sometimes they ask if they can take a picture. It't nothing invasive or rude,
and everyone that wears a costume or body paint is fine with having their picture taken. If you aren't cool
about photos, then you really shouldn't dress up and go to Fantasy Fest. Of course exhibitionists love
it! A lot of the pictures end up on the internet. Just do a search for Fantasy Fest photos.

Fantasy Fest Pet Parade & Masquerade

2007-10-25T14:58:00.000-04:00

For a change of pace during Fantasy Fest, the Pet Parade is kid-friendly, and pets are the center of attention. Pet owners dress up with their pets and parade around onstage to compete and donate money to pet charities. The best part of the show is the sidelines, where pets and owners mill around and wait their turn. The stage antics are silly and embarrassing to watch and you can't see anyway, so the real show is down in the crowd.

People dress their dogs up in the most ridiculously silly costumes, you have to laugh. There's probably a hot dog dog costume every year. Still funny! We love it!

The show starts out with the kid-pet combinations, then moves on to the adult-pet contestants. This year there was an adorable gray weimaramer as part of a tea party ensemble. Then there was a girl who shaved her dog in zebra patterns and dressed up as a lion, to represent animals of Africa! Totally spectacular!

The Fantasy Fest Pet Masquerade and Parade takes place at the Westin Resort on Front Street, behind the hotel facing the water. They put up a stage and try to keep people moving so nobody gets to stand in front and watch. Some people get there early and get tables at the restaurant in front of the stage. They can't see anything either because of all the people walking in front of them. Like I said, the best show is the sidelines where contestants are waiting for their turn on stage. You can actually talk to them while they wait, ask them about their costumes, congratulate them, pet the dogs. There was a chicken lady with a rooster in her arms, and there was a guy who entered some lobsters. For the most part, it's dogs.

Key West Boat Rentals

2007-10-21T17:49:00.001-04:00

If you are interested Key West boat rentals, then be prepared to pay substantially more than anywhere outside of Key West. For a 16 foot skiff, get ready to shell out $300 for a full day. For a two hour jaunt to see the Key West sunset, it'll cost you $200 plus 7% tax if you want to rent your own boat. For a 20 foot center console Angler, it's $400 for the whole day. Compare this to elsewhere in the Florida Keys, outside of Key West, it's $255 for a 20 foot center console. Keep in mind, that even with high prices for Key West rentals, you still probably won't get a nice GPS system like the screen on the boat in this picture.

Basically, like everything else, it costs more in Key West. Anyway, if you're vacationing in Key West, what choice do you have? You can pay for convenience or you can drive "up the Keys" for a lower rate. Marathon, 50 miles away, has a few cheaper boat rental places. Big Pine Key, 30 miles away, has a boat rental company that will deliver the boat to you. You can rent anything from a 12 foot Jon boat for $100 bucks a day to a 30 foot Sea Ray, $650 bucks a day.

Renting a boat out of Big Pine Key also means you'll be close to Looe Key Sanctuary when you go out. That means extraordinary snorkeling and scuba diving. However, no fishing because it's a sanctuary. Don't worry, because the Florida Keys have some of the best sportfishing in the world and the sanctuaries only eliminate a small portion of fishing opportunities.

Goombay, Fantasy Fest Kickoff

2007-10-20T10:35:00.000-04:00

Friday and Saturday October 19 and 20 is Goombay, a street festival in Key West's Bahama Village. It's a celebration of Caribbean food plus some live music at night.

If you're from Key West, then Goombay is probably fun because you can walk up and down the street in Bahama Village and see everyone you know. Goombay activities include strolling up and down Petronia Street, which is lined with food vendors, then maybe stopping at the end and catching some live music from the sound stage. You're bound to run into everyone at some point in the long hot tunnel of food and the occasional African pottery vendor. It's a good chance to get out and see your neighbors.

For the visitor, Goombay offers the chance to crawl up and down Petronia Street rather than Duval Street. It's a change of pace from the regular hot sticky trudge. You can buy some $5 Arepas, which are from South America. You can buy a mushy stale soft pretzel for $3 (or $4 if you don't count your change). You can buy undercooked chicken on a stick for $5. Then you can top it all off with a $12 drink that's served in a pineapple. But do arepas qualify as Caribbean food? How about fried rice? As for a celebration of Caribbean culture, well it's hard to know where that is. Was it at the jerk chicken booth? Does buying food from a vendor count as celebrating? I feel more Caribbean just eating out at Jamaican Me Hungry on any given day.

On the other hand, the live music was great, and the warm up guy did a great job of getting everyone into the swing of things. Here he is. You definitely can't go wrong with live reggae!

The best thing about Goombay is that it's the official start of Fantasy Fest, which is the biggest week of the year in Key West. The crowds aren't here yet (60,000 people are supposed to arrive for Fantasy Fest), but many people attending Goombay are already in the spirit of things. You will see people prematurely wearing beads, some people in costume. Fantasy Fest is so much fun they just couldn't wait to get started. It's the spirit of Fantasy Fest and the live music that infuses Goombay with energy, not the elusive "Celebration of Caribbean Culture".

Spearfishing for Hogfish in Key West

2007-10-01T12:04:00.001-04:00

Spearfishing for Hogfish, or Hog Fishing as it's sometimes called, is the best way for beginners to learn the basics of spearfishing and freediving. That's because legal-size hogfish can be found in relatively shallow waters off Key West. So, they are easy to get to in a boat, and easy to dive down to. There's another reason hogfish are good targets for beginners: they are pretty dumb and therefore easy to spear.

Hogging requires minimal diving skills since they can be found starting in 10 feet of water. They have to be at least a foot long for them to be legal, which for me is about the length from your spear tip to the end of the gun. The water skews how big a hogfish really is, so it's hard to judge whether a fish is big enough. Therefore, it's a good idea to measure a foot on your speargun so you can kind of "measure" them while you're under water, until you get used to judging size.

They like hard bottom, and in 10 feet of water, even on a bad day of visibility, they are pretty easy to spot against the light colors of a hard bottom. They try and camoflouge themselves next to soft coral and rocks, but you can still see them. The big black spot near the back of a hogfish body is a dead giveaway, plus the rooster crown distinguishes them from all other fish in the shallow reef areas.

If you see a hogfish who looks like he might be too small for spearing, then follow him anyway. He might lead you to his bigger cousins swimming nearby. Once you've found a legal-sized hogfish, dive down and get level with him. He will make your job easy for you because he'll wonder what you are and turn sideways to get a good look at you. That's when you shoot. Put your speartip up close and aim for the area just behind his gill plate. Don't wait until he's swimming away from you. When he turns sideways he'll make a good, broad target and that's your moment.

Also keep an eye out for barracuda. They like to try and steal your catch before you can pull up the line and get the fish in your hand. On some parts of the reef, they're so used to spearfishing they'll stalk you and follow you whereever you go if you have a speargun in your hand.

Key West Newspaper

2007-09-18T10:38:00.000-04:00

Key West has a couple of newspapers, both online and in print. They all feature local news and many of them are owned by the same company. Today online at keysnews.com, I was trying to read an article and there were so many typos I couldn't understand what I was reading. Here's the text in full:

"The 2004 and 2005 hurricanehurrricaneseasons turned the waters off the Lower Keys into a virtual boat graveyard, as hundreds of vesselsboat littered the beaches and mangrove islands. While many of the vessels have since have been removed, the task is far from complete.Cleaning up nature's work is an expensive undertaking and cost thousands of dollars in taxpayer money to clean up.
AOnecasino boat, the Lady Luck, is one of the most visible examples of the problem. The vessel still remains mired on shallowhigh and dry ongrasstheflats in the Saddlebunch Keys, visible to tourists and commuters traveling on U.S. 1 around off Mmile Mmarker 13.The 100-ton vessel, registered to a Melbourne, Fla.-based company,was sweptblownonto its muddy berththerewhen Hurricane Wilma brushed the Florida Keys in 2005.
and caught fire last summer. Now, nearly two years later, aAproposed agreement between the Monroe Ccounty and the federal government agency that oversees the Florida Keys National Marine Ssanctuary could finally generatebringa plan and the money to remove thefloatingcasino boat and other derelict vessels, which is registered to a Melbourne, Fla. company, called Coin Castle.
Monroe County administrator Tom Willi and Growth Management Director Andrew Trivette's decision to reduce the Marine Resources Division from three people to one person left doubt's in the mind's of Florida Keys Marine Sanctaury officials and others about whether one person could handle that direlect vessel removal, enforce mandatory pump out laws, repair and replace channel markers and other issues the county receives more than $200,000 a year in state boater improvement funds to do.
Sanctuary Superintendent Dave Score sent Willi a letter after the department was dismantled asking for assurance that the work the department was doing would continue. Willi assured he would and planned to hold with local, state and federal government officials about the county's plan to handle marine related issues. However, the meeting was cancelled after it turn into a public forum that had to be advertised.
The Monroe County Commission will vote Wednesday on anpactagreementbetween the county and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees the sanctuary, "to facilitate cooperation and coordination for the funding and implementation of emergency response and marine salvage efforts within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary."
The agreement would allow the county to receivebe paidcleanup costspaidthrough a federal government fund that is set up to pay for vessel groundings. The — afund is generated from fines levied against and comes from the owners of boats that have grounded on coral reef, seagrass and other sensitive marine habitat.
The agreement would allow the county and NOAA to partner on these projects —,somethingwhichthey informally have informally done informally in the past.
"This will allow for the ability of funds to be transferred between NOAA and the county for projects like the Lady Luck on an as-needed basis, which have happened in the past," said Sanctuary Superintendent Dave Score said.
A draft plan for removingfor the removal ofLady Luck has been approved, but attorneys are still are working on the details. Estimates by various salvage companies have placed the cost atofmore than $500,000.
"It's going to be very expensive," said Steve Werndli, who is overseeing the project for the sanctuary.
Werndli wcould not release details of the plan, or thethe amount it is going tocost of implementing it,,because of ongoing litigation between NOAA and the vessel's owners.
The proposal comefollowsafter a decision byed agreement also comes afterMonroe County Aadministrator Tom Willi and Growth Management Director Andrew Trivette'sdecided to reduce the county's Marine Resources staffDivisionfrom three people to one person, Senior Marine Planner Rich Jones. Thatemove raised concern amongleft doubt in the mindsofficials at the sof Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary officials and other agenciessabout whether one county employeepersoncanould adequately can managehandlederelict vessel removal, water quality programsissues, themaintenance of channel markers and other projects for whichissuesthe county receives more than $200,000 a year from the in state Bboater Iimprovement Ffunds to do.
Score recently sent Willi a letter after the department was dismantled asking for assurancesthat that the work the downsized department was doing would continue. Willi assured him it would, and said he planned to conductholda meeting with local, state and federal government officials about the county's plan to deal withhandlemarine-related issues. However, the meeting was waslatercancelled after it became apparentturn into a public forumthat it would havehadto be advertised as a public meeting. Willi then said he would meet individually with officials.
County Commissioner and Sanctuary Advisory Council member George Neugent has mixed feelings about the proposed agreement with NOAA.
"I think that they (county Growth Management officials) are trying to show that they are quickly addressing these issues," he County Commissioner and Sanctuary Advisory Council member George Neugent said of the agreement."It serves a purpose for both the sanctuary and the county. But there is so much more that Marine Resources does. We are just understaffed to handle all of the duties. There is no way Rich Jones can do this alone."
Also on Wednesday, the commission will vote on the appointment of John Marston to the Monroe County Planning Commission. Marston willwouldreplace Sherry Popham.
The commission alsowill also vote on amendments to its comprehensive land-use plan. Those amendments thatdeal with preservingmaintainingmarinas and working waterfront. "

Lobstering in Key West

2007-09-03T09:39:00.000-04:00

It's been five weeks since lobster mini season in the Florida Keys. People are still out there on the reef going after bugs, but the crowds have thinned now that school is back in session and summer is over. The commercial traps are out and buoys are everywhere. The onslaught is over, but believe it or not there are still lobsters out there very close to Key West.

For freedivers, the key is looking under rocks even when there are no visible antennae sticking out. You just have to look a little harder now. At the beginning of lobster mini season, you could just snorkel and look down to see antennae poking out from under rocks and ledges. But the rocks aren't so crammed with lobsters anymore so the remaining bugs are deep under the rocks and you have to look for them.

Getting down to the bottom and looking under the rocks means you have to be upside down to get a good look. For some, this requires dive weights. A dive belt costs anywhere from $15 on ebay up to $50 from your local dive shop. You will see one size fits all but if you are very small or very large you can buy sizes from scuba gear stores online. For example, you can get a 40 inch belt if you are petite. There are different numbers of weight pockets available, too: 4-pocket, 5-pocket etc.

Dive weights come in two types: normal and fancy. Normal are just blocks of lead that've been used for decades by divers. Fancy cost up to twice as much and consist of bags filled with lead beads. They are supposed to be more conforming to the body. "Normal" or traditional blocks of lead, at just $1 a pound, work fine. You won't even feel the blocks at all because you'll be in the water.

Now that you have dive weights and you can stay on the bottom better, find a rock and look in the crevice. If you see a lobster, give him a nudge with your tickle stick. Get him to come out of the rock. The first step is finding one and getting him out from under the rock. Then go up for air but keep your eyes on him. Then go down and get him into your net. It's a two-step process unless you can hold your breath for a long time or unless you are an expert who's been lobstering for years and years. Usually, after they come out from under the rock, they'll try and find another rock to crawl under. But they don't move as fast as a fish and you can see where they go. Sometimes they can't find another rock and sometimes when they do it's too small for them to fit so they just end up hiding halfway. Sometimes there's already a lobster under the new rock so they get pushed out. It's a tough world out there for lobsters!

With the dive weights you will find that it's much easier to hover near a rock but not that much difference in getting around. You can start out with just a few pounds and see what's best. For most people, at least four pounds will be needed to make much difference. You can buy the weights in 1, 2, and five pound increments and up. Even for a petite woman, one pound increments is pretty negligible so start with some two-pound weights. It will feel strange at first but you'll get used to it, just like everything else with freediving. Have fun!

Key West Snorkeling

2007-08-01T10:31:00.000-04:00

Key West is great in a lot of ways, but for lots of people, it's the coral reef that counts. If what you like is historical architecture and a quaint city and lots of places to eat out and drink at bars, then there are many more cheaper places in the world that will suit your needs. Key West has all this PLUS the reef, the Gulf and the backcountry.

The coral reef in front of Key West is part of North America's only living coral reef, and begins all the way up near Miami and continues out past Key West, to the Dry Tortugas. It's just around six miles to the reef from Key West harbor, making it a short drive. On calmer days, you can get out to the reef for snorkeling, spearfishing, fishing or scuba in a small boat. I've seen flats boats and skiffs make it to the reef on calm days when the ocean is almost as flat as a lake.

For the visitor, snorkeling is the best way to appreciate marine life around Key West. Most beginner snorkelers need very few skills, and snorkel companies in Key West will provide all the gear you need if you take a snorkel excursion while here on vacation. If you've ever gone swimming, then you're half way there. Snorkeling in the ocean on a calm day is easier than swimming in a lake because the salt water helps so much with bouyancy. Plus, you wear a life jacket when you go out on a snorkel trip.

The hardest thing about snorkeling is getting used to the mask and snorkel. If a mask isn't properly worn, it will leak and cause you great misery. If there's a hair under the seal, water can get in. If the mask is too big, you will have trouble making a seal. Best advice for beginner snorkelers is to make sure you get a good fit before jumping into the water. Smooth away all your hair from your face. Put the strap on tight enough so it doesn't slip all around your head. Breath in through your nose and see if the mask tightens around your face, making a seal. Make it secure and tight but no so tight your face hurts. If you're in the water all this is just about impossible and you'll have to get out to fix it.

Lobster Mini Season

2007-07-26T10:49:00.001-04:00

Watch out, it's time for Lobster Mini Season again. Craziness for lobsters takes over the entire island as locals and visitors take the first stab of the season at nabbing some lobsters. Hotels in Key West fill up, the city swells from its core of about 20,000 to a temporary whopping 40,000 and everybody brings a boat! It's like bumper cars out in Garrison Bight, only it's bumper boats. Divers beware, because in their excitement to get to the next rock and get a lobster or two or six, crazed boaters seem to forget normal safe boating practice. They drive too fast and too close to dive flags. It's a zoo out there!

Just to be clear, the lobsters we have in the Florida Keys are not the same as the ones from Maine. Our lobsters don't have the same giant meaty claw as the ones from up north. We call 'em the Florida spiny lobster and some call them bugs. The real spiny lobster season starts August 6 and goes until the end of March. The mini season is just two days and it's for non-commercial lobster divers only. During the regular season the big guys put out traps with bait for the lobsters. The mini season is for divers only. Scuba or freediving only. There is no such thing as recreationally trapping lobsters.

Lobster Mini-Season in the Florida Keys used to be on the weekend. So many people took to the waters on these days and basically mauled the lobster population that the season was moved to mid-week. Fewer people showed up but it's still a mob scene. They also made the limit only 6 lobsters per person per day in the Keys, while it's 12 in the rest of Florida. You also can't dive for lobster at night in the Florida Keys. The event gets some divers so excited they just can't wait and every year Marine enforcement officers catch people getting lobsters early, before the season.

How to Catch a Lobster

First of all, there are three kinds of spots where lobster like to hang out.

The Reef

Rock patches

Ledges

The reef has lots of nooks underneath full of lobster, and it's easy to find so it's the most obvious place to get them. Rock patches are harder to locate since they can be anywhere and if you're not from Key West you won't have any clue where to find a good lobster rock that's not right on the reef. A ledge means anywhere like the edge of a field of sea grass, where it changes to sand. Sometimes there's a ledge under the sea grass bed, with lobster inside. Look for color changes in the shallow water where a ledge might exist next to a sand patch. Staking out your own spots is the best way to go but not everyone has this luxury.

If you're snorkeling for lobster, diving skills are a must. You have to be able to dive down to the bottom and see what's under a rock or a ledge. You also have to be able to stay underwater for a while so you have time to coax the lobster out and get him in your net.

Spearfishing for Beginners in Key West

2007-07-24T10:04:00.001-04:00

Snorkeling on Key West's Middle Grounds, an area southwest of Key West, you can see the best of what a living coral reef has to offer, without diving down at all. There are purple fans, giant parrot fish, some sharks, zebra fish, porkfish, barracuda and tons of other types of reef fish. There are buoys for your boat, and a short swim towards the marker stick will take you to reef that's just a few feet below the surface. Easy! What's also kinda cool is that the Middle Grounds are not a Sanctuary Preservation Area, which means you can do a little fishing. For me, it was the perfect place to try my first time at spearfishing. It's not really sportsman-like to fish at a marked reef with buoys for snorkelers and divers, however. It's too easy and it bothers the swimmers. But for beginners at spearfishing, it's ok to do it just once.

With gun pointed out in front of you (don't forget to release the safety switch before you dive), swim fast at your target. Middle Grounds is a good place for beginner spearfishing because it's not deep and there are tons of fish. If your target escapes, there's probably another nearby. Bar jacks get big so they make nice targets. Plus, there's often a lot of them together so you get multiple targets. They swim right up to you sometimes, too. Perfect!

Don't forget to take a deep breath before you dive down. It's easy to get so excited about shooting the fish and thinking about how to manage the gun that you forget your diving techniques. Try and wait for the fish to turn sideways to your spearpoint. You want to try and shoot it right behind the gill plate. Get up as close as you can without scaring him away.

I'm a beginner, and I'm a girl, so my gun is weak. I shot my first fish on the backbone because I was too exicted to wait for him to swing sideways to me. If your gun is weak, what happens is if you shoot it in the back, you'll hit the bones like I did and your spear will probably bounce off. That's only if your gun is really weak. Try to make your gun as strong as possible without using accuracy. If you power it up too much it will become less accurate. The fish will jump and swim away so you might as well wait for a better shot next time. You can shoot them from the front, too, according to a poster I saw in a dive shop. Aim for just above the eye, I guess for the brain. Sideways seems much easier. Best is to have enough power on your gun so that you can blast 'em in the spine.

Shark Fishing in a Flats Boat

2007-07-17T12:13:00.000-04:00

SEE THE VIDEO HERE!

Catching giant barracudas is a lot of fun, but it's just the beginning for shark fishing. If you think barracudas fight good, and I did when I first caught that big one from my last post, then you'll love how sharks fight.

Why barracudas as bait for sharks? If you've ever handled one out on a boat, you'll know why: They STINK! Very very smelly, terrible smell. Also, they are plentiful and they bite pretty easily, and there aren't any fishing regulations on them so you can catch a lot for tons of bait. You can even catch some for your next shark outing, and keep them in your freezer. The stink will reappear once they are thawed out. Barracudas aren't especially bloody like a bonito. They have white meat. It's mostly about the terrible smell and the abundance.

After we made our exciting catch that day, our first time out shark fishing, our guide drove us in his flats boat to Airport Flats, in front of Key Largo. The water was about five feet deep and the tide was going out. The guide made filets on either side of each fish, but didn't cut the pieces completely off the body. Then he hooked the cut up fish bodies on a hook and a very very long steel leader and threw it off the back of the boat. We just let them bleed out and stink up the water. Then we waited and waited forever. You have to be a little patient with shark fishing sometimes. We waited for over an hour.

But the wait was soooooooo worth it. First, we caught a nurse shark. We didn't know any better, so we were really excited. It was the biggest thing we'd ever seen at the time, but it was six feet long which makes it a medium sized shark. It felt gigantic on the line because we'd been fishing for pike in the Adirondacks. Compared to northern pike, even a nurse shark is a whale.

Then a monster bull shark showed up but he wouldn't eat any of the barracuda. Plus he kept all the smaller bull sharks that had shown up, away from the bait. Our guide solved this problem by catching a jack on a popper, then sending him out on a bobber. The jack swam out way behind the boat, beyond the barracuda bait, beyond the big bull shark. The big guy swam right up to and around the boat a few times. We stood on the bow and because the water was pretty shallow and clear, we could see him and how big he was.

Finally a bull shark hit the jack. He wasn't as big as the one at the boat, but he pulled like a train. My BF took the pole an hung on while the drag spun out. The shark pulled right out and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. The guide started the boat and left the pole sticking up in the mud while we took off to chase the bull. We chased him and BF pulled when he could, bearing down like crazy. we had to put a towel under the base of the pole so it didn't push into his skin too much.

BF fought and fought the bull for about 45 minutes. Did I mention this was on 20 lb line? Once it came up to the boat, came really close and he was able to reel in lots of line. We were excited but the shark had lots of energy left still. He got another spurt and attacked one of the trim tabs on the boat! Our guide flipped out and gunned the engine to get away from bull but he held on. Man! He finally let go but the guide had had it. He asked BF if maybe he wanted to rest for a minute, he'd take the pole. BF handed over the pole to rest for a bit, but oh dear suddenly the shark broke the line. What a coincidence! I guess having your trim tab chewed up by a bull shark isn't a great way to end the day. Sorry! But it was the greatest thrill EVER.

Cudas OK

2007-07-04T10:21:00.000-04:00

I first came to the Florida Keys in Winter of 2002, so I'm relatively new to the whole Keys scene. My boyfriend and I both hate winters in upstate New York, so we started visiting here every chance we got. One winter season we came down three times, once we'd discovered sportfishing. I have to say that flying down to the Keys and going out fishing with a good charter fishing guide is one of the best vacations you could ever have. We went out with a variety of captains, both backcountry and offshore, and the first one we happened to find turned out to be one of the best. We found his business card in a tackle shop and next day bundled up and went out on his flats boat. It was freezing, but we had the time of our life on that gray day. Our guide later became one of our web design clients, and his family hosted us for a lobster dinner once when we came down on vacation. Really a nice time.

My boyfriend likes to get big fish, and of course when you're from the north, who can imagine anything more exciting than catching a shark. Our guide had a flats boat, so really the biggest fish he could promise us was a shark. The first step was to catch some bait: barracuda, which in itself sounded pretty dangerous and exciting. We did this by trolling some whistling lures- I dont' know what you call them- they are bright orange and pink skinny rubber tubes with hooks out one end. Supposedly they whistle in the water and attract the barracuda. We dragged the pretty lures through the water until the poles bent way down and something was on the hook. My BF grabbed the pole and hung on-wow! Then the other pole did the same thing and it was my turn. Man, it was tough and I thought maybe we'd caught a shark by trolling (I didn't know anything about how sharks hunt at at point, so I didn't know this was pretty much impossible). It felt so heavy and it was all I could do to hold onto the pole. How would I ever reel it in? We fought and it took me a while, but after a few minutes we both reeled in gigantic barracuda (or so the guide told us after he saw the fish...I had no idea what they looked like then, those early days of my fishing career).

I was pretty impressed with the barracuda fishing, and I remember thinking that was pretty exciting all by itself. Shark fishing must be amazing if this was just the bait. I was thrilled. Now, five years later and many many fishing trips later, I have learned that most fishermen (oops-anglers, I mean) regard the barracuda as something undesirable, not even really a fish worth catching, almost an embarrassment that it should happen to get hooked. Nobody eats them, although some guides tell me Cubans eat them. There's that ciguatera disease, which you can get from eating the larger cudas. Well, I don't need to eat them but I still love the barracuda. See how happy I was after catching my first big fish? You always remember your first with fondness, and that was my first (see picture). Plus, when you go snorkeling, they hang near you so you can study them up close, and they eye you and creep you out a little, if they're big. That's exciting, too. Sometimes we hate the cudas when they snatch our yellowtail as we reel them in, hoping for a snapper dinner. But we always laugh at their resourcefulness and the nerve they have, stealing our dinner, and really down deep, we respect the cuda. Cuda OK.

First Time in High Heels

2007-06-29T11:06:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite places on Duval Street is the bar seating that faces the street, at Caroline's. Patrons can sit a few feet above the heads of passersby who stroll Duval, looking for action. Caroline's is also across the street from Fat Tuesday, which from what I've observed, trys to attract the younger crowd interested in dancing and drinking. They do their best to perpetuate the Duval party atmosphere. From the perch at Caroline's, my friends and I sip drinks, eat grouper sandwiches, and watch what goes on across the street. For those who care, these raised seats offer the perfect vantage point for cleavage viewing, should the unsuspecting tourist walk by wearing the right kind of shirt. I know, it's wrong. I just thought I'd offer that up.

Fat Tuesday Key West is also one of those bars that offer the right mystique, the correct blend of boozy abandon and hit list of cool pop music (very hard to achieve) that makes underage kids absolutely crave entrance. Perhaps it's the bouncer/doorkids who sport sideways baseball caps and knee-level t-shirts that makes teenagers think they can get in? Perhaps it's that the front of Fat Tuesdays is totally open, transparent, affording a tempting view to all on the outside, of what endless joy and abandon is occurring inside? The hit list of cool pop music pounding out the non-walls and onto the street? Whatever it is, Fat Tuesday seems to attract lots of would-be customers whom they just can't let in.

Take the other night. I was sipping my Club Soda on my perch at Caroline's when a gaggle of girls inched into my peripheral vision from the right. I noticed them right away because something wasn't right about the way they were walking. I mean, at first, out of the corner of my eye, it looked like a tangled herd of broken giraffes stumbling up the sidewalk, inching along with great effort. Their heads bobbed not smoothly or rhythmically, but jarringly, out of sync with anything at all. Their arms swung out at crazy sudden swooping angles, their legs lurching ahead of or lagging behind their bodies, disconnected from the holistic walking process, a frame behind. They moved along as one being, clinging to each other, trying to keep moving forward, helping each other. I swung my head to get a better look at this large creaky machine whose parts were limbs, heads, dresses and yes...the cause of it all... Very. High. Heels.

The girls made it in their high heels to the low wall in front of Hard Rock Cafe, which has sportingly made their wall low, wide and very sittable. Hard Rock Cafe is the next block over from Fat Tuesday, so they were almost there. Perhaps they were resting up for what they knew would be a hurdle much greater than painful high heels: gaining entrance to the bar. They had been eyeing the wall for many paces now, and when they reached it the machine fell apart, breaking into parts which became four girls dressed up for a night on the town. They were immaculate, obviously having taken hours and hours to get ready. I wonder if they bought the Very High Heels or if they borrowed them. As they seem not to have learned yet, the secret to wearing VHH is in the fit.

Anyway, the girls went through varying degrees of trying to soothe their injured feet: one girl was actually rubbing her ankles, another kicked off her VHH the second she sat down. One compromised by letting the shoes dangle off her toes, not allowing them to completely fall off and hit the pavement. They looked like a commercial for sore feet, or whatever treats sore feet...Dr. Scholl's? Flip Flops?

The machine eventually ammassed itself and chugged down the last bit of sidewalk between the Wall of Mercy and Fat Tuesday. Now the fun part! ID Checker guy calls the manager, manager explains why they can't come in, they listen, the machine falters, then breaks apart as each girl has a different idea of what the group should do in response to this offending denial of service. One girl, let's call her the huffy one, stomps off in her VHH down the street. Another, let's call her the one who apparently didn't have enough time to find or else couldn't decide on the right outfit to go with her VHH, since she was wearing a horrid denim skirt and old t-shirt with her very fancy indeed high heels...she just stood there, the victim of indecision and slow thought processes. The third and fourth girls worked tag team on the manager, I guess debating the law, or questioning his ID-reading abilities. They too left, in the direction of Huffy One, but not before making sure Slow-Indecisive Girl was with them. Tag Team couldn't give it up, so they offered some more enlightening points of discussion as they hobbled away in their VHH, puctuating their speech with hand gestures. Which was quite a feat, considering that the hands and arms were completely necessary to the overall functioning of The Machine, making the Very High Heels work and all.

I tried to keep my eye on the girls as they hobbled away in search of a party. I really wanted to know if they ever got in anyplace. I wonder how far they got before they ditched the VHH and went barefoot. I wonder if they just went home and drank Mom and Dad's wine and had a girls' night at home. Did they swear off high heels forever or did they resolve to get some that fit? Well, there is a good chance that at least one of the girls learned something that night: if the shoe hurts, don't wear it. And bless the Hard Rock Cafe and their Wall of Mercy.

4ppl Online Dating Personals

I see you down there

2007-06-24T20:45:00.000-04:00

Yeah, snorkeling is cool. When we first moved here, it was great to take a break from our 8-hour fishing days and take a dip in 85 degree water on a hot summer's day. Float and look, paddle and look. I'd stay in forever but some people get spooked by sharks so we get out and leave. Spookiness is catchy.

Now we've discovered spearfishing and there's a purpose to snorkeling. So much better! Actually, boyfriend is the one with the spear, I'm just a looker, a spotter. The catch gene is fully activated same as when he fishes, so now we get to snorkel -ahem, spearfish, for hours and hours. A match made in heaven!

With the new sense of urgency in finding the right fish to shoot, comes a need to see better and learn new skills. Snorkeling for me has been a purely horizontal affair: I float and look, paddle and look (see above). Spearfishing, and even my dinky job of spotting fish, requires a third dimension. I have to think in 3-D now. I have to get to the fish, because after all I want to someday get promoted from spotter to shooter (it would be a self-promotion). I have to dive down, go straight down to the bottom. I have to get down to those silly fish, looking up at me. I still let them know that I see you down there. And I'm coming to get you.

Let me just say right now that I get mad when I can't do something I really yearn to be able to do. I want to dive down to the ocean floor like a mermaid, like a water nymph, like a ... a... fish? I want to enter the third dimension and stop acting like a tourist on a party snorkel boat. Why so hard? one word: breathing and pressure. My first day trying to dive, and I am out of breath by the time I hit bottom and need to jet upwards to the surface to frantically breathe like a dumb tourist. What's up? I run five miles at a clip, I do yoga.

I am mad.

Was I born with miniature lungs? I see the fish down there, Parrot Fish, laughing at me. I see you down there. I want to get to you so bad. I want to do it, so I practice over and over, dozens of dives. I blow the air out on the way down, kick my fins, and ...zzzzzzzzzzzzzrrrrrrrrrrrttttt.

Did you say blow the air out on the way down? ...my boyfriend asks me later that night at home as I tell my story. Immediately I realize that's wrong. I can just tell by his face when he says this. Why am I doing that? What strange habit have I picked up in my past, where diving down means to expel all my precious air right at the start? It's like starting a hike on empty, no breakfast, no snacks, no energy. It's sabotaging yourself.

Next time out, I'll get down there and I'll swim like a mermaid, just wait and see.

Neighbors

2007-06-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

I've never relished the idea of neighbors. I mean, I mostly have lived in cities where having a neighbor means noise, irritation, and stolen recycling bins. It means cursory glances in the elevator, muffled hellos in the hallway, and strange cooking smells from downstairs. After all, what do we all have in common except the roof over our head?

Key West is totally different. I love my neighbors, and I love hanging out with them. We have lots in common: we all love to get out on the water, we all love to cook great meals from fresh fish, and we all love Key West. You see, most people choose to live here, if they're not born here. To choose to live here is one thing, and then to shell out the dough to actually move here and live here requires determination and lots of financial finagling, if you're not super rich. Therefore, you can reasonable say that Key West people are committed. Which is why there's a greater chance that neighbors will have something in common.

We live in an apartment that's part of a large house that was split up into four units a few years back. Our unit, and our neighbor's unit, face a canal and there's space to put our boats. That right there increases the probability that we would get along: boats, fishing, spearfishing, snorkeling.

Certainly seems that common interests in fishing, watersports, spearfishing and snorkeling seem to draw people together more solidly than say, common interest in working out at the gym. So far, these are really my only two ways of meeting people. Perhaps people are at the gym for so many different reasons, perhaps it's difficult to connect. Plus, you know strange things are going through people's minds at the gym, thoughts related to body image, competition, hating what you see in the mirror, loving too much what you see in the mirror, who really knows. Too complicated, perhaps, for having a simple conversation, too many unkowns, too many vulnerabilities.

"Yeah"

2007-06-15T11:14:00.000-04:00

"Yeah" , they chimed in. Stereophonic chastising as I realized my crime: setting myself up on the wrong bicycle in the Friday morning spinning class. I had the misfortune of innocently nabbing the machine reserved by a cranky odd woman who seemed to think I wanted the special silver cycle for myself, at her expense. "I didn't know!" I protested, instinctively raising my arms to cover my head, mocking the group attack the class was launching against me. "Yeah" two people chimed in as the moody woman harangued me, proving they were against this injustice I had leveled against the poor woman. "Sorry! So Sorry! Here you go!" I jumped off the silver cycle, which the woman let me know she had gotten there at 8 am to procure and I had messed it all up.
As I adjusted my rightful older red cycle, and got ready for class, I guess I couldn't really hold it against the moody woman, who perhaps should consider exercising in the afternoon when she's in a better mood. After all, I did steal her bike. What echoed in my ears was the double "Yeah", the schoolyard group bent on proving they were on the right side of the debate, those making sure they were not associated with the loser, the mistaken, the newcomer. "Yeah"???? What was that? So instead of harboring the negativity, I asked the dude on the cycle next to the victimized woman, "Why didn't you say something to me? You watched me... all adjusting my seat...?" And I said it in a self-mocking way, making fun of myself, even mimicking the hand movements of me being all careful and twisting the knobs, and I laughed as I said it. He mumbled something, embarrassed.
But the question remains, why didn't he or the other chimer say anything as they watched me steal the bike? Cowardice, sleepiness, or shyness? But suddenly so brave, awake, unshy when cranky woman bellows at me? Yes, it's the group mentality, sheep following the leader.
But whatever. That's life, and that's definitely people. I will NOT go so far as to say "people suck". But I will say that when you find a gem of a person, someone who's open, honest, and who thinks for him or herself, and doesn't turn into a sheep, then you have found someone that's interesting to talk to and fun to hang out with. Hopefully Key West is full of them, and spinning class is just one of those scenes that brings out the worst in people. We'll see!