Florida Keys & Key West ~2011~

Outside of the Customs House

In Key West is a very large statue of the "Dance at Bougival" from the painting by Pierre-Auguste Renoir that attracts much attention due it's size and location in old town Key West....

Ronald Reagan once quoted: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

Had the opportunity to go out on a half day trip aboard the SeaBoots Sportfishing charterboat out of Summerland Key which I fortunately worked on during my years spent in the Florida Keys. Captain\owner Jim Sharpe was taking some local friends out to look for some Dolphin mahi-mahi and graciously offered a chance to fish the waters of the Keys once again...

Spent my five days in the Keys with an old friend who is the Captain\Owner of the Compass Rose Light Tackle Sportfishing fleet and with that got to play with many of the features of the two boats he now operates.... It is common practice to take my vacation during the "Slow season" in the Keys but Capt. Mike Weinhofer was booked the whole week I was there while many other boats sat idle. This I know is the result of the 21 years that Capt. Mike has been fishing in the Florida Keys and making connections with sportfishermen who continue to return to the Keys and Compass Rose year after year.

Atlantic Longbill Spearfish.....

Diagnosis: body moderately slender, bill long, rather slender and round in cross-section, nape rising smoothly to dorsal fin origin. Pectoral fins long, much greater than post-orbital part of head; pelvic fins a little longer, with moderately developed membrane; anterior lobe of first dorsal fin not sharply pointed, its height a little more than body depth. remainder of fin about equal to body depth, with 44-50 finrays, second dorsal fin with 6-7 finrays; first anal fin with 12-17 finrays, second with 6-7 finrays; anus well in front of first anal fin origin (by more than half the height of that fin). Scales on midbody rough and elongate. densely embedded, with several posterior spines. Colour: back blue black, flanks and belly silvery. Size: to about 2.5 m TL.

HOT fishing in the Florida Keys.... Field & Stream Hook Shots.....

Film crew from Field & Stream magazine on my good friend Capt Mike Weinhofer's boat Compass Rose in the Florida Keys. Turns out the Star was also from New Jersey so that makes for good video and commentary...

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Much crying from those in the Keys about a "cold front" of 40 degrees while it was about 15 degrees up here but 40 is cold for "Paradise"... Told Mikeee to go stick his head in his freezer and it would still be warmer than up here!!...

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Great video, Great action, and Great boat....

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The Science of the Oil Spill in the Gulf...

There is a audio Podcast over at the Energy Tomorrow site where they have a conversation with Dr. David Vaughan from the Mote Marine Lab regarding the oil in the Gulf and its movement..

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I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Vaughan during my last trip to the Keys and it was a pleasure to talk with a knowledgeable person regarding the oil spill who did not have a political, environmental, or industry "spin" to the topic...

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Red Snapper fishing is HOT in Key West right now....

Capt Mike over at Compass Rose has some interesting posts regarding the fishing going on in the Florida Keys...

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Florida Keys visit and response to Oil Spill...

Took a ride down to the Florida Keys and Key West to visit with friends and visit the town I lived in for 6+ years while working on a Sportfishing boat and taking some marine biology classes...

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Nice to get back to the Keys and stop by several familiar places discovered over the years. I was also interested to see how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill was effecting the area and the residents of the Keys and other "mainland" communities...

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One thing I learned while living in Key West and the Florida Keys is that these people are not quick to panic when a possible disaster may be heading their way. During several hurricanes I observed many locals helping each other prepare for possible disasters and damages. It was good to see this same attitude regarding the possible shift of oil towards the Keys and other coast towns.

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I had the opportunity to stay with friends and visit with sportfishing Captains that I weathered several of the storms with and had the opportunity to sit and talk with many of them. In fact I was able to sit in on the weekly radio show "This week in fishing" with Captains Jim Sharpe and Mike Weinhofer who had Marine Scientist David Vaughn from the Mote Marine Lab as the guest speaker.

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It was a great opportunity to sit and talk with Vaughn and to get a straight scientific viewpoint from a local resident without any political, environmental, or skewed spin to it...

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Here is a video that local sportfishing guide Jose Wejebe did with Vaughn regarding the oil spill situation and appears on the Spanish Fly website...

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Jose Wejebe speaks with scientists from Mote marine laboratory who have been deploying AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) into the loop current to assess the present situation with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in regards to South Florida and the Florida Keys.

It was good to see that the locals once again are not in a panic or standing around waiting for the government to come to the rescue. Many have become pro-active in their stance and are preparing for whatever may come their way. The businesses are starting to see a decline in visitors and future bookings are down without there being any actual oil found in the Keys or offshore of the gulf coast as of yet. Water is still crystal clear and the fishing is still great with a fishing story of a monster Tarpon being caught to be posted soon here on this site...

Random thoughts on the Oil Spill...

The above photo: Too little and Two months late....

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Look to the guy who works in the area and livelihood depends on what happens. Don't look to "Washington" for answers, they have proven time and time again they are too big, bloated, and inefficient to handle real problems... Check out this video by Jose Wejebe who actually went and talked to the real scientist at Mote Marine Lab:

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Ted Nugent sums it up in one of his pieces:When gas prices go up, Americans condemn big oil for making profits. When catastrophes happen, such as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Americans demand that big oil be severely fined, demand more government oversight of the industry by a proven incompetent Fedzilla and demand that more safety features be implemented to prevent another oil spill while expecting gas prices to stay low.

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Manmade Global Warming is Bullshit. Weather patterns have always happened and will continue to happen. Virginia UVA needs to release the data that Prof Mann used to come up with his bogus "Hockey Stick" program claiming manmade global warming. It was funded by taxpayer research grants and the data needs to be released...

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Last month there were Tar-balls found on the beaches in Key West and the cry of "BP MUST PAY!!!" by the Obama administration was echoed once again. Sorry but research found not the same oil from the Deepwater Horizon incident. Oh yeah, the tar-balls were found on the beach next to where they dock the great big cruise ships....

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Obama waits 59 days to talk to the CEO of BP?... Yeah. He is on the ball....

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The Feds were on the incident as soon as it happened. Where was the Fire boom to collect and burn the oil while it was in a small area near the incident site? They did NOT have it and they even had to wait on permits before they could use it..."When the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, the feds had not a single fire boom ready to deploy in accordance with the plan. Federal officials later had to scramble to purchase one from a manufacturer in Illinois. By then it was too late, as the oil had begun to spread out of control and emulsify from the water and the weather."

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Obama's right hand man Rahm Emanuel has been quoted saying: “You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.” Obvious, is it not?...

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Ronald Reagan once said it best: Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem...

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Oil Spill Status in the Florida Keys.... by Jose Wejebe...

Found this video by Jose Wejebe who hooked up with Mote Marine Lab to talk about the efforts to monitor the oil spill in the Gulf and it's progress towards the Florida Keys...

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Jose has fished for many years in the Keys and has had a sportfishing show for years and one of the top guides in the area...

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Mote Marine Lab has done alot of research in the Keys and I had the opportunity to do several Shark research trips with their staff and video is here...

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Permit fishing aboard Compass Rose in the Florida Keys...

Tar Balls found in Key West...

The "Oil Drum" blog has info on the Tar-Balls that are starting to wash up on shore in Key West near Fort Zach. I will be in the Keys coming up in June and will be looking to see how this spill effects the Keys and coastline...

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NOT from the Deepwater Horizon as reported here....

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New Climate site from NOAA... But can we trust the data?...

NOAA has introduced a new website portal to keep us all informed on the changing climate with neat little graphics and bar graphs to show us the changing climate. BUT can we trust the data and conclusions made by NOAA regarding the cause\effects of a changing climate???...

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Here is a image showing the concentrations of CO2 across the globe...

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"The red patch of color centered on the savanna region of the Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa shows a large quantity of the gas released from fires people light in order to clear land. The blue colors in the Northern Hemisphere indicate low carbon dioxide concentrations due to absorption by plants in forests and agricultural crops. The concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide fluctuates regionally over time due to both natural life processes, such as photosynthesis, and people burning oil, coal, and biomass."

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Do you find it interesting that the blue colors, which indicate low carbon dioxide concentrations, in the United States are located over the Northeast which is more industrial related and probable less vegetation to absorb CO2 as described above?...

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With the discovery that much of the "Global Warming" supporting data over the years has been compromised and altered by the very scientist we are to trust, how much trust should we place in this new science portal provided by NOAA ?...

Yet another Seal save for the Rescue Dive Team...

The Rescue Dive Team up in New Jersey had another Seal save on the beach while performing Ice Rescue training with the local fire department...

Blackfin Tuna off Key West...

Great fight on light tackle...

Check out Compass Rose for some great fishing in the Florida Keys...

Still trying to get here...

Hard to believe but with all of the problems that we now face here in the United States, people continue to paddle across 70 miles of shark infested waters to get here. Above is a photo of a Cuban raft that was found South of Key West by a friend who runs Light Tackle Sportfishing boat out of Key West and the lower Keys...

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Captain Mike of the Compass Rose found the above raft when he was fishing for Wahoo with his charter. This is not uncommon and I saw plenty back when I worked and fished the Florida Straits as a Captain\Mate on the SeaBoots out of Summerland Key...

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The real question here is why would these people be leaving the perfect, government run, all provided, No cost, all inclusive, single payer healthcare system that Cuba has and many here desire, only to paddle across 70 miles of shark infested waters?....

Sails, Tales & Margaritas in Key West...

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Anyone that has been to the Florida Keys and\or Key West understands the above graphic. All the more if you are a saltwater sportfishing fanatic and know of the incredible diversity in sportfishing available to visitors to the Keys...

I take this opportunity to introduce a new blog\website for the Compass Rose Light Tackle boat operating out of Key West by my friend Mike Weinhofer. I have fished with Mike many times over the years and he is very knowledgeable of the Keys and the fish you can catch...

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Take a look at the blog for recent photos and postings and also the Compass Rose website for more information on fishing the Keys and booking a trip aboard the Compass Rose...

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If you like the graphic above of Sails, Tales & Margaritas it is also available on shirts by logging onto here...

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J.R. Hoeft over at Bearing Drift is in Houston for the Offshore Technology Conference to learn about and view the technology available to help develop the known oil and natural gas resources we have off the coast of Virginia...

Museum of New Jersey Maritime History

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Very impressive museum and look forward to getting back there soon to do some research on several of the wrecksites we have worked over the years...

Pt. Pleasant Rescue Dive Team recover Bottlenose Dolphin offshore...

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The members of the Point Pleasant Rescue Dive Team assisted in the recovery of a Bottlenose Dolphin that was then taken to the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigatine, N.J.

Additional photos and info can be found at the Dive Teams site....

Marine Mammal Stranding Center ~Easter Seals~

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I was up in New Jersey for Easter weekend training with the Rescue Dive team and responded to another Seal rescue on the beach...

Photos and info available here at the Pt. Pleasant Rescue Dive website...

Bahia-honda Bridge ~Tidal Energy \ Water Turbine Project~

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Anyone who has driven South on U.S 1 from Miami to Key West know of the 100+ small bridges, and one BIG 7-mile bridge, along the 150+ mile ride to KW...

I have made this ride numerous times and fished around many of these bridges during slack-tide and full range of tide changes. There is an incredible amount of water moving under these bridges going and coming between the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. And this changing of tides happens 4 times a day...

The Key West Citizen paper reports that there are efforts being made to harness this energy with a water turbine that will be moved by the tidal water flow running thru it...

"Keys Hydro Power late last month received a state Department of Environmental Protection permit to test a Fiberglas composite underwater turbine in the channel off the old Bahia Honda Bridge, said group founder Douglas Bedgood."

"Keys Hydro Power has been asked to install rigid, cage-like mesh near the front and back of the turbine to keep the marine life from being snagged in the rotors. The excluder will keep out anything larger than 4 inches wide. Anything smaller can pass through unharmed, Bedgood said."

"Keys Hydro Power plans to test one turbine in the Bahia Honda Channel for 60 days to determine whether it can efficiently harness power from the ocean. The turbine would yield energy by having the currents pushing the rotors. Keys Hydro Power has been working with several Florida engineering firms on designs for the underwater turbine that would be placed a half-mile south of the bridge. If the test is successful, the group wants to place more turbines, or farms of turbines, off the Florida coast."