Want to own a lighthouse? Here's your chance.
The U.S. government has put the picturesque, 133-year-old Fowey Rocks Light up for adoption. The price is right: Free.
Sure, there's a catch or two. You must run a nonprofit group or local government and prove you can preserve and maintain the historic lighthouse for public use.
And you need a good boat. The Fowey Rocks Lighthouse is on a shallow reef out in the ocean seven miles southeast of the tip of Key Biscayne.
rest of the story
New owner sought for venerable South Florida lighthouse
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
8 Ways to Freak Out Your Dive Buddy
You may already be doing some of these unconsciously. Here’s how to put it all together and become a complete jerk. Here is some great info from the Coral Reef Travel website.
Use Poorly Maintained Equipment
Upend your gear bag so a hodgepodge of worn-out, corroded and mismatched stuff cascades onto the deck in no apparent order. You can heighten the effect with carefree comments like, “Boy! Haven’t seen this in a long time!” and “Ugh! This sure stinks!” and “Anybody remember which side the reg goes on?” Meet any expression of concern with, “Don’t worry, it worked OK last time.”
For Style Points: Drop your console on the steel deck.
Message to Your Buddy: You will discover equipment problems the hard way.
Wisecrack During Site Briefing and Dive Planning
How deep are we going? “To the bottom, ha ha!” What’s our objective? “To get wet, ha ha!” How much air do we keep in reserve? “I paid for all of it, I’m using all of it, ha ha!” Meet any expression of concern with, “Don’t worry, I haven’t drowned yet, ha ha!”
For Style Points: When checking your tank valve just prior to entering the water, become confused and ask, “Which way is off?”
Message to Your Buddy: You are in fact confused and nervous, and trying to cover your anxiety with humor.
Act Like You’re Having Trouble Equalizing
The idea is that erratic behavior–delaying your descent, moving up and down in the water column, blowing hard with your nose pinched–without explanation to your buddy will make it seem as if you’re in trouble, inducing your buddy to take unnecessary risks to help you.
For Style Points: Blow so hard you cause a nosebleed. When a little blood has mixed with the water in your mask, turn to your buddy to show a mask full of … blood! Embolism! Brain explosion! Watch your buddy’s eyes go wide.
Message to Your Buddy: You take basic skills for granted, as well as being physically prepared to dive.
Play Hide and Seek
Swim off from the descent line at full speed, so your buddy has to huff and puff to keep up. Or, if you don’t have the stamina for this, put on a quick burst of speed when your buddy is looking the other way, then duck behind a stand of kelp or a coral head. Try to force your buddy to spend the entire dive trying to keep track of you.
For Style Points: Swim off downward, violating your agreed depth limit at the same time. Your buddy, if conscientious, will have to follow. Double points if you save this for the third dive of the day.
Message to Your Buddy: You have no interest in your buddy’s comfort and no regard for the buddy system.
Ditch Your Buddy
This is, of course, a classic move. It forces your buddy to abandon any hope of enjoying the dive and go into full rescue mode. Your buddy instead must decide how long to search for you and in which direction, then surface in haste and report to the dive boat.
For Style Points: After returning to the boat, grin, slap your buddy on the back and say, “Great dive, huh? Did you see that ray?”
Message to Your Buddy: You have no interest in rescuing your buddy, either.
Attack All Marine Life
Break off live coral. Pry mollusks and sea stars from rocks. Hack your way through vegetation. Swim with your knife in your hand, using it to chop, probe, dig, turn over rocks and tap your buddy’s shoulder.
For Style Points: Kill something bloody and put its oozing corpse in your goody bag.
Message to Your Buddy: You know nothing about the damage you can do to marine life, nor the damage marine life can do to you.
Create a Low-on-air Emergency
Respond to all air supply inquiries with an OK sign until your pressure gauge reads below 200 psi. You’ll have the biggest impact on your buddy if you save this announcement for when you are below 80 feet or so.
For Style Points: Wild eyes and flailing arms simulate panic well.
Message to Your Buddy: You don’t understand the reasons for maintaining a reserve supply of air–regulator performance and the unforeseen.
Ascend Too Quickly
By not venting your BC as it expands, you allow your ascent rate to accelerate to unsafe levels. Your buddy may feel compelled to keep pace while trying to slow you down, putting you both at risk of arterial gas embolism. At 15 feet, you will have reached such a speed that you will be unable to make a safety stop.
For Style Points: Assuming you reach the boat intact, tell your buddy, “Great dive! Say, are you looking for a dive buddy?”
Message to Your Buddy: You think Boyle’s Law is a TV series.
But Seriously, Folks
We’re joking to make a serious point. Probably most of us have been guilty of one or more of these screwups at one time or another. We knew we were OK, but what did our buddy think? What extra risks did we impose on our buddy? What enjoyment of the dive did our buddy forfeit?
Communication is difficult enough on the surface. Under water, we communicate largely through our actions, and our inaction. Our buddy has to respond to the messages they seem to convey, and our unintended signals can endanger others more than ourselves. We at Blue Iguana Charters want everyone to have a fun and safe dive.
Use Poorly Maintained Equipment
Upend your gear bag so a hodgepodge of worn-out, corroded and mismatched stuff cascades onto the deck in no apparent order. You can heighten the effect with carefree comments like, “Boy! Haven’t seen this in a long time!” and “Ugh! This sure stinks!” and “Anybody remember which side the reg goes on?” Meet any expression of concern with, “Don’t worry, it worked OK last time.”
For Style Points: Drop your console on the steel deck.
Message to Your Buddy: You will discover equipment problems the hard way.
Wisecrack During Site Briefing and Dive Planning
How deep are we going? “To the bottom, ha ha!” What’s our objective? “To get wet, ha ha!” How much air do we keep in reserve? “I paid for all of it, I’m using all of it, ha ha!” Meet any expression of concern with, “Don’t worry, I haven’t drowned yet, ha ha!”
For Style Points: When checking your tank valve just prior to entering the water, become confused and ask, “Which way is off?”
Message to Your Buddy: You are in fact confused and nervous, and trying to cover your anxiety with humor.
Act Like You’re Having Trouble Equalizing
The idea is that erratic behavior–delaying your descent, moving up and down in the water column, blowing hard with your nose pinched–without explanation to your buddy will make it seem as if you’re in trouble, inducing your buddy to take unnecessary risks to help you.
For Style Points: Blow so hard you cause a nosebleed. When a little blood has mixed with the water in your mask, turn to your buddy to show a mask full of … blood! Embolism! Brain explosion! Watch your buddy’s eyes go wide.
Message to Your Buddy: You take basic skills for granted, as well as being physically prepared to dive.
Play Hide and Seek
Swim off from the descent line at full speed, so your buddy has to huff and puff to keep up. Or, if you don’t have the stamina for this, put on a quick burst of speed when your buddy is looking the other way, then duck behind a stand of kelp or a coral head. Try to force your buddy to spend the entire dive trying to keep track of you.
For Style Points: Swim off downward, violating your agreed depth limit at the same time. Your buddy, if conscientious, will have to follow. Double points if you save this for the third dive of the day.
Message to Your Buddy: You have no interest in your buddy’s comfort and no regard for the buddy system.
Ditch Your Buddy
This is, of course, a classic move. It forces your buddy to abandon any hope of enjoying the dive and go into full rescue mode. Your buddy instead must decide how long to search for you and in which direction, then surface in haste and report to the dive boat.
For Style Points: After returning to the boat, grin, slap your buddy on the back and say, “Great dive, huh? Did you see that ray?”
Message to Your Buddy: You have no interest in rescuing your buddy, either.
Attack All Marine Life
Break off live coral. Pry mollusks and sea stars from rocks. Hack your way through vegetation. Swim with your knife in your hand, using it to chop, probe, dig, turn over rocks and tap your buddy’s shoulder.
For Style Points: Kill something bloody and put its oozing corpse in your goody bag.
Message to Your Buddy: You know nothing about the damage you can do to marine life, nor the damage marine life can do to you.
Create a Low-on-air Emergency
Respond to all air supply inquiries with an OK sign until your pressure gauge reads below 200 psi. You’ll have the biggest impact on your buddy if you save this announcement for when you are below 80 feet or so.
For Style Points: Wild eyes and flailing arms simulate panic well.
Message to Your Buddy: You don’t understand the reasons for maintaining a reserve supply of air–regulator performance and the unforeseen.
Ascend Too Quickly
By not venting your BC as it expands, you allow your ascent rate to accelerate to unsafe levels. Your buddy may feel compelled to keep pace while trying to slow you down, putting you both at risk of arterial gas embolism. At 15 feet, you will have reached such a speed that you will be unable to make a safety stop.
For Style Points: Assuming you reach the boat intact, tell your buddy, “Great dive! Say, are you looking for a dive buddy?”
Message to Your Buddy: You think Boyle’s Law is a TV series.
But Seriously, Folks
We’re joking to make a serious point. Probably most of us have been guilty of one or more of these screwups at one time or another. We knew we were OK, but what did our buddy think? What extra risks did we impose on our buddy? What enjoyment of the dive did our buddy forfeit?
Communication is difficult enough on the surface. Under water, we communicate largely through our actions, and our inaction. Our buddy has to respond to the messages they seem to convey, and our unintended signals can endanger others more than ourselves. We at Blue Iguana Charters want everyone to have a fun and safe dive.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Conservation Authority Guy Harvey Reiterates Shark Free Marina Policies
Conservation Authority Guy Harvey Reiterates Shark Free Marina Policies
This just shows that Guy Harvey is a man of his word. He really means it when he says he is looking out for the sharks and the sea creatures come first. Here is a copy of his press release that was put out this morning. Thanks for standing up for the sharks Guy and if there is anything the gang at Blue Iguana Charters can do for you just let us know...
Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) June 16, 2011
Conservation and marine science authority Dr. Guy Harvey, Chairman of Guy Harvey Outpost LTD., announced today that a photographic image of a Mako shark, taken at the weigh in station of the Bimini Big Game Club and circulating on the internet, was authentic. “It is extremely disappointing that this occurred and is a clear violation of my shark conservation principles and efforts”, said Dr. Harvey, an recognized marine conservation authority and acclaimed artist. The Big Game Club operates under license from Guy Harvey Outpost, a company he co-founded to promote sustainable tourism and marine conservation among water sport enthusiasts and the legions of Guy Harvey followers worldwide.
He confirmed the shark was caught by a visitor to the Big Game Club while vacationing in Bimini over the Memorial Day weekend and the resort’s dock staff assisted in hanging the shark up for photographs. The boat's captain, Chase Camacho, confirmed his charter angler fought the shark for over two hours after hooking it while deep drop fishing off the Bimini coast. "It’s important to have a black and white policy with no grey areas when it comes to operating as a Shark Free Marina, particularly when my name is on the door”, Guy said in addressing the event.
“The boat’s captain believed the shark was stressed to the point of dying, and thought it proper to bring it back to the dock so it could be given to the church for distribution to needy locals,” clarified Dr. Harvey, who holds a PhD in Marine Biology and directs shark research worldwide with the efforts of his scientific staff at the Guy Harvey Research Institute. Underscoring a common misunderstanding among anglers on the resilience of sharks, Guy noted “a nearly dead shark has a much better chance of surviving in the water than on the dock. Sharks are very tough animals.”
Professor Mahmood Shivji, Director of the “Save our Seas Shark Center” at Nova Southeastern University echoed Guy’s sentiment. “It’s a food cycle issue. We are dealing with a marine ecosystem such that a dead or dying fish provides food resource to the entire marine ecosystem and its best to let the ecosystem operate without intervention, however well intentioned.” Dr. Harvey characterized the event “an unfortunate learning moment for all anglers.” He went on to acknowledge the angler and captain erred with good intentions, and the shark was donated to the local community as intended but noted “in today’s world there’s nothing to celebrate in bringing any shark to the dock for a photo opportunity”.
With a Guy Harvey designed logo to identify member marinas worldwide, 'Shark-Free' marinas participate in a voluntary program to prohibit sharks from being landed at their facility. “Shark Free marina policies were designed to foster catch and release fishing methods by discouraging any thought of landing a shark for any reason”, Harvey went on to say. “Our Outpost team took immediate action to investigate this when first brought to my attention. Staff has been reminded of their role in helping promote shark conservation awareness by enforcing the policies of a 'Shark Free' marina." The Shark-Free Marina Initiative is a project of The Humane Society of the United States and supported in part by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, an organization Dr. Harvey chairs to foster marine research and conservation.
The Shark Free Marina Institute's web site indicates that as many as 100 million sharks are killed annually, posing a serious threat to the oceans health. The stated purpose of a Shark-Free Marinas is to help reduce the take of sharks and encourage responsible use of the oceans. “With my worldwide efforts to promote shark conservation, particularly in the Bahamas, and my name on the front door of the Big Game Club, I’ve reminded staff that our marina will adhere to the Shark Free Marina Initiative policies, no exceptions” added Dr. Harvey. “We all have to play a part in protecting these magnificent animals.”
This just shows that Guy Harvey is a man of his word. He really means it when he says he is looking out for the sharks and the sea creatures come first. Here is a copy of his press release that was put out this morning. Thanks for standing up for the sharks Guy and if there is anything the gang at Blue Iguana Charters can do for you just let us know...
Fort Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) June 16, 2011
Conservation and marine science authority Dr. Guy Harvey, Chairman of Guy Harvey Outpost LTD., announced today that a photographic image of a Mako shark, taken at the weigh in station of the Bimini Big Game Club and circulating on the internet, was authentic. “It is extremely disappointing that this occurred and is a clear violation of my shark conservation principles and efforts”, said Dr. Harvey, an recognized marine conservation authority and acclaimed artist. The Big Game Club operates under license from Guy Harvey Outpost, a company he co-founded to promote sustainable tourism and marine conservation among water sport enthusiasts and the legions of Guy Harvey followers worldwide.
He confirmed the shark was caught by a visitor to the Big Game Club while vacationing in Bimini over the Memorial Day weekend and the resort’s dock staff assisted in hanging the shark up for photographs. The boat's captain, Chase Camacho, confirmed his charter angler fought the shark for over two hours after hooking it while deep drop fishing off the Bimini coast. "It’s important to have a black and white policy with no grey areas when it comes to operating as a Shark Free Marina, particularly when my name is on the door”, Guy said in addressing the event.
“The boat’s captain believed the shark was stressed to the point of dying, and thought it proper to bring it back to the dock so it could be given to the church for distribution to needy locals,” clarified Dr. Harvey, who holds a PhD in Marine Biology and directs shark research worldwide with the efforts of his scientific staff at the Guy Harvey Research Institute. Underscoring a common misunderstanding among anglers on the resilience of sharks, Guy noted “a nearly dead shark has a much better chance of surviving in the water than on the dock. Sharks are very tough animals.”
Professor Mahmood Shivji, Director of the “Save our Seas Shark Center” at Nova Southeastern University echoed Guy’s sentiment. “It’s a food cycle issue. We are dealing with a marine ecosystem such that a dead or dying fish provides food resource to the entire marine ecosystem and its best to let the ecosystem operate without intervention, however well intentioned.” Dr. Harvey characterized the event “an unfortunate learning moment for all anglers.” He went on to acknowledge the angler and captain erred with good intentions, and the shark was donated to the local community as intended but noted “in today’s world there’s nothing to celebrate in bringing any shark to the dock for a photo opportunity”.
With a Guy Harvey designed logo to identify member marinas worldwide, 'Shark-Free' marinas participate in a voluntary program to prohibit sharks from being landed at their facility. “Shark Free marina policies were designed to foster catch and release fishing methods by discouraging any thought of landing a shark for any reason”, Harvey went on to say. “Our Outpost team took immediate action to investigate this when first brought to my attention. Staff has been reminded of their role in helping promote shark conservation awareness by enforcing the policies of a 'Shark Free' marina." The Shark-Free Marina Initiative is a project of The Humane Society of the United States and supported in part by the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, an organization Dr. Harvey chairs to foster marine research and conservation.
The Shark Free Marina Institute's web site indicates that as many as 100 million sharks are killed annually, posing a serious threat to the oceans health. The stated purpose of a Shark-Free Marinas is to help reduce the take of sharks and encourage responsible use of the oceans. “With my worldwide efforts to promote shark conservation, particularly in the Bahamas, and my name on the front door of the Big Game Club, I’ve reminded staff that our marina will adhere to the Shark Free Marina Initiative policies, no exceptions” added Dr. Harvey. “We all have to play a part in protecting these magnificent animals.”
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