To Plan A Key West Florida Vacation Homes Trip Planning

After the second dubious cancellation earlier this year, Kimberly Dafoe fired the rental agent for her Key Largo vacation home. "Then all these things come out, that he's still renting to people after we fired him," said Dafoe, a part-time resident from British Columbia.

The rental agent for her Key Largo vacation home. "Then all these things come out, that he's still renting to people after we fired him," said Dafoe, a part-time resident from British Columbia. "It's been horrible for [the renters] and horrible for us."John D. Williams, 52, of Tavernier this week was charged with four additional counts, bringing to 102 the number of charges lodged against the rental agent.the Florida Vacation Homes  is comfortable most of the year, and warm year round. Sightseeing in Key West is unparalleled, the food grabs from a multitude of nearby cultures, and the atmosphere is perfect to sit back, relax, enjoy the local sights, unwind, and take in the fulfilling experience of the Florida Keys. This page will help you Plan a Key West Vacation, with recommended resources, tips, and trip planning advice.

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Antique Gold Chain Worth $250,000 Found Off Florida Keys

Gun of the Nuestra Señora de Atocha at the Archivo General de Indias

A glint of gold in the sand.

That's what caught Bill Burt's eye last week during a dive about 35 miles off the coast of Key West, where he and his crew were searching for the rear section of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sunk during a hurricane in 1622.

Burt's eyes didn't deceive him -- that glint was gold. A 40-inch gold chain, to be precise.

The chain, believed to be from the Atocha, is estimated to be worth $250,000. The gold links resembling cotter pins -- 55 of them -- are connected to a black-enameled gold cross measuring 2 inches by 1.25 inches. Surrounding the cross are what appear to be Latin inscriptions.

Also attached to the chain, which is similar to a pair of rosary beads, are a gold religious medallion, a black bead and a gold floweret.

The dive was launched from the deck of the JB Magruder, a salvage vessel owned by Mel Fisher's Treasures.

In 1985, Fisher's team recovered a substantial bulk of the Atocha's treasure, about $450 million in artifacts.

Valuable religious relics often were stored in the ship's wooden rear, or sterncastle, where only the wealthiest passengers -- including clergy and nobility -- sat.

The discovery of this chain gives the crew of the JB Magruder hope of finding the Atocha's sterncastle, believed to have been ripped from the ship during a subsequent hurricane.

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http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/27/antique-gold-chain-worth-250-000-found-off-florida-keys


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Woman tourist's brush with death as she's pinned to deck of fishing boat by 300lbs stingray in terrifying freak accident

A woman tourist was pinned to the deck of a sightseeing boat by a 300lbs stingray after it came hurtling out of the sea as she cruised off the Florida Keys.

Jenny Hausch, 40, was knocked down by the spotted eagle ray, which torpedoed out of the water and landed in the charter boat in which she was a passenger.

She was trapped and gasping for air under its 4ft wide body for three to four minutes.

Beautiful but deadly: A spotted eagle ray (file photo) like the one that knocked Jenny Hausch to the deck of the boat

Nightmare cruise: Jenny Hausch struggled desperate to free herself from the 300lb stingray which leapt aboard this 26-foot catamaran

Boat captain Kelly Klein said:'The ray was slamming this way and slamming that way and she was trying to crawl out backwards from under it, but it kept landing on her.

Skipper: Captain Kelly Klein was in charge of the boat when the 300lb stingray pinned down a passenger

The bizarre incident took place off the island of Islamorada.

It came almost exactly three years after widow Judy Kay Zagorski, 57, was killed by a spotted eagle ray that leapt from the waves and struck her in the face while she stood aboard a motor-cruiser off Marathon, also in the Florida Keys.

The blow sent Mrs Zagorski, of Michigan, crashing to the deck, fracturing her skull and causing a fatal brain injury.

The spotted eagle ray is also the same species that killed Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin in 2006.

He was impaled through the heart by a ray while diving on the Great Barrier Reef, off Australia.

Wildlife officers on patrol off Islamorada described yesterday how they heard the sounds of panic from across the water as Mrs Hausch, who was on holiday from her hometown of Chicago, Illinois, was sent sprawling by one of the giant sea creatures after it slammed into her.

She was one of several passengers aboard a 26ft catamaran for a private fishing cruise run by Two Chicks Charters, of Islamorada.

Spotted eagle rays, like the one above, are not trying to attack humans when they leap from the ocean, say experts - instead they may be trying to flee from predators

Terror in paradise: The tourists were on a charter fishing boat off Islamorada Key in the Florida Keys (file photo)

'We had just passed the boat and we heard screaming,' said Bret Swensson, an officer with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

His colleague, officer Aja Vickers, who had seen the stingray leaping, told WFOR television station in Miami: 'I could see the ray bouncing around in the boat. I knew ‘Oh my gosh, the ray’s in their boat.’

'I didn’t know if anybody had got hurt. All the kids were crying.'

Mrs Hausch’s husband and others on the boat eventually managed to lift the creature off her and usher it back into the water. She did not require hospital treatment.

Captain Klein told the channel: 'My motto is when you get on a Two Chick charters boat, there's no drama, and boy they messed up that whole thing.'

Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, shown here with his son, was killed by a spotted eagle ray in 2006

Wildlife experts say that stingrays do not leap to be aggressive, but may jump occasionally to shake off parasites, avoid predators such as sharks, or while giving birth.

Officer Vickers said: 'This is not an ‘attack’. These things are not looking to, you know, have a little human meal. It’s just a one in a million chance.'

In 2006, millionaire property developer James Bertakis, 81, narrowly escaped death when a spotted eagle ray launched itself at him during a fishing trip off Lighthouse Point, 40 miles north of Miami, piercing his lung and heart with its razor-sharp, venomous barb.

His survival was dubbed a miracle by doctors.

It is not just stingrays that have been involved in occasionally devastating collisions in Florida.

On the state’s Suwannee River, sturgeon fish – which have armour-like plating on their backs and weigh up to 200lbs – have knocked boaters unconscious and caused injuries including broken ribs, collapsed lungs and ruptured spleens during dramatic aerial somersaults.

And less than two weeks ago, Florida resident JoAnn Lorek, 67, suffered a sprained ankle when a 660lbs dolphin bellyflopped into her boat as she cruised with friends off Marco Island, Florida.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371032/Woman-tourists-pinned-boat-deck-300lbs-stingray-Florida-Keys.html#ixzz1HzObUxAE

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5 Places to Visit in Florida

Florida Keys - the string of tiny islands is several hours away from Orlando by car, or a couple hundred dollars away by plane.  By all accounts, it’s completely worth the time and money it would take to get there.  I’m dying to see the white sands and clear waters for myself and hopefully spend a little time walking in Hemingway’s footsteps (even if I hate his novels).

Amelia Island - I’ve been told these little island is gorgeous and would love to go horseback riding along the beaches.

Destin - if you haven’t spent a lot of time in the Southeast, you may have never heard of Destin, Florida.  It’s a popular vacation destination for families who live in this part of the country and I’m told it’s similar to Navarre Beach, which I love.

Plant City – about 75% of America’s strawberries come from here.  I love strawberries.  Naturally, I need to visit, preferably during the Strawberry Festival.

Sanibel Island - almost every Floridian I know has spent a romantic weekend on the world famous beaches of Sanibel Island.  The orientation of the island in the waters of the  Gulf of Mexico make it perfect for shelling as an inordinate amount of whole shells wash ashore constantly.

That’s my Florida wishlist.  I have just over 4 months to make the rounds.  Is there anywhere else I should make sure to visit?

Read more: 

http://www.uptake.com/blog/family_vacations/places-to-visit-in-florida_16231.html#ixzz1GpsJNEll

 

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Woman Impaled by Barracuda Tells Dramatic Story

Karri Larson shows her scars from the bizarre incident.

Karri Larson

A Florida woman is lucky to be alive after a bizarre incident while she and her boyfriend were kayaking in the Florida Keys. A fish jumped out of the water, hitting her so hard it broke her ribs and collapsed a lung.

She struggled to breathe and was in desperate need of medical attention.

On "The Early Show," CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella reported on the terrifying, almost deadly turn the excursion of Karri Larson and boyfriend Michael Hinojosa took last October.

Four-Foot Flying Fish Stabs Florida Kayaker

In a 911 call, Larson's boyfriend can be heard saying, "Yes, I've got an emergency. My girlfriend's been hit by a flying fish. I think it was a barracuda or something."

First thought to be a needlefish, Larson says it was a barracuda that attacked her out of nowhere.

She saw it jump out of the water twice, and on the third jump, it dove toward the couple's boat and hit her on the side.

Hinojosa said on the call, "It came diving past the kayak, and hit her broadside, knocked her out of the boat and she's got, like, broken ribs and punctured lungs."

The operator asks, "She has a punctured lung?"

Hinojosa said, "Yes, sir. I have my hand holding her lungs closed."

Another operator responds, "Ok, sir, I need to know where you're gonna come in to."

"I'm holding her ribs with one hand," he responds. "I cannot paddle this kayak anywhere right now. I need you guys to come to me."

Getting to them would be no easy task in the Florida backwaters. Towboat owner Kevin Freestone volunteered to help search. He spoke to Hinojosa on the phone.

Freestone told CBS News, "He knew exactly what to tell me and he told me, he said, 'You need to get here as quick as you can. You need to save a life today."'

It had been about 30 minutes since the original 911 call, and time was running out.

Freestone explained, "We were going around the corner of this island. It's all mangroves. We were gonna see them soon see them soon see them soon all of a sudden, there it was -- orange kayak."

As Larson clung to life, she was transported back to the marina, then airlifted to a Miami hospital and taken straight to the intensive care unit.

Larson survived, but remained in the Intensive Care Unit for nine days, recovering from a shattered rib and a punctured lung.

In an exclusive "Early Show" interview Monday, Karri Larson and Michael Hinojosa, of Big Pine, Fla., and Kevin Freestone, of TowBoatUS, shared the story of what happened that day.

Larson said she's still in a lot of pain, but her condition is improving every day.

"Early Show" co-anchor Chris Wragge pointed out this incident left her with extensive injuries.

Larson explained, "The hole -- it opened a hole right up in my side. Shattered a rip where they eventually had to remove the rib and just pick pieces out, because it was just in little shards inside me and punctured my lung."

Hinojosa explained how it happened. He said, "We were out north of Big Pine, which is the island that we live on, feeling we were really safe. I spotted in the distance a giant barracuda coming in our general direction, probably 40, 50 miles an hour, really moving fast and skipping across the water. We've never seen a fish of this size jump before. I certainly didn't expect what happened to happen. It exploded on our left. Karri never saw it. It hit here in the ribcage and threw her out of the boat. It was moving really fast. It shattered her ribs, like she said. I had her scrambled back onto the boat and when I saw the wound, she had a hole in her side. ... I cupped my hand over it, her lung was trying to pop out into my hand. I realized then that she might not make it and I was really, really scared. I didn't know what I was going to tell her family if she didn't make it."

Larson said she realized just how extensive her wounds were when she was pulled aboard the kayak.

She said, "I had a towel, and I looked down and it was just completely saturated with blood, so I knew I was losing, you know, a lot of blood. And then, from the way I was breathing and the extent of the pain, I could tell it was a rib injury, and could hear the gurgling, so I knew I had punctured lungs."

As the couple waited in the boat, Hinojosa, holding her lung closed, ajd Larson talked about the days to come.

"She didn't want to talk about the injury," Hinojosa said. "She wanted me to talk about positive, happy things. So I began realizing, she's going to have a lot of time off of work, so I started talking about potential vacations we could take. Places that I could take her to visit. She'd never been to Europe. I pestered her into getting a passport, so she has a passport. I wanted to take her to Europe. So I began trying to distract her away from what was actually happening. Because it was just too long."

And then, finally, Freestone arrived.

"We shot across (the water) over there and got up alongside and you could see she was in pain, but very coherent, sitting pretty strong. Mike's sitting there, put the paramedic on the boat, and the paramedic looked at me after he looked at the wound, he says, 'Get me inclusive dressing,' and he's looking around like, this is bad. I knew it was a second chest wound, and it just was really serious."

Larson said she was thinking of her daughter through the ordeal.

"One of the first things I thought of is she's getting married June 30. And I need to be able to walk her down the aisle," she told Wragge. "And so I just kept thinking that in my head, you know, keeping positive thoughts. And just waiting. Waiting. That was the hardest part."

Wragge asked, "Such a big part of your life being down on the water. You guys do it every week. How difficult is it to continue going back out on the water, think about being back out on the water?"

Larson said, "Well, we worked on that. We would go to a restaurant near the dock and sit there by the fish. Our house is on the water, so it's -- it's hard. I've been out on a boat twice since then. Just recently. And I did pretty well. I did pretty well."

Recently, Freestone was given the Coast Guard's Public Service Commendation Award for his actions last October. The award is for acts of courage or assistance in Coast Guard missions.

Keys tow captain gets award for kayaker rescue

A Florida Keys tow boat captain is being recognized by the Coast Guard for helping rescue a woman injured when a barricuda leaped into her kayak.

Tow captain Kevin Freestone was given the Coast Guard's Public Service Commendation Award on Wednesday in Marathon for his actions last October. The award is for acts of courage or assistance in Coast Guard missions.

Freestone was able to maneuver his boat into shallow waters where Coast Guard vessels could not go. He brought the injured woman on board and took her to a local marina where she was transported to a hospital in Miami.

The woman, Karri Larson, suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung when the barricuda struck her. She has recovered and attended Wednesday's ceremony.

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Jimmy Carter helps release loggerhead sea turtle

In this photo released by the Florida Keys News Bureau, former President Jimmy Carter holds a juvenile green sea turtle next to his wife Rosalynn while a young family member shoots a picture Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010, at The Turtle Hospital in Marathon, Fla. Carter and his family toured the facility as a facet of a holiday in the Florida Keys. Left of Carter is hospital veterinarian Doug Mader.

Jimmy Carter has helped release a rehabilitated loggerhead sea turtle during a family vacation in the Florida Keys.

The former president participated in the release of Danger, a 102-pound loggerhead turtle, into the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday. The turtle had spent three months at The Turtle Hospital.

Carter also toured the facility, which is dedicated to treating and rehabilitating sea turtles.

Carter is in the Keys with wife Rosalynn and a number of family members as part of a holiday respite.

The vacation in the Keys is not the first for Carter and his family. In 1996, the family had a New Year's Eve dinner at the Harry S. Truman Little White House in Key West and returned there for a visit in December 2007 while on a cruise ship.

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Scuba Diving Santa Hits Florida Keys

 

KEY LARGO, Fla. - Those who had ventured out of their luxury Florida vacation villas had the sight of a scuba diving Santa Claus submerged off Key Largo to deliver a bit of holiday cheer to inhabitants of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Santa Claus was played by Spencer Slate, owner of Key Largo's Atlantis Dive Shop, who has been donning the jolly man's attire for years and dives to offer up underwater holiday photo opportunities for his customers as a fundraiser for local children's charities.

During his subsea excursion Friday afternoon, near John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, Santa encountered a large goliath grouper that seemed quite fascinated with the jolly man throughout much of the dive.

Pennekamp Park, which falls within Sanctuary boundaries, recently marked its 50th birthday. It's the first underwater preserve in the United States.

Free Admission to Pennekamp Park Heralds 50th Anniversary Celebration

Free admission to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park is available Saturday, Dec. 11, during a special 50th birthday celebration planned for that day.

Be a part of the golden anniversary and chart your plans for this day from your Florida villas

The golden anniversary of the park at mile marker 102.5 on the Florida Keys Overseas Highway offers a variety of events beginning at 9 a.m. the culmination of 11 days of events in Key Largo honoring America’s first undersea preserve.

Scheduled activities include an Environmental Expo featuring ecological and historical exhibits, oral histories shared by past park managers and staff as well as a featured keynote presentation by Dr. Sylvia Earle, a renowned oceanographer and Time magazine’s first “Hero for the Planet.”

Souvenir anniversary medallions and lapel pins are to be available while supplies last, as well as posters of an underwater scene, created for the park’s 50th by artist Wyland.

Pennekamp Park 50thSlated for the expo are some 40 organizations representing Florida Keys and national conservation groups including the Coral Restoration Foundation, The Dolphin Research Center, The Turtle Hospital, Florida Keys national wildlife refuges, Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail, The Nature Conservancy, History of Diving Museum, National Parks and Conservation Association, the Florida Park Service and the Wyland Foundation Youth Ambassadors for the Planet.

Visitors also can enjoy the park’s popular water activities — at regular concession prices — including viewing the reef on glass-bottom-boat or snorkel and scuba tours, as well as canoeing and kayaking on mangrove-lined waterways.

A visitor center featuring a refurbished 30,000-gallon aquarium, as well as nature trails, picnic pavilions and two beaches round out the variety of offerings at Pennekamp.

More details are at www.fla-keys.com/pennekamp50. Key Largo visitor and accommodations’ information is at www.fla-keys.com/keylargo or 1-800-822-1088.

Read More

http://www.newmanpr.com/2010/12/01/free-admission-to-pennekamp-park-heralds-50th-anniversary-celebration/

Florida Keys Declare Open Season on the Invasive Lionfish

While you are having a relaxed stay at your fabulous Florida villas the marine ecology of Florida keys are possessed with a serious threat from a species called the Lionfish

Crawling through turquoise murk on the ocean floor near Tea Table Key, Rob Pillus glances at a half dozen lobsters that twirl their antennae in the fast-moving current. Mr. Pillus, an avid spear fisherman, would normally stuff the crustaceans into his mesh bag for dinner, but today he is after more exotic quarry: an invasive species called the lionfish that threatens to wreak havoc on this ecologically sensitive marine system.

Within a few minutes Mr. Pillus spots a lionfish and its extravagant zebra-striped fins on a bridge pylon. He steadies his homemade spear and skewers the fish, slicing off its venomous fins before putting it in his bag. He gives an enthusiastic thumbs-up and keeps moving.

Later, on the deck of his 28-foot motorboat, Mr. Pillus turns his bounty of five lionfish over to his teammate, Mike Dugan, who puts them on ice.

“Jackpot, fellas,” exclaims Mr. Pillus.

Mr. Pillus is team captain of the Lion Hunters, one of 18 groups of divers armed with nets or sharp spears who are here to compete in the final stage of a newly created lionfish derby in the Florida Keys.

Derbies like this are one way that officials and scientists are seeking to bring attention to the potential damage caused by this voracious, rapidly breeding fish and to control its spread, which in the Florida Keys has been so quick that wildlife managers are having a hard time adapting. The first fish wasn’t discovered until January 2009, when a single female was found and immediately removed by scientists from a reef in Key Largo. Now the lionfish is plentiful enough to have multiple derbies.

“We’re terrified,” says Dave Walton, site manager of Dry Tortugas National Park, a group of islands and an ecological reserve 60 miles west of Key West, where lionfish first appeared in September 2009.

If the lionfish’s impact on other parts of the Caribbean is any guide, Mr. Walton and others in the region are right to be concerned. It is a formidable predator that can devastate fish populations wherever it feeds. Researchers here examined more than 1,000 lionfish stomachs and found more than 50 species of prey fish inside, including juveniles of commercially important grouper and snapper. The fish also eat juvenile parrotfish, which graze on algae and keep it from overgrowing and killing corals.

“What we do know is what we can see in areas like the Bahamas where you go to a particular reef and all you can see is lionfish,” says Sean Morton, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, a 3,900-square-mile park stretching from Biscayne Bay to Dry Tortugas National Park.

If the reef system here is depleted of other fish species because of the lionfish’s appetite, the impact could be devastating to the region’s economy, which relies heavily on commercial fishing and recreational diving. Bob Holston, the owner of Dive Key West, a local dive shop, says the potential threat could spell doom for his business.

“Imagine going into Yellowstone and not being able to see any birds, any bears, any deer or whatever — you would just be looking at trees,” he said.

A native of the Indo-Pacific Ocean and the Red Sea, the lionfish has no known predators. It is believed to have been released by aquarists sometime in the 1990s and has since spread up the East Coast to North Carolina and through the Caribbean.

Scientists say the fish can produce 30,000 eggs in a single spawning event, and can spawn as frequently as every four days. “That means we’re looking at annual output of two million eggs per female,” says Lad Akins, a research diver and the director of operations with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, or Reef.

Scientists and policy makers are at a loss as to how to eradicate the fish, a goal that a 2003 report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says is “nearly impossible.” The only hope, say officials, is some form of local control.

Which is where the derbies come in. On Nov. 13, 18 teams competed from sunrise to sundown to kill as many fish as they could with hopes of sharing $3,350 in prize money.

“We’re taking a part in the battle,” says Robert Hickerson, the captain of Team Frapper, a group of four divers from Vero Beach. Mr. Hickerson says he dives as often as twice a week. His “kill count” is a source of pride. “I’ve killed over a hundred of them. I try to kill them even when I’m on vacation.”

While lionfish numbers are growing, the fish can be elusive. Despite the best efforts of the 18 teams in the Lower Keys derby, only 109 fish were killed, adding to the 550 lionfish killed in the two previous contests in Key Largo in September and Marathon in October.

One potential solution is to promote the fish as food for another voracious predator: man. Lionfish are considered excellent eating. Indeed, after the lionfish derby here, participants feasted on fried lionfish nuggets.

“They taste a lot like hogfish,” says Mr. Dugan of the Lion Hunters. “They’re really good.”

Read More

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/science/23lionfish.html