The Key West Boat Show and Nautical Market was, well let’s put it in nice terms… a sign of the times.  If you go to a boat show, you want to see awesome boats you dream about.  You want to be impressed, you want to see incredible examples of what money can buy.  You don’t want to see Sea Chasers.

This year’s Key West Boat Show offered attendees the chance to see boats up close which didn’t really inspire much.  Not very inspirational at all, actually.  There were maybe a dozen boats, many of which were a brand (Sea Chaser) known for its strength in the budget category.  These were not dream boats, for the most part.  There was a nice Sea Cat outfitted with lots of fishing boxes, a huge live well, and millions of compartments for gear, etc, but pretty much the 2010 Key West Boat Show was a bust.

This is a Used Boat for Sale

As for the vendors, don’t even bother.  Want a polyester T-shirt?  How about a bronze mermaid windmill?  Or some jewelry?  There was some no-name dive gear on sale, and a book tent with 50% off books.  But wow, what a bust.  I guess nobody’s buying expensive boats these days, so it makes more sense to have Sea Chasers and used boats for sale on the lot, like the one in this picture.

One of the interesting things about Key West is the situation in which the city found itself during the Civil War.   Fort Zachary Taylor, which wasn’t even complete when the Civil War broke out, was a Federal fort of course.  But Florida is in the south, so you have mini versions of North vs. South in some southern states.

This occurred in most Federal forts of the south where Federal soldiers tried to hold their ground, but South Carolina and Fort Sumpter get all the attention.  The standoff that happened at Fort Sumpter and the ensuing fame (or infamy) could just have easily taken place at Fort Zachary Taylor in Key West, had Florida been governed by a firebrand secessionist like the Governor of South Carolina at the time.  Fort Taylor remained in Union hands throughout the Civil War, by the way.

Key West has a lot of silly events designed to attract and entertain tourists who don’t know any better.  But the Key West Civil War Heritage Days celebrate real events in our city’s history.  That makes this event one of the coolest celebrations of the year.  However, this year the best part of the weekend was canceled because of the crummy weather.  The schooner battle was scrapped – how disappointing.

These were some participants at the Key West Boat Show, also disappointed with the cancellation of the schooner war.  As you can see from their costumes, they are re-enacters.  I love the Coach bag addition to the outfit on the woman.

Roosters and chickens have a reputation they don’t deserve.  For such a beautiful bird that actually rids the island of cockroaches and other pesty bugs, the rooster is criticized way too often and harassed for no reason, as well.  Did you know that back in the days before Orkin, they had chickens and roosters to take care of pest problems around the home?

Key West chickens forage in the dirt and eat bugs, thereby preventing them from entering your home.  They are not “unclean” – have you ever stepped in chicken poop in Key West?  How about dog poop?  I’ve stepped in the latter but never even seen a hint of the former.  Maybe I don’t know what I’m looking for…?  What does it look like.

The chickens and roosters in Key West are part of the island’s colorful history.  These are not farm chickens let loose.  They are descendants of actual fighting roosters!  Cock fighting used to be a big deal here in Key West, before laws were passed against the sport.  Sometime perhaps in the 1970s or 1980s, the fighters had to be released and now they are a pest-eating, picture-worthy part of the streets in Key West.

Winter in Key West beckons yachts and sailboats for several races throughout the season.  These boats are racing around orange boueys between Key West harbor and Sand Key, close in.  The event isn’t really talked about much among locals, and the contestants are from all over the world, so not much to say about this except that they looked real pretty, like a painting.

Key West isn’t known for hiking trails, but there is actually a nature trail in the mangroves that ends up on the beach.  If you go to Atlantic, it’s on the south side of the road, right next to the 1800 Atlantic condos.  You can park your bike at the entrance, then walk in through the thick mangrove vegetation.  The boarded walkway takes you over swampy brackish water which supports lots of mangrove life and critters that dwell therein, like spiders and wading birds.

There are nature trail signs so you can read up on mangrove habitat while you’re there.  As you get closer to the ocean, you’ll see a bench and platform for resting and viewing the scenery.  Then the board trail ends up at the dune line of the beach, which like all Key West beaches, is narrow.  It’s a nice diversion and a cool place to take pictures.  Key West used to be covered in this type of vegetation and it’s nice someone has preserved a small patch of what it used to be like.

It’s been just over six months since the USS Vandenberg was sunk.  Our artificial reef is coming along nicely- not everything is stark white any more, but covered in growth at this point.  We were out snorkeling and freediving recently, and the vis was about 80 feet.  No current, and hardly any wind.  Perfect Key West snorkeling conditions!  Here are a few photos.

You can see the growth

 

Key West Wildlife

This is a tiny island, and resources are strained.  It’s crowded, especially during winter.  There aren’t a lot of wild animals on land, so when I see some, it’s exicting.  For anyone who’s not from Florida, it’s pretty strange to walk outside and find yourself staring into the beady eyes of a giant neon green lizard.  Where I’m from, the biggest lizards or salamandars are maybe a foot long and dark colored, and they scurry away when you get near. 

So it’s not indigenous.  Iit’s still wildlife!

This iguana is eating lettuce, and he’s accompanied by a larger one, who lurks in the background of these photos.  These shots were captured with a Canon S3 IS, which has a great 12x optical zoom feature.

 

This guy blows bubbles with a net draped between two large sticks.  He also makes bubbles with a long cord tied to two long sticks.  Really big, beautiful  bubbles!  His dog circles the crowd wearing short shorts and collects dollar bills.