Vol. 2, No. 12

October 2006

---

Photos by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

Competitors in the 2005 Key West World Championship speed by the Pier House and other resorts bordering the Key West harborfront.

World Title Powerboat Races, Wakeboard Championship Set for November in Keys

By Bob Serata and Andy Newman
Florida Keys News Bureau

FLORIDA KEYS — Two on-the-water championship competitions are set to return to the Florida Keys in November.

The Tige Pro-Am Wakeboard Championship returns to Marathon for the second straight year Nov. 3-5. The three-day competition is to be held in the waters off Sombrero Beach, mile marker 50 oceanside, where there is to be free admission for spectators.

The event, sponsored by Tige Boats, is to be the final event in the 2006 Pro Wakeboard Tour's chase for the King of Wake title and prize money.

Scheduled for Friday, Nov. 3, are head-to-head elimination rounds in the junior men's quarterfinals, pro wakeskate quarterfinals and pro men's quarterfinals. The next day is slated for semifinal eliminations in junior men's, boys', amateur women's, amateur wakeskate and open men's divisions. Round one of the pro women's division and pro men's skins competition also are slated for Saturday. Second rounds and finals are set for Sunday.

Erik Ruck of Orlando demonstrates a maneuver at last year's Tige Pro-Am Wakeboard Championship.

Many of the world's top professional wakeboarders are set to compete, including last year's Pro-Am winner Rusty Malinoski of Humboldt, Canada; Tino Santori of Littleton, Colo., winner of the 2006 World Wakeboard Association National Championship; and Danny Harf of Visalia, Calif., winner of the 2006 PWT season title.

After winning wakeboarders receive their awards, sports' focus shifts down the Overseas Highway 50 miles to the Key West World Championship offshore powerboat races.

Sponsored by Fountain Powerboats, the week-long event kicks off Sunday, Nov. 5, with a late afternoon parade of boats down Duval Street, Key West's main thoroughfare.

Racing is set for three separate days on a course incorporating Key West Harbor and surrounding waters: Wednesday, Nov. 8, Friday, Nov. 10 and Sunday, Nov. 12. The action is slated to begin at 10 a.m. each race day.

Viewing opportunities include general admission and VIP packages at Truman Annex, the event's headquarters and dry pits; as well as several hotels that line the Key West Harbor waterfront.

Key West is recognized by many offshore powerboat racing aficionados as the sport's top venue, because of the course's ability to combine rough and calm water conditions. In the harbor, raceboats speed by just a few hundred feet from spectators — some at speeds in excess of 135 mph.

In between races, social events abound. Purchase of a VIP package allows race fans admission to all social events.

For more Key West World Championship details, including daily general admission and parking costs, visit www.superboat.com. For more information on the Tige wakeboard event, go to www.kingofwake.com.

Photo by Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau

A visitor examines an interactive display at the Eco-Discovery Center's Bank Reefs exhibit.

Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center to Spotlight Diverse Keys Environments

By Carol Shaughnessy
Florida Keys News Bureau

KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Visitors can experience the Florida Keys' underwater ecosystem without getting wet at the soon-to-be-completed Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center, located on the Key West waterfront at Truman Annex. Incorporating 6,400 square feet of interactive exhibits, the center is scheduled to be open on a "preview" basis, Tuesdays through Saturdays beginning in late October. A grand opening, launching expanded hours and days, is planned for January 2007.

The center is to showcase the underwater and upland habitats that characterize the Keys, with an emphasis on North America's only living contiguous barrier coral reef, which parallels the island chain. Through interactive and touch-screen modules, text and audio/video components, visitors can explore the region's hardwood hammock, mangrove, patch reef, seagrass, deep shelf and Dry Tortugas environments.

Photo courtesy of Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Randall Bennett and Jesse Hewitt of Split Rock Studios get set to hang a reproduction of a loggerhead turtle at the Eco-Discovery Center.

Highlights include a walk-through version of the Aquarius Undersea Lab, the world's only operational underwater laboratory, now located off Key Largo. Those who venture inside Aquarius can hear actual recordings from the lab, take interactive video tours of the Keys' undersea world and view indigenous fish and sea creatures through the lab's "portholes."

The creation of the Florida Keys Eco-Discovery Center is a cooperative effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the South Florida Water Management District. A construction grant was provided by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council.

More details are available by calling (305) 809-4750.

Photo by Rob O'Neal/ Florida Keys News Bureau Mile Marker 0, in Key West, not only marks the end of the Overseas Highway, but also the southernmost point of U.S. Highway 1.

FLORIDA KEYS — Mile markers are commonly used navigational references in the Keys. They can be seen each mile along the Florida Keys Overseas Highway (U.S. 1) on the shoulders or median of the road. They are small green signs with white numbers, beginning at 126 near Florida City and ending with 0 at the corner of Fleming and Whitehead streets in Key West.

Oceanside and bayside are further reference points to help navigate around the Keys. Oceanside refers to locations on the Atlantic Ocean side of the Overseas Highway. Bayside or gulfside refers to the side of the road next to Florida Bay or the Gulf of Mexico.

Residents and business owners, including hotels and restaurants, will refer to their location being at a certain mile marker, oceanside, bayside or gulfside.