Vol. 3, No. 6

April 2007

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Photos by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau

Panasonic Rio Roses emerges from beneath the Seven Mile Bridge during a practice run in 2006.

By Bob Serata
Florida Keys News Bureau

Some people feel an adrenaline rush crossing over the Florida Keys' Seven Mile Bridge at 50 miles per hour. Imagine going under two concrete bridges at about 100 miles per hour.

That's the challenge facing offshore powerboat racers at the 2007 Marathon Offshore Grand Prix, slated for Friday through Sunday, May 18-20. The race's unique course encompasses the Old Seven Mile Bridge, once part of a historic railway stretching from mainland Florida to Key West, and the contemporary Seven Mile Bridge that is the centerpiece of the famed Overseas Highway spanning the Keys.

Lucas Oil won the Super Vee class at the 2006 race.

The thrill of watching these high-speed watercraft is heightened with each pass under the bridges.

The Superboat Unlimited, Superboat Vee Unlimited, Superboat, Super Vee and Super Cat classes are to run 14.5 laps, or about 97 miles. Smaller boat classes are to run fewer laps and less overall mileage.

Race fans can see boats and meet race teams Friday and Saturday when the dry pits open to the public at a location yet to be determined. Fans also can watch boats perform high-speed practice runs Saturday.

Racing is scheduled for Sunday, with the first race set to start at 11 a.m. and the second at 1 p.m.

Spectators can view the event free from Sunset Park at mile marker 47 on the east end of the Seven Mile Bridge.

The race is sanctioned by Super Boat International Productions and the American Power Boat Association. For more information, call the Marathon Chamber of Commerce at 1-800-262-7284 or Super Boat International at (305) 296-6166.

Photo by Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau

Visitors enjoy a photograph amid "New Friends" sculptures.

'New Friends' Spotted
at Southernmost Point

Visitors to Key West's Southernmost Point marker, one of America's most photographed landmarks, can now meet "New Friends" at the iconic monument that marks the southernmost spot in the continental United States.

"New Friends" is a multicultural seven-figure grouping sculpted in bronze by acclaimed artist J. Seward Johnson.

The artwork depicts four adults and three children, dressed in the casual attire typically worn by Florida Keys visitors, grouped around the Southernmost Point as though posing for a photograph — as countless visitors do daily at the monument shaped like a marine navigation marker. Two figures have their arms extended for living visitors to nestle into.

"New Friends" is on loan to the city from Johnson. The sculptures are currently scheduled to remain at the Southernmost Point through early May, but may become a permanent fixture if approved by the Key West City Commission.

Johnson is renowned for his life-size cast bronzes of ordinary people engaged in day-to-day activities, seen in public settings throughout the world. His "Beyond the Frame, Impressionism Revisited," a series of large-scale three-dimensional bronze interpretations of 19th-century paintings, is on display at the Key West Museum of Art & History through June.

Photo by Andy Newman/FKNB

Fort Jefferson is positioned in the Dry Tortugas National Park.

The new RNA is located in the northwest portion of Dry Tortugas National Park, a remote offshore preserve positioned approximately 70 miles west of Key West in the Gulf of Mexico. The park contains the Civil War–era Fort Jefferson, believed to be the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere.

"The RNA complements the adjacent Tortugas Ecological Reserve in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, creating the largest no-take marine reserve in the continental United States," said Dan Kimball, superintendent of Everglades and Dry Tortugas national parks.

While the RNA is a no-take zone, it will provide opportunities for snorkelers to view a pristine marine environment while protecting the region's important coral reef habitat. Boats can't anchor, but will eventually be able to utilize permanent mooring buoys.

The park is divided into a historic preservation zone where visitors can enjoy guided tours, diving, recreational fishing and other activities; a managed natural/cultural zone offering solitude and activities such as swimming, diving and recreational fishing; the protected Research Natural Area, where boaters can enjoy the environmental richness while preserving marine resources; and special protection zones for areas requiring protection from human impact.

Dry Tortugas National Park can be accessed via ferry or seaplane from Key West, or by private vessel.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/drto.

Rock, jazz, country and the fusion that creates "Keys music" are to be featured when local bands mount the stage at TIB Amphitheater in Founders Park, mile marker 87 bayside in Islamorada, for the 12th annual Bay Jam. The rollicking festival is scheduled for Sunday, April 15.

Music fans and sun worshippers can expect a day of continuous music, delicious island food and cold refreshments.

Bay Jam is to be produced by Islamorada Community Entertainment.

For more information, call (305) 240-2775.

For more travel information on the Florida Keys:
www.fla-keys.com