great news bill
now maybe we can get a ride with jack rice at slims fish camp
stay tuned for inauguration day
back on the case
m
>From: "Bill Hanrahan" <hanrahan@...>
>Reply-To: <hanrahan@...>
>To: "Mike Donner" <m@...>
>Subject: Lake Okeechobee So Low a 92-Foot Yacht Ran Aground
>Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 20:10:23 -0500
>
>Hey Mike...this could be us! (We can only hope they ran aground at the
>quintipoint!
>
>Bill
>
>
>Jan 16, 2001 - 04:04 PM
>
>
>Lake Okeechobee So Low a 92-Foot Yacht Ran Aground
>The Associated Press
>
>
>
>BELLE GLADE, Fla. (AP) - The captain of a 92-foot yacht said he ran aground
>in a Lake Okeechobee channel while motoring across the state from Sanibel
>Island to the Atlantic Ocean. And fishermen are complaining the lake level
>is so low it's hurting business.
>Marguerite captain Joe Parrow said he called the U.S. Army Corps of
>Engineers before beginning a journey across the lake just before the new
>year to make sure the water level was high enough to accommodate the boat,
>but he hit bottom, causing $15,000 in damage.
>
>"We thought we'd be OK," Parrow said.
>
>Fishermen are upset about the low water levels too. Last year, fishermen
>and
>environmentalists complained the lake level was too high and the excess
>water was killing off indigenous grasses where fish spawn.
>
>The South Florida Water Management District gradually lowered the lake last
>spring from almost 15 feet to 13 feet in anticipation of hurricane season,
>but it was a dryer than expected summer.
>
>The lake level now is below 11 feet and water managers are predicting the
>lake could drop to 9.6 feet by May, which would be the lowest level since
>1981.
>
>Ken Ammon, director of water supply for the water management district,
>attributes the drop in the water to a dry season in the Kissimmee Valley
>last year. But in the long run, the drought may help the fishing industry,
>Ammon said.
>
>Because of lower lake levels, aquatic vegetation is increasing daily,
>giving
>young fish more habitat, Ammon said.
>
>In the meantime, the lake level is hurting business for residents like
>Sally
>Lincoln, who owns Indiantown Marina, and fisherman Jack Rice.
>
>Rice said he made $270 a day last January, but this month he sits in a
>deserted parking lot at Slim's Fish Camp on Torrey Island hoping someone
>shows up. He said boaters are running aground in the lake's canals.
>
>Lincoln said her overnight business is down 90 percent. The marina
>generally
>houses 10 to 15 boats a night, but that number has dropped dramatically and
>so have fuel sales, she said.
>
>"We're probably losing $300 a day," Lincoln said.
>
>At Pier II Resort in Okeechobee, the largest motel directly on the lake,
>manager Jeanne Goodyear said the motel is sitting on a bank of mud.
>
>"Even the airboats are getting stuck out there," she said. "It's killing
>us."
>
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