S.Fla Seacraft Owners Fishing Tournament

[TUGBOAT]

CO$T

Pirates

The Spanish treasure fleets carried a steady stream of riches back to Spain. It was not long before British, French and Dutch pirate ships began to prowl the area off the coast of Florida to rob the fleet. This began an era of violence sparked by greed. The Spanish took the riches from the Americas in exchange for disease and death, and the rest of the world took from the Spanish. Much of this took place in the vicinity of the park.



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Wreckers

Once the pirates were finally driven out a new business emerged, people known as wreckers began to salvage the goods from the wrecked ships. The curved channel through the Florida Straits with the shallow reefs on one side and the rocky shores of Cuba on the other, brought business to the wreckers several times a year.

The Indians were good swimmers and were the first to take advantage of the wrecked Spanish ships. After the English took over the area and pirating ceased, traffic increased and a great number of ships sank on the reefs. Wrecking became big business in the 1800s with salvage ports all along the Florida Keys. Wreckers were given a license to operate and the first ones to arrive on the site were in control. Others who arrived late were hired by the wrecking master. Many of the first residents of Elliott Key were in the wrecking business.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the U.S. government installed lights and navigations aids along the outside of the reefs so wrecking was no longer profitable. However, even today many ships and boats run aground on these reefs

Maybe the chest of one of the Wrecks !!!! argh!
The spot is on a supply wreck but the they had spending $$ to!I swam/dove under one of the wrecks only to come face to face with a 80' Green Moray! Way back I tangled with a moccason underwater He won so I try not to mess with toothy critters at Home! , So I left HIS Home! Backwards! See I can /will run! Huge Lobster & grouper there too!

Good photo's ! (Link)

]The Park Fee's Link
Ya know I may be building this Up a Bit. Too bad I won't be around here After All these Years !

[TUGBOAT]

Of course I'm in ! Let Me know When / How Many etc. I'll be outta here 4/19 fo'sho & No time from here till then ! Man0Man I'll miss this.Really p's ! Oh well , Maybe one will happen up at Ski Island ! Heck can't even make the Flea/Chucks ~~ doodaa!
Scream'n reels'
Tug
Of Course I'll sponsor in the Bags juz' won't be able to participate!I was coming up with a "place" goodie bag too!

[NOAHSARK]

thats awesome Capt, good old sea dogs like yourself will be missed down here in S.Fla, there aint to many around anymore, they all seem to be moving up to the mountains. You should try and make it, leave the boat back home to avoid the haul and jump on one of ours I am sure we will leave you with one great last memory of this place!

[resurrection812]

This sounds like a good idea! I have not been to that area of the state. Is the camping first come or reservations? I would be coming from south of tampa so I would be in for 2 or 3 days.
Thanks for the work so far on planning!

[NOAHSARK]

resurrection we would love to have you, if your looking for clear waters and blue skies come on down brother you'll find them here. Check out this link it should help you on planning your trip
http://www.biscayne.national-park.com/camping.htm

After giving it some thought this is what I am thinking, feedback please!!

Alright fellas in the spirit of keeping it real & simple the tournament date would be June 10th, the entry fee per boat would be $50.00, & the breakdown is as follows.

$35.00 per boat will go into the prize money.

$10.00 per boat will go into covering the cost for the after party BBQ (Anglers Only or family?)if family we need to re-visit it then.

$5.00 per boat will be used to donate to our awesome web-site, after all its because of it that we even have the opurtunity to do this

I was thinking that for the BBQ we would again keeping it simple p/u burgers, dogs, chips, soda, & water. I know its not much but this is the one part that can get expensive really fast. If for some miraculous reason there is money left over that is designated for the BBQ it will be put into the prize money pot.

One last thing, it would be if we had a couple of guys step and help out with being in charge of coordinating the food for the BBQ. Let me know what you think!

[resurrection812]

Tourney breakdown?
Snapper/grouper and dolphin/tuna or mixed bag? (Thinking and dreaming of fishing already)
I think your cost break down sounds great for a fun tourney! My wife has always wanted to fish one and this is a perfect chance.

[TUGBOAT]

June , Dolpin,TripleTail,Yellowtail,Grouper,Snapper,Marli n, well down here bout anything year round. Some speciesn juz' don't want to leave!Tuna ? Could be some Blacks runn'n!
Tug WaHooooooo!

[nestorpr]

The date sounds good, I'll be returning from the Dominican Republic that Friday. If I can be of any help I can do it the week before, from the 30th to the 2nd of June. The price is also very reasonable so I'm in and I hope my boat will be too! I can check on food prices at the base BX in Homestead or at BJ's if you want me to.

[Captcook]

Good idea When would it be? Iagree should be 1/2 way long ride from Daytona and 7am i'm old and my startup pills don't kick in till 8:30, just move from Keys nothing started before 8am I,m still on keys time

[FELLOW-SHIP]

Well I guess I will have to pass on this one due to a conflict with dates. I will be in the Middle Keys the week before and driving back to Fort Lauderdale on the 10th. Looks like you guys will have to wave at me while I am driving home that day. Sorry.




FellowShip
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Just for the Grins