Crystal River Florida
03-31-2006, 10:59 AM
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Crystal River Florida
How is the boating out of Crystal River Forida? Just bought a little under two acres of land thats a couple minutes from the Gulf.
Anyone on the board boat near there? Looking to make some new friends.
Bryan
Anyone on the board boat near there? Looking to make some new friends.
Bryan
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03-31-2006, 02:17 PM
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Re: Crystal River Florida
My parents have been there for the last 4 years. . .Homosassa. I've been out on the gulf several times with dad via the river. I think it is a great place.
Racer
03-31-2006, 06:06 PM
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Re: Crystal River Florida
Very shallow water area so get a chart and study it and also be sure you have a good chart plotter on board, watch out for the Manatee and Pontoon boats. It is a great place to live in Florida and has that old time Florida charmif you like quieter settings.
04-01-2006, 04:06 AM
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Re: Crystal River Florida
It's ok, not great. Mostly fishing and siteseeing. I pulled my boat out of the marina and trailer a little south usually. You will want a boat that can run shallow if you will be spending much time around here.
The run south to Hernando Beach or Hooters in Pt Richey isn't bad.
I grew up here so if you have any questions feel free to pm or email me. I could show you around some time.
The run south to Hernando Beach or Hooters in Pt Richey isn't bad.
I grew up here so if you have any questions feel free to pm or email me. I could show you around some time.
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04-01-2006, 10:23 PM
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Re: Crystal River Florida
I would have to agree with that. This may give you an idea of what we are dealing wih here. Notice, she keeps referring to the bay as "our bay". Those people feel because they bought property on the bay, they own the bay. Anything below the "hi water mark" is sovereign land. Nobody owns it. She could own all the land around it and still not own the bay.
She reffers to the outsiders as those being from anywhere other than the waterfront property owners. My family has been here since the 1800's. If they felt like most of these people, then most of these people wouldn't be here.
A call to arms in Crystal River
Editor’s note: This is an address longtime Crystal River and Kings Bay resident Vangie Rich submitted to the Crystal River City Council regarding the state of Kings Bay.
By Vangie C. Rich
I sat in the town meeting/workshop last Friday afternoon listening to the various committee reports and basic visioning reports for the city of Crystal River. Don Cox gave a rather lengthy detailed technical report concerning the possible causes of the water problems in Kings Bay.
His findings are quite valid, but did not offer an immediate solution to the continuing deterioration of the bay. There have been many studies and many reports in recent years but, sadly, no visible action to stop or reverse the accelerating demise of the once pristine blue springs and bay that form Crystal River.
I would love to see Crystal River become a friendly, walkable community with little shops, apartments and townhouses, slowed traffic, and all the amenities that Dan Burden introduced us to several months ago. However, I was under the impression that the workshop was intended to discuss our problems with Kings Bay and what we should do about getting it under control.
In the letter I received from (City Manager Phil) Deaton, he asked several questions pertaining to the future of Kings Bay specifically.
1. Starting with a bare piece of land, what would you like to see?
I would hope to preserve as much of the natural surroundings as possible. Trees, plants, water quality.
2. What would you like to preserve?
It’s too late for that. We still have many trees in our yard but fewer birds and butterflies.
Our water is totally changed. We have no fish bedding around our dock, no grasses, no wading birds (egrets, marsh hens, coots, mallards), no otter coming into our yard to play, few owls and hawks, even our pet black snake has disappeared.
3. What would you like to see that is not here?
All of the above plus the beautiful clear blue water and white sand bottom that we used to have.
I’d like to see more small sailboats (like Sunfish, which are one- and two-person flat bottom boats), kayaks and canoes, paddle boats, and people using their larger boats to slowly cruise the bay enjoying the beautiful surroundings and appreciating our springs, the wildlife including the manatees, and the fact that we are fortunate enough to live in such a beautiful and special place.
Of course, in order for this to become reality, we will have to have year-around slow and idle speed on the entire bay.
4. What is here that you would like to see go away?
Lyngbya, muck, turbidity, stormwater runoff, lawns dumping fertilizer and pesticides and mowed grass into the bay, careless people allowing cans, bottles, plastic bags and other trash to “fall” into the water, speeding boats and PWCs (personal watercrafts such as Jet Skis).
In addition, the boats that are anchored in the bay (free mooring) by owners who visit from time to time, that also break away during high winds and drift dangerously close to docks and seawalls, and occasionally, sink.
This past weekend, we counted 13 boats moored on the north end off Buzzard Island and there are presently three boats sunk and unmovable in various areas of the bay, that I know of .
5. What do you think the community should do to enhance this focal point and asset for Crystal River?
Calm the traffic on all roadways, and especially on the water, at least to the point of Casa Rio, keeping the entire bay slow/idle speed forever.
People will just have to sacrifice the thrill of speed, waterskiing, Waverunners or tube dragging, racing, spraying, jetting, whatever else they think is fun, for the sake of rescuing the bay and trying to restore it to a more positive condition.
Besides the fuel emissions into the water from all motorized craft, the turbulence created by dozens of boats and PWCs all going at wide open speeds, criss-crossing wakes, doughnutting, is causing untold damage to the bay bottom and therefore, to the many large and small springs scattered around the bay.
I have witnessed the turbulence when it was so severe that it actually knocked fish off their beds around our dock. No wonder they aren’t there anymore. And, as I said before, there is no eel grass or any other sign of vegetation to attract fish.
We have lost a great deal of sand from the front of our seawall due to summer boat turbulence. And the turbulence keeps the three-foot depth of muck so stirred up it looks like sewage instead of pure spring water. It is not a nice place for humans to swim, much less aquatic wildlife.
I would like to see the city arrange to buy Pete’s Pier, make improvements, and maintain it as a marina/park with an education center that would be accessible by boat as well as by car, bike path, or sidewalk. Anything more than that would create too much of a heavy traffic impact on an already sensitive area.
We must retain our valuable marina but we must also do everything to protect its surrounding environment. We cannot allow stormwater runoff from the parking areas necessitated by such a project. Look at the problems of contamination occurring on the Pete’s Pier site as it is now. Think what a major development would do. We must turn it into a positive for the city.
There has to be a first step and in my opinion that first move in a positive direction is to curb the impact on the bay by implementing slow speed on the bay year around, with idle speed in manatee areas during high manatee population season as we now have it.
The city has the power to file a recommendation/request for speed regulations with the county commission. Most of them have already indicated their approval and agreement to do this. This is a no-brainer, it won’t cost us anything, and it will be helping the ecology of the bay.
The second step is a major education campaign to wake the public up to the fact that Kings Bay is Crystal River. It is our only bay, we’re using it to extinction, and when it is completely destroyed we can’t get it back again.
It will be gone forever, destroyed by those who chose to use it and abuse it to death, all in the name of fun. We have reached our stopping point, it is now or never. Then we have to get everyone busy fixing what we can fix immediately and prioritizing what we have to do next as far as cleanup and restoration.
They must realize that if we do not begin today by taking that first step the bay will continue to go downhill and one day in the not-too-distant future our bay and river will once again become a swamp fed by a slow trickle of putrid spring water. That may sound a little extreme but at the rate we have seen the bay and river change in the past 20 years, it is a realistic and depressing outlook.
There will be protesters but those people do not have the best interest of Kings Bay as their major concern. They want a place to play on weekends and then they go home to Lecanto or Inverness, or Ocala, Gainesville or Leesburg, and forget about Kings Bay until the next time they want to rip around and whoop it up all weekend.
They are using our bay freely and abusing our bay shamefully. They bring their own beer and sandwiches from home and leave their trash in the water and up and down our roadways. Their rude folly is a frustration and a danger to those of us who would protect and nurture our bay and surrounding environment.
In the summertime we have observed people shamelessly urinating off the backs of boats from our patio when the gas fumes weren’t so strong that we couldn’t stay out in our own yard. We have also rescued innocent people from sinking jonboats and canoes who have been swamped by speeding boats and Jet Skis and observed families on pontoon boats being sprayed by those inconsiderate revelers.
The protesters do not deserve any consideration when the protection of our bay is at stake.
There is so much more I could say but I think you have an idea what my feelings are, and those of many with whom we have spoken.
As for the city, I would like to see restorations done on some of the older houses that now sit empty, to spruce up some of the older neighborhoods and make them inviting places to live for young families.
I would like to encourage developers to build patio homes and townhouses, perhaps even residences over shops as demonstrated in Dan Burden’s Charrette of downtown redevelopment. We have boating, fishing, swimming areas, golf courses, tennis courts and other sports venues, and an airport all within , or in proximity to, the city.
We need more cultural activities, namely, a cultural arts center. Curtis and I have laid the ground work for such a facility, in securing a 501.c.3 under the name of Nature Coast Cultural Alliance, and we have even planned a major fundraiser and registered the theme name for it, “Manatee Magic.” We are currently seeking 8 to 10 acres for the facility.
We must beautify our city by enforcing mandatory cleanup of junk in residential yards and around businesses. This will also help to clean up stormwater runoff before it finds its way into the bay. Home improvement is never ending, as is city improvement.
We must begin immediately and not lose another day talking about what we “should” do to save our bay and our city.
She reffers to the outsiders as those being from anywhere other than the waterfront property owners. My family has been here since the 1800's. If they felt like most of these people, then most of these people wouldn't be here.
A call to arms in Crystal River
Editor’s note: This is an address longtime Crystal River and Kings Bay resident Vangie Rich submitted to the Crystal River City Council regarding the state of Kings Bay.
By Vangie C. Rich
I sat in the town meeting/workshop last Friday afternoon listening to the various committee reports and basic visioning reports for the city of Crystal River. Don Cox gave a rather lengthy detailed technical report concerning the possible causes of the water problems in Kings Bay.
His findings are quite valid, but did not offer an immediate solution to the continuing deterioration of the bay. There have been many studies and many reports in recent years but, sadly, no visible action to stop or reverse the accelerating demise of the once pristine blue springs and bay that form Crystal River.
I would love to see Crystal River become a friendly, walkable community with little shops, apartments and townhouses, slowed traffic, and all the amenities that Dan Burden introduced us to several months ago. However, I was under the impression that the workshop was intended to discuss our problems with Kings Bay and what we should do about getting it under control.
In the letter I received from (City Manager Phil) Deaton, he asked several questions pertaining to the future of Kings Bay specifically.
1. Starting with a bare piece of land, what would you like to see?
I would hope to preserve as much of the natural surroundings as possible. Trees, plants, water quality.
2. What would you like to preserve?
It’s too late for that. We still have many trees in our yard but fewer birds and butterflies.
Our water is totally changed. We have no fish bedding around our dock, no grasses, no wading birds (egrets, marsh hens, coots, mallards), no otter coming into our yard to play, few owls and hawks, even our pet black snake has disappeared.
3. What would you like to see that is not here?
All of the above plus the beautiful clear blue water and white sand bottom that we used to have.
I’d like to see more small sailboats (like Sunfish, which are one- and two-person flat bottom boats), kayaks and canoes, paddle boats, and people using their larger boats to slowly cruise the bay enjoying the beautiful surroundings and appreciating our springs, the wildlife including the manatees, and the fact that we are fortunate enough to live in such a beautiful and special place.
Of course, in order for this to become reality, we will have to have year-around slow and idle speed on the entire bay.
4. What is here that you would like to see go away?
Lyngbya, muck, turbidity, stormwater runoff, lawns dumping fertilizer and pesticides and mowed grass into the bay, careless people allowing cans, bottles, plastic bags and other trash to “fall” into the water, speeding boats and PWCs (personal watercrafts such as Jet Skis).
In addition, the boats that are anchored in the bay (free mooring) by owners who visit from time to time, that also break away during high winds and drift dangerously close to docks and seawalls, and occasionally, sink.
This past weekend, we counted 13 boats moored on the north end off Buzzard Island and there are presently three boats sunk and unmovable in various areas of the bay, that I know of .
5. What do you think the community should do to enhance this focal point and asset for Crystal River?
Calm the traffic on all roadways, and especially on the water, at least to the point of Casa Rio, keeping the entire bay slow/idle speed forever.
People will just have to sacrifice the thrill of speed, waterskiing, Waverunners or tube dragging, racing, spraying, jetting, whatever else they think is fun, for the sake of rescuing the bay and trying to restore it to a more positive condition.
Besides the fuel emissions into the water from all motorized craft, the turbulence created by dozens of boats and PWCs all going at wide open speeds, criss-crossing wakes, doughnutting, is causing untold damage to the bay bottom and therefore, to the many large and small springs scattered around the bay.
I have witnessed the turbulence when it was so severe that it actually knocked fish off their beds around our dock. No wonder they aren’t there anymore. And, as I said before, there is no eel grass or any other sign of vegetation to attract fish.
We have lost a great deal of sand from the front of our seawall due to summer boat turbulence. And the turbulence keeps the three-foot depth of muck so stirred up it looks like sewage instead of pure spring water. It is not a nice place for humans to swim, much less aquatic wildlife.
I would like to see the city arrange to buy Pete’s Pier, make improvements, and maintain it as a marina/park with an education center that would be accessible by boat as well as by car, bike path, or sidewalk. Anything more than that would create too much of a heavy traffic impact on an already sensitive area.
We must retain our valuable marina but we must also do everything to protect its surrounding environment. We cannot allow stormwater runoff from the parking areas necessitated by such a project. Look at the problems of contamination occurring on the Pete’s Pier site as it is now. Think what a major development would do. We must turn it into a positive for the city.
There has to be a first step and in my opinion that first move in a positive direction is to curb the impact on the bay by implementing slow speed on the bay year around, with idle speed in manatee areas during high manatee population season as we now have it.
The city has the power to file a recommendation/request for speed regulations with the county commission. Most of them have already indicated their approval and agreement to do this. This is a no-brainer, it won’t cost us anything, and it will be helping the ecology of the bay.
The second step is a major education campaign to wake the public up to the fact that Kings Bay is Crystal River. It is our only bay, we’re using it to extinction, and when it is completely destroyed we can’t get it back again.
It will be gone forever, destroyed by those who chose to use it and abuse it to death, all in the name of fun. We have reached our stopping point, it is now or never. Then we have to get everyone busy fixing what we can fix immediately and prioritizing what we have to do next as far as cleanup and restoration.
They must realize that if we do not begin today by taking that first step the bay will continue to go downhill and one day in the not-too-distant future our bay and river will once again become a swamp fed by a slow trickle of putrid spring water. That may sound a little extreme but at the rate we have seen the bay and river change in the past 20 years, it is a realistic and depressing outlook.
There will be protesters but those people do not have the best interest of Kings Bay as their major concern. They want a place to play on weekends and then they go home to Lecanto or Inverness, or Ocala, Gainesville or Leesburg, and forget about Kings Bay until the next time they want to rip around and whoop it up all weekend.
They are using our bay freely and abusing our bay shamefully. They bring their own beer and sandwiches from home and leave their trash in the water and up and down our roadways. Their rude folly is a frustration and a danger to those of us who would protect and nurture our bay and surrounding environment.
In the summertime we have observed people shamelessly urinating off the backs of boats from our patio when the gas fumes weren’t so strong that we couldn’t stay out in our own yard. We have also rescued innocent people from sinking jonboats and canoes who have been swamped by speeding boats and Jet Skis and observed families on pontoon boats being sprayed by those inconsiderate revelers.
The protesters do not deserve any consideration when the protection of our bay is at stake.
There is so much more I could say but I think you have an idea what my feelings are, and those of many with whom we have spoken.
As for the city, I would like to see restorations done on some of the older houses that now sit empty, to spruce up some of the older neighborhoods and make them inviting places to live for young families.
I would like to encourage developers to build patio homes and townhouses, perhaps even residences over shops as demonstrated in Dan Burden’s Charrette of downtown redevelopment. We have boating, fishing, swimming areas, golf courses, tennis courts and other sports venues, and an airport all within , or in proximity to, the city.
We need more cultural activities, namely, a cultural arts center. Curtis and I have laid the ground work for such a facility, in securing a 501.c.3 under the name of Nature Coast Cultural Alliance, and we have even planned a major fundraiser and registered the theme name for it, “Manatee Magic.” We are currently seeking 8 to 10 acres for the facility.
We must beautify our city by enforcing mandatory cleanup of junk in residential yards and around businesses. This will also help to clean up stormwater runoff before it finds its way into the bay. Home improvement is never ending, as is city improvement.
We must begin immediately and not lose another day talking about what we “should” do to save our bay and our city.
