[surfxtc]

Which Surf Spot Has The Ability to Put out The Most Epic Surf?

[Waterman]

I wanna hit trespass on a huricane swell, Katrina looked amazing.

Then again I wish Boca would be back

[surfer311]

next hurricane swell i'm off ot miami beach. those pics i see look sic!

[Sprocket]

Surfed MIA beach for both Jeanne and Frances in 2004. Frances was THE HEAVIEST I HAVE ERVER SEEN FLORIDA. NOt the biggest or the best but waaaaaaaaaaay heavy. 40mph offshores made for super thich lips and death defying drops. Got held in the lip more than once and slam dunked......just crazy stuff. Outer reefs I never saw b4 and triple overhead shorebreak at south beach later in the day.....

[Sprocket]

For years, there have been rumblings about extending the jetties in Palm Beach Inlet. That could wreck reef rd. As you know, you have to get involved early. Also, inside the inlet, there's a ton of seagrass.


Storm delays, fuel costs push ships from Port of Palm Beach

By Pat Beall, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Friday, June 16, 2006



RIVIERA BEACH - Torpedoed by hurricane-related delays and drowning in fuel costs, Cloud X has called it quits.



The ferry with the eye-catching catamaran hull and $119 day cruises to Grand Bahama stopped sailing June 1.



Weeks earlier, the Big Easy, the giant purple day-cruise sister ship to the Palm Beach Princess, also pulled anchor and left the Port of Palm Beach.



The back-to-back departures will cost the port thousands of dollars in lost revenues, and probably renew interest in widening the channel leading from the port to the Atlantic Ocean.



"We have just begun talking about a study with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deepen and widen our channel," said Lori Baer, executive director of the port, which pitches itself as the fourth-busiest container port in Florida.



Neither Cloud X or the Big Easy ceased operations because of navigation problems involving the port, but "one of the reasons the cruise lines are not beating down our door is that we have some limitations on the size of the vessel that we can get in our channel," Baer said.



The channel can handle vessels up to 670 to 700 feet long.



"The vast majority of ships in the cruise fleet are 1,000 feet or longer," Baer said. As a result, there are only about 30 in the world that can dock at the port. "It's a pretty small universe out there."



The 367-passenger Cloud X seemed to be a good fit, though it launched its ferry service to the Bahamas last summer, just as 2005's unusually active hurricane season dampened tourist interest.



By December, the passenger count started climbing, on-board gaming contributed some extra revenue, and the ship began sailing an extra day in February.



That still was not enough to offset fuel costs that rose from $1 a gallon in August 2005 to the current $2.40 a gallon for diesel. Now the one-boat, one-business operation is up for sale.



"We do have some potential buyers for the boat and the company, and we do want to continue the service, but unfortunately, we will be vacating the offices at the end of the week," said Antoine Gurrey, general manager of Riviera Beach-based Party Line Cruise Co., which operates Cloud X. The ferry is the company's sole business line.



The Big Easy, the day-cruise sister ship to the Palm Beach Princess, stopped operations Feb. 1 and pulled anchor in March after a series of delays.



Palm Beach Casino Line, owners of the Big Easy and the Princess, declined to comment about the Big Easy.



The Coast Guard had cleared the Big Easy for sailing in mid-October 2005, just before Hurricane Wilma blew in. Getting cruise workers cleared by the Coast Guard posed another hurricane-related delay after Hurricane Katrina had leveled the Coast Guard station in New Orleans. Mechanical problems and rough seas completed the bad news.



The bottom line for the port: "A significant hit," Baer said. For instance, the port had estimated it would collect revenues of $550,000 a year from the Big Easy.



When the Big Easy's delay-related financial problems caused it to stop sailing after 2 1/2 months, it had generated just $96,000 for the port.



"It would not be my preference to look at a second day-cruise line" to replace the ships, Baer said.



Any replacement depends in part on what can squeeze through the port's channel.



At its narrowest, the Port of Palm Beach channel is 300 feet wide, which ships' pilots christened a "dogleg."



"If you have a ship 100 feet wide, and if it gets too much to one side, then you're down to just 50 to 75 feet" of clearance, said Capt. Greg Turner, a maritime pilot. "That's our toughest point."



Nothing will happen soon. Assuming corps involvement, any study would take three years, Baer said.



"It literally takes an act of Congress to change your channel," she said, "so all in all, it's probably a six- to eight-year process."

[Sprocket]

If they widen the port both Pumphouse and Reef Road will be affected

[Waterman]

I havnt even had the pleasure of surfing reefroad but I still will help fight this crap. Are there any online potitions yet to stop any work?