Diana Nyad is one tough lady. And she’d better be, because swimming 103 miles from Cuba to Key West is one tough task — a task not many 61-year-olds would attempt.

At 61 years old, Diana Nyad is poised to attempt a 103-mile swim from Cuba to Key West. (Photos by Haig Jacobs, Florida Keys News Bureau)

Diana hopes to begin her marathon swim any day now, but it won’t be the first time she’s challenged herself to attempt the feat. In 1978, when she was 32 years younger and a seasoned athlete, she didn’t make it.

Instead, battered and weak, she was hauled into a support boat by friends after spending more than 41 hours battling strong currents and punishing waves.

This time, she believes, will be different. And while having turned 60 might seem to be a disadvantage, for Diana Nyad it was just the inspiration she needed.

“Honestly, I have not been sitting around for all these 32 years thinking ‘my life is miserable without making it from Cuba to Florida’,” Diana said recently during a break in her final training in Key West. (Click here to view a You Tube video interview segment with Diana.)

Tough and savvy, Diana is motivated by the desire to shatter negative stereotypes about older people.

In fact, she’s a popular radio and television personality and author who lives in L.A. and looks far younger than her chronological age. Yet after celebrating her 60th birthday last year, she decided somebody needed to shatter the modern-day perception that older people are “past it.”

“I’m strong, I’m vital, I still feel relevant to my community, but you’re not made to feel that way at 60 in this society,” Diana said. “I want 60-year-olds to look at me and say, ‘You know that silly bumper sticker ‘60 is the new 40’? She’s proving it’.”

So she began training for the 103-mile swim — which, coincidentally, is estimated to take about 60 hours (yes, that’s an almost unbelievable two-and-a-half days).

As well as being physically and mentally challenging, the feat also involved logistical challenges that rivaled those of an Everest expedition. They included getting government permissions from both the U.S. and Cuba, and assembling a support team (it eventually grew to 37 people).

Diana's nonstop marathon swim is expected to take an incredible 60 hours.

Unlike her 1978 attempt, Diana won’t be swimming in a protective shark cage. This time, she’ll be accompanied by professional kayakers with electronic shark repelling devices — just in case.

In mid-July, with the details falling into place, Diana successfully completed a 24-hour swim in the Gulf Stream off Key West. And recently, she’s been staying in the island city, where the community has embraced her as she waits for the right weather conditions to begin the marathon.

“The people in town have been so generous to me,” Diana marveled. “The Southernmost Hotel has given me a free hotel room for as long as I’m here, the Key West Yacht Club is giving us a free boat slip for our boats … these generous donations from the good people here in the Keys have helped me enormously and I will be forever grateful.”

A seasoned athlete with tremendous physical and mental reserves, Diana believes she has a better chance for success now than she did during her first attempt 32 years ago.

She hopes to end the swim in Key West. But if currents sweep her closer to some other part of the Keys, that’s just fine too.

She’s got plenty of mental techniques to help pass the hours at sea, like counting her strokes in every language she knows and following the beat of metronomic songs. But ultimately, it will come down to her personal resilience and staying power … qualities Diana believes have only increased with age.

“I definitely am a little slower than I used to be but I think I have a better chance mentally, and in spirit and will, than I did before,” Diana said. “And after all, that’s what it’s all about out there — the will.”

May this tough, inspiring lady stay safe, stay focused, and emerge triumphant on the welcoming shores of the Keys.

Topics: Events, Highlights, Key West, On the Water, Profiles, Voices Main Archive

Key West has been nominated as the Sexiest Place on Earth! An esteemed panel of travel writers compiled their recommendations for the Trip Out Gay Travel Awards, and this little island earned an enviable nomination. Read about Key West here and vote.

With inhabitants like these "hot" Paris pretenders, its no wonder Key West was nominated the Sexiest Place on Earth.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, both for me and here on the island. Among other things, I traveled to Miami Beach and exhibited at the National LGBT Bar Association’s Lavender Law Conference. This was a huge event with practicing attorneys and recent graduates learning how to better serve the legal needs of our community. Several came to the Keys after the conference.

Then I zipped across the country for the 20th conference of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, joining several hundred members of the media from across North America. I learned about issues facing the LGBT print media, websites, blogging, and workplace rights. It humbles me to know that we live in such an accepting community; many gays do not have this level of comfort.

Speaking of comfort, Womenfest kicked off last night with a packed house at Big Ruby’s Guesthouse. Lenore Troia, renowned for entertaining LGBT and allied audiences with her American Caribbean sound, assembled a women’s five-member band. We indulged in three hours of fun jamming with these talented ladies while enjoying food samples from more than a dozen Key West restaurants. Women (and men) attended from across the U.S., the United Kingdom and Germany.

Sun, fun and a sizzling entertainment roster can only mean one thing: Womenfest in Key West!

This year’s Womenfest schedule is loaded with top entertainers including Emily Saliers of the Grammy-winning Indigo Girls, the rockers of Sister Funk, and singer/songwriter Christine Martucci. And do not miss the evening of comedy with Suzanne Westenhoefer at the historic San Carlos Institute.

Check the Womenfest website for a complete schedule. If you can’t be here this year, next year’s event will start the day after Labor Day. (The real treat is that the guys can attend most of the performances. We are truly One Human Family!)

This time of year, we try to take to the water for snorkeling and sunset sailing. The colors of the sea drift between lapis and emerald and the water is clear as gin. The Blu Q offers day trips for the guys while Venus Charters caters to the lesbian community with snorkeling, fishing, and dolphin watching. Sebago hosts a women-only sunset sail on Thursday afternoons and all-adventure days that include jet skiing and parasailing.

If you’re not into the water, stop by the gay-owned Fast Buck Freddie’s on Duval Street and lose yourself in their maze of great gifts, clothes, and toys.

Key West doesn't "clown around" when it comes to producing its flamboyant annual festival and its spectacular grand parade. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

We have now entered the jam-packed season leading to the crowning of the king and queen of the Fantasy Fest masking and costuming gala. The “royals” earn their crowns by raising needed money for AIDS Help, our community-based AIDS service organization, and there are events almost every day and evening. Recent years’ royal campaigns have raised as much as $400,000. Photos of the candidates and a list of events are available here.

There are still some rooms available for Fantasy Fest 2010, themed Habitat for Insanity. Check your calendar and treat yourself to a Key West escape during this outrageous weeklong party that starts October 22.

Can’t make it this year? Plan on attending next year’s event. The lavish Fantasy Fest parade is always held on the last Saturday of October, so calculate your timeframe from that.

Shortly I’ll be off to visit pride events in Saint Augustine, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., and Atlanta. Then I may take a much-needed vacation!

(Steve’s current American Airlines mileage ticker: 2,497,241 miles promoting Key West to the LGBT world. Divided by 450 miles per hour average, that means 5,549.4 hours in a can at 30,000 feet!)

Topics: Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West, LGBT, Local Color, On the Water, Voices Main Archive

Key Largo sometimes has a strange and wonderful effect on boats.

For example, at the recent “Anything That Floats” regatta, even boats that looked about as seaworthy as cottage cheese stayed afloat in the nurturing Key Largo waters while their intrepid crews completed the course.

These party animals paddled to victory in Key Largo's recent "Anything That Floats" race. (Photo by Bob Care/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Granted, several teams got “that sinking feeling” and anticipated saltwater baths when their craft began to crumble. But that’s hardly surprising — after all, the precarious vessels were cobbled together from materials like lawn furniture, pool noodles, PVC and duct tape.

No, the surprise was that they all somehow held together and made it to the finish line, with more than 700 spectators cheering so hard you’d think they were watching A-Rod hit his 600th homer.

Among the oddly sturdy entries was a vessel built from a converted kiddie pool and empty plastic gas cans. Its mast topped with a tipsy-looking “macaw” holding a margarita glass, the so-called boat actually won the half-mile regatta. This makes sense only when you realize that one of its competitors was composed primarily of a plastic shelving unit.

While these boats stayed afloat against all odds, the best-known vessel associated with Key Largo was intended to sink. In 2002 the Spiegel Grove, a 510-foot retired Navy ship, was poised to become the largest ship ever intentionally sunk to create an artificial reef for divers.

Shortly before its planned scuttling, the Spiegel Grove sank prematurely and rolled over. (Photo by Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau)

On May 17, 2002, at the site of its planned scuttling off Key Largo (and just hours before the event), the Spiegel Grove unexpectedly sank on its own and flipped over. Crowds of supporters reacted in stunned disbelief.

It wound up on its starboard side in 130 feet of water. And though the sinking went badly wrong, shortly afterward the ship began to attract marine life — large groupers, busy schools of smaller fish, vivid-hued tropicals and more.

For the next three years divers flocked to explore the vessel, not realizing that it (and Key Largo) still had a major surprise in store for them.

In 2005, after Hurricane Dennis skirted the Florida Keys, diver Bob Snyder headed for the ocean floor to check on the Spiegel Grove. What he found was so bizarre that he wondered if he might be suffering from nitrogen narcosis, a condition that makes divers feel giddy or intoxicated.

Shifted upright by nature, the Spiegel Grove (bow shown here) draws dive aficionados from all over the world.

No longer resting on its side, the Spiegel Grove was standing upright on the ocean floor.

Wave action from the passing storm had shifted the vessel into the picture-perfect position originally intended by the sink team. In the deep waters off Key Largo, nature had accomplished what man couldn’t — and today the Spiegel Grove is a “must-dive” site for underwater aficionados from all over the world.

So why does Key Largo have such an unusual effect on boats? Nobody seems to know, but it’s even drawn such venerable vessels as the riverboat from the classic 1951 film “The African Queen.” Navigated on screen by Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, the “Queen” has spent its twilight years sheltered beside a Key Largo hotel.

Topics: Environment, Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key Largo, Local Color, On the Water, Voices Main Archive

Attention, fellow crustacean fans: our favorite time of year has arrived. That’s right, August 6 marks the start of the eagerly anticipated Florida Keys lobster season.

Each year, Keys lobster lovers celebrate the start of the Florida lobster season. (All photos by Steve Panariello/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, the Keys are a paradise for lovers of fish and seafood — and the word “paradise” is not an exaggeration.

Imagine a place where you can wander into virtually any restaurant and order plump pink steamed shrimp, fish and chips made with mahi-mahi so fresh it’s practically still swimming, or chilled stone crab claws with creamy mustard sauce. (Your mouth is watering, isn’t it? That’s what I mean by “paradise.”)

Topping the list of superlative Keys seafood is our native lobster, often called spiny lobster. I’m not obsessive about many things (okay, maybe Springsteen music and calico cats) — except, that is, Florida Keys lobster.

Keys spiny lobster tails are often served grilled, with each bite dipped into melted butter.

For fanatics like me, August 6 each year is a holiday to rival Christmas. We regard the local fishermen who harvest our clawless crustaceans much like kids regard St. Nick.

For those interested in statistics, the annual Florida lobster harvest is pretty impressive — and the Keys’ annual catch is even more so. In 2009, Florida’s commercial fishermen harvested some 4.2 million pounds of spiny lobster. The vast majority of it, about 3.9 million pounds, came from Keys waters.

As previously noted, Keys lobsters are clawless. But unless diners are clueless, once they bite into the sweet and tender meat of the tail, they won’t pine for the pincers.

The most popular way to serve our luscious lobster is grilled with melted butter — or, like its Maine cousin, steamed or boiled. While traditional northern trimmings might include boiled potatoes and corn on the cob, it’s not unusual to find Keys lobster paired with Cuban black beans and yellow rice.

For maximum enjoyment, eat it in one of our waterside seafood shacks or gourmet emporiums, while watching an orange-red sunset and sipping something tall and cool.

But if you’re not lucky enough to be in the Keys right now, try having spiny lobster shipped from an area fish market and savor the flavor at home — while plotting your next island escape.

Here’s my favorite recipe that, hopefully, will allow you to do just that.

Grilled Lobster Tails (Serves 4)

Ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil • 1 tablespoon Key lime juice • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest • 1 teaspoon dried tarragon • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper • 4 spiny lobster tails (about 8 ounces each)

Keys fish markets offer lobster fresh off the boats, ready for grilling and savoring with melted butter.

Preparation: Make the marinade four hours before grilling by combining the first five ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

Cut the lobster tails lengthwise through the meat but not the shell. Open each shell to expose the meat. Add tails to the marinade and coat well. Cover and refrigerate for two to three hours.

To grill, remove the tails from the marinade. Insert a metal skewer through each tail lengthwise to keep it from curling. Grill over high heat, three to four inches from the heat source, for five minutes per side — or until the shell is red and the meat is opaque white.

Remove the tail from the skewer. Use a knife or meat scissor to cut the tail in half lengthwise through the shell. Serve with melted butter — and, for an additional island touch, add a generous spritz of Key lime juice to the butter.

Topics: Big Pine Key & Lower Keys, Food, Highlights, Islamorada, Key Largo, Key West, Marathon, Voices Main Archive

“Welcome to the trolley of the doomed,” intoned the veiled woman in elaborate black widow’s weeds.

Despite her misgivings upon meeting the ticket-taker, Kathy prepares to board the "trolley of the doomed." (Photo by Penn Alexander)

Oddly enough, that wasn’t my first clue that our upcoming tour wouldn’t be an ordinary sightseeing expedition. No, my first clue was the dried “blood” adorning the ticket-taker’s face, and his wolfish purple-lipped grin as he ushered us aboard the trolley.

Settling into my seat beside companions Penn, David and Kathy, I uneasily pondered the words on the vehicle’s side: “We’ll drive you to an early grave.”

Admittedly, the excursion was my idea. A fan of “Bones” reruns and other disturbing delights, I yearned to discover the spooky side of Key West on Old Town Trolley’s Ghosts & Gravestones “Frightseeing” Tour.

It was spooky indeed. We traveled past sites ranging from haunted 19th-century homes to saloons with resident specters while our “ghost hostess” recounted their histories — filled with tragedies, murders, burials, curses and other eerie events — in a sepulchural voice.

The trolley carries passengers through the darkening streets of Key West, which bears the lighthearted nickname of "Island of the Bones." (Photo courtesy of Historic Tours of America)

Kathy was particularly unsettled by the tale of Enriquetta Marrero, who loved her house so much that even death couldn’t drive her away.

Enriquetta lived with her husband, cigar baron Francisco Marrero, in a gracious Victorian home now called Marrero’s Guest Mansion. Unfortunately, Francisco also had a wife in Cuba — who, after he died suddenly, inherited the property and threw out Enriquetta and her children.

Enriquetta vowed that, despite the physical eviction, she would remain in spirit. Recent sightings by Marrero’s guests suggest she’s done just that.

As the trolley traveled through the darkening streets, our ghostly guide pointed out a grotto with protective power, related the secret past of a popular bar and, with grisly relish, discussed the dead children haunting a top tourist attraction.

Our black-garbed "ghost hostess" recounted horrible happenings with grisly relish. (Photo courtesy of Historic Tours of America)

We also heard a tale so bizarre that it made Penn shudder — that of Count Carl von Cosel, whose love for a dying Cuban girl in 1930s Key West had a grave-robbing twist. Penn was not happy to discover he shared a birthday with the count’s doomed darling.

(The well-documented von Cosel case spawned a book, “Undying Love,” written by local musician/attorney Ben Harrison. Believe it or not, he also composed a lively musical on the same subject.)

Yet even that saga wasn’t the evening’s weirdest. No, that honor goes to the creepy chronicle of Robert the Doll, and our “meeting” with him in an otherwise deserted Civil War-era fort.

The tale unfolded as we arrived at Fort East Martello Museum, a massive brick structure looming against the night sky.

This devilish-looking century-old doll has become a "paranormal pop star" who mystifies ghost- hunters even today. (Photo by Kathy Koontz)

Robert, whose “home” is a gloomy interior corridor near an authentic hearse, was given to local artist Robert “Gene” Otto, when Gene was a boy in 1904 (some say by a voodoo-practicing nanny or family maid).

Throughout his childhood, Gene blamed the doll for mischievous acts and bad behavior — and Robert remained his alter ego even when Gene grew up.

Naturally, the three-foot-tall straw-stuffed toy gained a reputation for eerie deeds — a reputation that increased exponentially when Robert moved to a secure glass case at the fort, where he’s rumored to ruin visitors’ photographs and cause unexplained events.

Called “a paranormal pop star” by our guide, Robert mystifies ghost-hunters and has appeared on the Travel Channel and Discovery Channel among others. He also starred at a recent paranormal convention, and even has his own very popular blog.

David's grin betrays his uneasiness as he and Kathy bid farewell to Robert. (Photo by Penn Alexander)

And Robert is one devilish-looking doll. His unblinking eyes seem to hold unnatural secrets, and his primitive face appears somehow malevolent. As we circled his glass case, Kathy and I were glad he was safely confined. Even Penn and David seemed pleased to re-board the “trolley of the doomed” for our homeward journey.

As it turns out, the four of us weren’t doomed (or driven to an early grave) after all. But thanks to our spine-tingling tour, we have a whole new perspective on Key West — and the reasons its longtime nickname is “Island of the Bones.”

Topics: Highlights, History, Key West, Local Color, Voices Main Archive

The theme song of the popular Disney Channel children’s television show “Phineas and Ferb” describes kids’ ultimate summer dilemma in its opening lines: “There’s 104 days of summer vacation, and school comes along just to end it. So the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it.”

At some Keys centers, even young children can participate in magical dolphin encounters.

You can solve that dilemma in the Upper and Middle Keys, an area jam-packed with activities sure to make summer days unforgettable for kids and families.

For example …

Make friends with herons, owls, pelicans and egrets at the Florida Keys Wild Bird Center. The Florida Keys Wild Bird Center is a bird rehabilitation facility located in Tavernier at mile marker 93.6. An Upper Keys landmark, it’s home to more than 100 ill, injured or orphaned wild birds — all housed in a natural setting on more than five acres of land. The main attraction is the daily pelican feeding, set for about 3:30 p.m., that typically draws hundreds of wild pelicans hungry for fish.

The Florida Keys Wild Bird Center is open every day during daylight hours. There’s no admission fee, but donations are requested.

Marine life and lively parrots intrigue young visitors to Islamorada's Theater of the Sea.

Swim with stingrays, dolphins or sea lions at Theater of the Sea. A lush 17-acre tropical oasis located in Islamorada at mile marker 84.5, Theater of the Sea is filled with scores of fish and marine life, native birds, colorful and engaging parrots, sea turtles, crocodiles and exotic plants. General admission includes live performances by dolphins, sea lions and parrots, a guided tour of marine-life exhibits and a glass-bottom boat tour of their natural saltwater lagoon.

Theater of the Sea also hosts special swim programs with dolphins, stingrays and sea lions for kids as young as 5 — and dolphin wade programs for kids as young as 3. The park opens daily at 9:30 a.m.

Discover shells, fish tanks and history at Crane Point Hammock in Marathon. Crane Point Hammock is a 63-acre environmental and archaeological preserve that offers a wide range of intriguing activities for kids and families.

Several Keys facilities teach kids (and grownups!) about the exotic-looking featured denizens of the island chain.

The historically curious can visit Adderley House, a simple home built in 1906 by a Bahamian immigrant who was a sponge fisherman, boatman and charcoal maker. Adventure seekers can get up close and personal with the museum’s touch tank that features sea urchins and starfish, or explore a large lagoon inhabited by nurse sharks and tropical fish. Nature lovers can hike along one of the nature trails or visit the Marathon Wild Bird Center, a haven for feathered friends in need.

Located at mile marker 50.5, Crane Point Hammock is open Monday though Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.

###

For kids (and kids at heart), a world of excitement awaits during “summer vacation” in the Middle and Upper Keys. To discover more “keys” to enjoying the island chain, just click here.

Topics: Animal Ambassadors, Environment, Highlights, Islamorada, Key Largo, Local Color, Marathon

Truth be told, I never really wanted to catch a swordfish.

Sure, I had written about how daytime swordfishing, or catching a broadbill in broad daylight, had been fully developed off Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

Andy Newman fights a swordfish in the waters off Islamorada. (Photo by Bob Care, Florida Keys News Bureau)

But, after witnessing at least a dozen catches, I simply concluded it was just too much work.

After all, you sit in a big barbershop-like chair, holding a big game fishing rod as thick as a broomstick and a huge reel that looks like it could literally lift the world.

But on Sunday, July 19, after being “ordered” to sit in the chair, I found myself connected to a swordfish that was 1,800 feet away — with little choice but to crank that baby in.

I was out on the Catch 22, owned by Richard Stanczyk and skippered by his brother Scott. I was there simply to catch a few dolphin (mahi-mahi) and help produce a new Video of the Week for the Florida Keys website and the Keys’ You Tube channel.

As Andy battles the fish, strong winds and rough seas result in a saltwater shower. (Photo by Bob Care, Florida Keys News Bureau)

But now we were backing down on this fish and I was winding furiously to recover line.

We were 25 miles off Islamorada and, quite honestly, this was not the picture-perfect day that is so typical in the Florida Keys. The wind was blowing strong and the seas were rough. As we chased the fish, water was coming over the boat’s transom and I was getting drenched.

“Aha,” I thought. “So this is what Hemingway experienced to motivate his words for ‘The Old Man and the Sea’.”

As it turned out, the overcast skies and continued saltwater “showering” were a godsend. Had there been bright sunny skies with little breeze, which is the Keys’ traditional summer weather pattern, I likely would have suffered heat stroke.

Fifteen minutes into the fight, I had cranked in almost 1,200 feet of line and the fish leaped across the ocean’s surface.

The swordfish leaps across the water's surface, putting up a grueling 80-minute fight. (Photo by Bob Care, Florida Keys News Bureau)

“This is the real thing, Andy,” shouted Richard, who pioneered daytime swordfishing in the Keys with his angling friend Vic Gaspeny.

Five minutes later we could see the leader, but then the fish took another run and dove deep.

I had to give up 500 feet of line. Within about 10 minutes I struggled to regain 250 feet of line — and then the stalemate began.

I’d get a few feet. He’d take it back.

We went on like that for at least half an hour and I really began to feel like Santiago, the main character in “The Old Man and the Sea.”

Finally, seemingly inch-by-inch, I was able to crank that fish to the boat and mate Hunter Baron grabbed the leader. Between Hunter and Nick Stanczyk, Richard’s son, they were able to gaff the 168-pound swordfish and slide it over the side and into the boat.

About 80 minutes after the hookup, there was backslapping and handshakes all around.

Andy, mate Hunter Baron (center) and Captain Scott Stanczyk display the prize catch. (Photo by Nick Stanczyk)

“You know, Andy, anglers from all around the world travel far and wide to catch a prized fish like that,” Richard said. “You caught one in your own backyard.”

I acknowledged Richard and reminded him he had already given me that quote for a story I wrote several years ago.

“You think back to the days of Zane Grey and Hemingway and the idea of going out and capturing one of these big monsters,” he said. “You don’t have to go to an exotic spot anymore for a world-class gamefish. People can come to the Keys, book a charterboat and have a chance of hooking a giant fish.”

My own catch certainly proved that.

Editor’s Note: Islamorada is known as the “Sportfishing Capital of the World” and features the largest offshore charterboat fleet in the Keys. Book at the following marinas:

Bud N’ Mary’s Fishing Marina

Caloosa Cove Resort & Marina

Holiday Isle Resort & Marina

Robbie’s of Islamorada

Whale Harbor Marina

World Wide Sportsman

Topics: Highlights, Islamorada, Local Color, On the Water, Voices Main Archive

Since Key West’s earliest days, its atmosphere has encouraged rugged individualism — but few individuals stand out more than legendary shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher.

Adventurer Mel Fisher, shown here with some of his glittering discoveries, proved that the American dream is thriving -- at least in the Keys. (Photo provided by Mel Fisher's Treasures)

Mel, a former California chicken farmer, appeared in the Keys in 1968 and shortly afterward settled in Key West. His luggage consisted of one big dream — that of finding the sunken treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, shipwrecked in a 1622 hurricane somewhere in Keys waters.

The Atocha’s cargo, according to its manifest, included a quarter of a million silver pieces of eight, some 30 tons of silver bars, and other riches destined for the coffers of Spain. Clearly, it was a worthy prize for any man.

Some people never really fit into Key West’s offbeat lifestyle, but others — like Mel — fit in immediately. With his drawling speech and seemingly limitless capacity for rum and Coke, he became a familiar figure on the island.

During the long years of searching for the shipwrecked galleon, there was little money to support Mel and his crew — which included his wife Deo and, eventually, children Dirk, Taffi, Kim and Kane. Still, enough treasure trickled in to keep their enthusiasm alive.

Mel and Deo Fisher were early SCUBA pioneers before they became shipwreck seekers. (Photo provided by Mel Fisher's Treasures)

After all, Mel reasoned, almost any day could herald the discovery of the Atocha’s main body of riches. “Today’s the day,” his well-known phrase of encouragement to his divers, began to appear on T-shirts all over Key West.

At long last, in July of 1985, “the day” arrived.

On July 18, Mel’s son Kane, then captain of the salvage boat Dauntless, discovered a 60-pound ballast stone, barrel hoops, copper ingots, and almost 1,000 silver coins in a deep-water area called Hawks Channel.

Two days later, on July 20, divers Andy Matroci and Greg Wareham dove down to investigate a promising area of the seabed. Facing them was a reef of what looked like stones. The duo went back up for a metal detector and dove down again. The metal detector went wild: it was a reef of silver bars.

Andy reached the surface first and yelled to the salvage boat, “It’s the ‘mother lode’! We’re sitting on silver bars!”

A diver examines gold bars and chains on the site of the Nuestra Se–nora de Atocha shipwreck about 35 miles off Key West. (Photo by Pat Clyne/Mel Fisher Maritime Museum)

Kane Fisher radioed back to Key West, “Put away the charts. We’ve found the main pile.”

They had found 1,041 silver bars and boxes of coins — 3,000 to a box. Almost immediately, shippers’ marks on the silver bars were matched to the Atocha’s cargo manifest, confirming the identification.

“It was surreal. I had spent most of my life looking for it, and all of a sudden there it was — all these silver bars piled up and sticking up out of the mud, and there were fishhooks snagged on them and lobsters living in the cracks between the silver bars,” said Kane’s brother Kim, who had begun tracking the Atocha with his family when he was 12 years old.

The excavation of what media dubbed “the shipwreck of the century” began. Divers and archeologists eventually recovered more than $400 million in gold and silver coins and bars, breathtaking religious artifacts, jewelry, weapons, pottery, navigational instruments, contraband emeralds and other incredible items.

Kim Fisher, son of the late Mel Fisher, displays a 23-karat gold bar recovered during the ongoing search for the remainder of the Atocha shipwreck. (Photo by Rob O'Neal/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Now, 25 years after the discovery of that “main pile,” people flock to Key West’s Mel Fisher Maritime Museum to view the Atocha treasure and artifacts housed there — and marvel at the triumph of the human spirit that their recovery represents.

Yet according to the vessel’s cargo manifest, much more remains to be found. After Mel’s death in 1998, his son Kim took over the family enterprise — and today he and his own son Sean supervise the ongoing search for the portion of the legendary shipwreck that still awaits discovery.

“We’re looking for the sterncastle of the Atocha,” explained Kim, who looks (and sounds) a lot like Mel. “There’s a lot of treasure still out there … 100,000 coins, 300 80-pound silver bars …”

The Atocha’s story — and the quest — continue.

Topics: Events, Highlights, History, Key West, Local Color, On the Water

When Brian Gordon Sinclair looks in the mirror before going onstage, Ernest Hemingway looks back. That’s because Brian, an award-winning Canadian actor and playwright, has spent the past several years researching, writing and performing one-man plays about the legendary author, presenting them each July at Key West’s annual Hemingway Days celebration.

Is this Ernest Hemingway? Or is it Brian Gordon Sinclair? (Hint: the bearded writer pictured here never lived in Key West.)

Hemingway, who lived and wrote in Key West throughout the 1930s, wasn’t Brian’s first major subject. Years ago, while tracing his Irish roots, Brian became fascinated with Irish revolutionary leader Patrick Pearse. After developing a successful one-man play about Pearse and the Irish Easter uprising of 1916, he began seeking another all-absorbing character.

“I wanted to find someone else to play who had that heroic quality,” he said. “I fell in love with the idea of being someone bigger than life, and standing on stage conveying theories and ideas that I could believe in with all my heart and brain.”

When Brian picked up Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms,” the author’s passion, prose and philosophy captured his imagination.

Backed by a crowd of “Ernest” supporters, Brian presents Canada's Hemingway On Stage Award during a past Hemingway Days celebration.

He had visited Key West previously on vacation, but returned with a purpose: to immerse himself in Hemingway’s life and experiences. He discovered the island’s Hemingway Days festival commemorating Ernest, visited the author’s Whitehead Street home and met “Papa” Hemingway Look-Alike Contest veteran Bob Orlin.

“It was the festival itself that attracted me,” Brian said. “If I was going to create a play, what better place to go than a place where they had a Hemingway festival?”

During that visit, though he hadn’t begun writing the script, he booked a Key West theater for the following year.

He also stepped into Hemingway’s skin for the first time. With his black hair and moustache, Brian resembled the author during his Key West years — so Bob Orlin convinced him to enter a “young Hemingway” contest at a local bar. He promptly won, using the prize money to continue his travels and research.

Brian Gordon Sinclair, in the persona of Ernest Hemingway, is surrounded by friends at La Terazza in Cojimar, Cuba.

When he began writing the play, however, a problem arose.

“My intention was to do one three-act play and that would be it,” said Brian. “By the time I got to the end of World War I, I already had enough for one play.”

Ultimately, “Hemingway On Stage” grew into a six-part series — each play exploring a facet of Ernest’s life and career, and each taking Brian onstage to create an intimate portrait of the iconic author.

As well as giving audiences new insights into Hemingway, the plays have brought a surprising benefit to their creator.

“Working on Ernest, with Ernest, has absolutely revitalized my life,” Brian reported. “His life encompassed so many different things that it became an adventure for me.”

Brian's in-depth portrayal provides audiences new insights into Ernest's complex and often troubled character.

Brian’s research has taken him to London, Paris, Spain’s Civil War battlefields and bullfighting rings, Hemingway’s childhood home in Illinois and many other places. He continues to present his plays in Key West where, like Ernest, he has found friends and inspiration.

“Everybody in Key West has treated me with such open arms and respect and kindness that I consider myself an honorary citizen of the place,” he said.

This year, Brian will step outside his six-part series to present a storytelling evening titled “Hemingway’s Hot Havana.” Ticket sales will benefit the Key West Art & Historical Society and the Hemingway Look-Alike Society Scholarship Fund.

He hopes to debut the final play in his “Hemingway On Stage” series during Hemingway Days 2011 — but that doesn’t mean he’ll say farewell to the author.

“Spiritually, I have become a friend of Ernest Hemingway,” Brian said, “and Ernest and I will be friends forever.”

Topics: Arts, Events, Festivals, Highlights, Key West, Profiles

The marine life that makes its home on the Florida Keys’ living coral reef is widely acclaimed for its diversity — but that undersea life usually doesn’t include an underwater brass band or a snorkel-wearing Elvis Presley.

These strange "undersea creatures" were spotted in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary during a past Underwater Music Festival. (Photos by Bill Keogh/Florida Keys News Bureau)

Unless, of course, it’s the second Saturday in July.

That’s the timeframe for the annual Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival, an engagingly weird event that draws as many as 600 divers and snorkelers to boogie to the beat of music beneath the waves.

Staged by a popular local radio station, the submerged songfest takes place at Looe Key Reef, an area of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary about six miles south of Big Pine Key.

The station’s playlist — ocean- and water-focused ditties ranging from the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” to humpback whale songs and the themes from “Gilligan’s Island” and “Titanic” — is broadcast to participating divers and snorkelers (and a whole lot of curious fish) on special speakers suspended beneath boats at the reef.

A few years back, divers and snorkelers at the Underwater Music Festival came across a patriotic parade -- on the ocean floor.

While you might think music would be distorted underwater, it’s actually surprisingly clear. Plus there’s an ethereal “surround sound” feeling that comes from the sound waves’ transmission through the water.

Adding to that ethereal quality are the bizarre reef denizens that can be spotted during the event. Unsuspecting divers and snorkelers at past festivals have encountered an underwater brass band complete with tuba, marchers in an ocean-floor patriotic parade, and the “Divas of the Deep” — a trio of female divers costumed as Ella Fish-gerald, Tuna Turner, and (wait for it) Britney Spearfish.

One memorable year even Elvis himself decided to take the plunge, though he wasn’t wearing blue suede fins at the time. Elvis impersonator Neil Goldberg, dressed in a white caped jumpsuit and flashy gold chains, “performed” underwater on a bright red guitar for a mesmerized crowd of “sea fans.”

“The fish seem to be Elvis fans — they’re ‘all shook up’,” The King quipped after resurfacing.

Elvis impersonator Neil Goldberg performs for "sea fans" at a recent Underwater Music Festival.

For the 2010 festival, scheduled July 10, rumor has it that “Alice in Waterland” and her fictional friends will be on hand. Organizers are staging an offbeat salute to the classic tale “Alice in Wonderland” and the 2010 film it inspired, with underwater appearances by divers costumed as Alice, the “Mad Haddock,” “Cheshire Catfish,” and other take-offs on the story’s memorable characters.

Goofy as it seems, this good time has a serious purpose: preserving the Florida Keys’ unique coral reef ecosystem. The musical broadcast incorporates diver awareness announcements by Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials, offering tips on how to enjoy the ocean while minimizing your impact on the reef and marine environment.

So if you’re a music “afishionado,” dive into the doings at the Lower Keys Underwater Music Festival. And even if you can’t come down and take the plunge, you can share the spirit — by “singing out” about reef preservation.

Topics: Big Pine Key & Lower Keys, Environment, Events, Festivals, Highlights, Local Color, On the Water, Quirks, Voices Main Archive