Manta ray inn florida how to#

(If that was to happen, the seawall and docks would be the least of our worries) If these giant socks were to be filled with the dredged material out of the city’s marina, they could become the outer break-wall we are in desperate need of, and the material would be 100% natural in case the said break-wall was to ever be destroyed by a major storm. But once you’ve built upon the coastline, then protecting what you’ve already built, especially when there is a thriving community to protect shouldn’t be an issue!Īll you have to do is think about the Government Dollars that will be spent in clean-up and rebuilding compared to the minimal expense of preventative maintenance. I cant even begin to understand the argument the city and FEMA makes that this is a Wildlife Refuge, so we cant do basic preventative maintenance to protect the coastline that we’ve already built upon? I would understand if we were talking about building big seawalls or breakwalls to protect empty coastline where nothing is built. This is nothing new, and has been done since the dawn of time as large cities were built along the oceans edge. Most coastal cities have built breakwalls to help protect themselves from such storms. With each storm that hits our city’s docks, we usually lose a wooden dock or two, or the seawall takes a beating as the storm waves crash upon it. Two separate problems solved with one solution! These giant socks could solve two purposes by keeping the hauling costs at a bare minimum, and providing a giant break wall to help stop the beach erosion. They’ve called in experts, had Marine Biologists come out from various colleges and had numerous agencies give their input on this natural problem for coastal villages.

Manta ray inn florida how to#

The city itself has held numerous Marina Workshops asking for advice and suggestions on how to solve this problem and how to help with our constant beach erosion. The longer they put it off, the more the city marina gets filled with silt and becomes utterly useless. Cindy and I both commented on how such a simple solution could be used in Cedar Key where the city commissioners have put off dredging our city’s marina because they claim the cost of hauling away the dredged material would be too costly. We joked around wondering if this was a game? Were the other Rays teasing this clumsy one that had wiped out, or was it the daredevil in the group and the others were all hooting and hollering as he rejoined them? Dont you ever wonder about things like this? We do.Ī ways down from the Postcard Inn were giant socks that were filled with dredged sand to help stop the beach erosion. With a couple of flips and splashes, it would recover and hurry back in with the rest of the pack. Sometimes one would hang too long in the wave and get tumbled over as the wave would break and flip the ocean glider onto its back. They’d follow the waves and ride them in, almost getting thrown up onto the sandy beach. Walking along the shoreline, we kept seeing big schools of Manta Rays swimming very close to the shoreline. The water was crystal clear and beautiful to gaze at. The waves weren’t big waves, just small 1-2′ footers that would roll in, in sets of twos and threes. Sitting on a sandy beach, warm winds hitting your face while you sip on a hot coffee and watch a beautiful woman walk out of the water after her morning swim. This should be the way each morning is greeted. We sat listening to the gentle slap of the waves along the shoreline as we sipped on Columbia’s finest with each sip waking us up just a little bit more. Cindy and I were drinking our coffee on the white sand beach this morning as the sun came up.