March 18th, 2010 We have finally received our first two Open Fisherman. Mickey likes it!
We are running a 10% off sale on any instock kayak through March 31st, 2010 including the new open fisherman!
We drew a ticket at the end of business on March 15th for the Swift Manatee Paddle. A thanks to Swift/Eddyline for their contribution towards the cost of the paddle and their continued support of Save the Manatee Club through the sale of the Manatee Edition Swift Paddle.
The winner was Dyane Boese of Homosassa. The raffle raised $365 for Save the Manatee Club.
Consider becoming a member of the club. No one does it better than SMC when it comes to protecting the manatee from the greed and carelessness of man. Besides, it’ll drive Mike nuts.
Save the Manatee Club is an award-winning national nonprofit 501(c)(3) and membership-based organization established in 1981 by renowned singer/songwriter, Jimmy Buffett, and former U.S. Senator, Bob Graham, when he was governor of Florida.
Why They Need Our Support:
Human activities are harming manatees, and only our compassion and action can protect them.
Manatees are Florida’s official state marine mammal. They are listed as endangered at the international level by the IUCN World Conservation Union, at the federal level by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and at the state level by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Manatees are endangered largely due to human activity. Since record-keeping began in 1974, more than 41% of manatee deaths where cause of death was identified were human-related – and almost 34% were due to watercraft collisions (the largest known cause of manatee deaths). With increased awareness, education, regulations, and enforcement, manatee deaths caused by humans could be substantially reduced, and the eventual recovery of the species could be realized.
Their Mission:
Our mission is to protect endangered manatees and their aquatic habitat for future generations.
Aardark’s March Kayak Sale 10% (or more) off any kayak in stock through March 31, 2010
March 10 - 17, 2010 Luck of the Irish Week at particpating shoppes in Heritage Village
From Aardvark’s:
Luck of the Irish Week
March 27, 2010 Spring Eggstravaganza at participating shoppes in Heritage Village.
From Sugabugs Kids:
Eggstravaganza
From HOPE Wildlife Rescue:
LAND OR WATER POKER RUN - APRIL 10, 2010 STARTING AT AARDVARKS FLORIDA KAYAK CO. 707 N. CITRUS AVE. SUITE A, CRYSTAL RIVER, FL (352) 795-5650N Citrus Avenue, Suite A Watch for Details.
April 24th, 2010 Kiwanis Ozello Adventure Race
From OAR:
Ozello Adventure Race
For More Info and Registration
April 25, 2010 Small Boat Bash / Raid on Crystal River
Join us for the Raid on Crystal River
Join Aardvark’s Raiders as we accompany the fleet upriver from the Crystal River Preserve State Park to Kings Bay. Free with your own boat or rent one of ours and join the Krewe. The fleet will disperse for lunch and then reassemble for the trek back down river. Call us for details at 352-795-5650.
Please note the Green Bag promotion is ending at 5:00 pm on March 27th, 2010
He couldn’t leave it alone. Just received this from Capt Mike at Sunshine River Tours. Now you understand why I call this a self-defense blog.
Invited NOT
Monday, March 1, 2010 9:09 AM
From:
“Captain Mike”
To:
info@floridakayakcompany.com
Wanted let to let you know that, YOU are NOT invited to the largest paddling event that Citrus County will ever have.”
When I alerted Terry who captains the dragon boat, he asked Mike what it was all about and Mike responded. See following e-mails. He apparently thinks all 12 of you are jerks (that number is actually 290 subscribers). And no, we are not about to go out of business. Manatee fondlers like Mike generally don’t like us, but we have received the Mayors Award from the City of Crystal River, a Manatee Hero award from SMC, are in good standing with the Heritage Village Association, the Citrus County Chamber of Commerce, and the Crystal River Merchants Association. We have been featured in Backpacker Magazine, Florida Monthly, Paddling Net, the Boston Globe, and Passport Magazine to name just a few. We maintain a close working relationship with like minded businesses including the Plantation Spa & Golf Resort, where we run our Do Not Disturb Tours in partnership with this fine establishment. The rest of his response is pure libel and will be dealt with in another venue. Rest assured, we have never misrepresented any of our products or services.
I received this from Terry asking for my side.
From: Terry Johnson
Subject: Fwd: Fw: Invited NOT Dragon Boats
To: “Matt Clemons”
Date: Tuesday, March 2, 2010, 9:06 AM
Matt, I’d like to hear your side of the story. Lets think about what should be done for paddlers. Your customers, our brothers and sisters. This could get out of hand and be bad for everyone. What can I and the 50 members of the Nature Coast Dragon Boat club do to help smooth this situation?
Terry Johnson————————————————————————–
Hello Terry,
This guy, Matt Clemons the owner of Aardvark has been falsely accusing my company of harrassment of manatees for years, at least 5 years. He posts lies and twists facts all over the internet and he is a board member of the Save the Manatee Club. He started his company by bashing the dive industry from the beginning.
He only has a small following of about a dozen persons and that is how many show up for his “so called events”
When I had heard that he may try to crash or trash our event I sent him that e-mail.
Also David and Morgan from Kayak’s and Beyond can’t stand him either. Ask Morgan about him. He has spread and published lies about his products and David and Morgan know quite well about his antics.
Almost every business in our county will not talk to him either.
He is also close to being out of business.
Don’t need him disrupting our event by bringing his band of jerks.
Cordially,
Captain Mike
Honestly, grow up. And this from someone who doesn’t even paddle. John and Terry are good guys, but their sponsor/boss is another story. My advice to them is to distance yourself from this guy as quickly as possible and while you still have some respect from the paddle community. Myself and other paddlers (yes I do paddle) would love to see dragon boating take off here. It’s a great sport, but with someone who’s only interest is self promotion calling the shots, it won’t happen.
This comes from a guy who not too long ago was trying to get paddlers banned from Hunters Spring.
Here’s an excerpt: “What would be the consequences to the city, county, state, fish and wildlfe, and the coast guard if manatee swim programs were stopped? If kayaking took over as the main fuel for our economy some questions would have to be asked. 1. Where would potentially 50,000-100,000 cars with kayaks park. 2. Imagine 300 kayaks per day in three sisters springs on the busiest of days. 3. How many officers would have to be employed to contol this water traffic jam. 4. Kayaks don’t have porta potties on board, where would they be able to go. Residents lawns? 5. For emegency situations such as drowning and CPR who is going to be on hand for that many kayaks. 6. Who is liable for onwater incidents, City of Crystal River, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, County Sherrif, Coast Guard, State. 7. Would the Sherrif’s Department need additional patrol units for traffic control at kayak launches and on the water. 8. Who is going to pay for this? 9. What happens to the tax revenue if private persons with kayaks overtake the city. They would not pay sales tax, unemployment insurance, pay no taxes on gas, pay no maintenace on boats to local marinas, buy no motors locally, pay no property taxes to the county and pay no business taxes. 10. Who would be in charge of rescue on a 20-30 kt day wind at Kings Springs or pop up storms of 30-50 kt winds.”
and ..” …If manatee swim programs are stopped how many kayaks will be launching there (Hunters) per day? 100, 200, 300? I’m sure the surrounding residents won’t have any peace if the traffic increases.”
I’d like to suggest that our paddle community support the dragon boaters, but pass on that event and instead attend the Ozello Adventure Race that is scheduled for that same day. You can get the details here. Instead of lining the pockets of an out of town non-paddler why not make a difference and give the money to the Kiwanis for scholarships through your participation.
Another event that you can join on the same day is the Crystal River Boat Bash at the Crystal River Preserve State Park. Demonstrations of small boat handling and boat building skills will take place on Saturday with a small boat “Raid on Crystal River” on Sunday. We’ll be participating in the raid, so if you’d like to paddle upriver to Kings Bay with a flotilla of small non-motorized craft, join Aardvark’s Raiders for a fun day on the water. Reserve April 24th and 25th for these events.
There is also the Melbourne Arts Festival
, the Miami Swamp Stomp
, the Central Florida Autocross, SurfRiders Film Event, and many more worthwhile events.
