Anyone who lives down here for more than five minutes knows that this past weekend was a big weekend for those of us who have boats because of the Columbus Day Regatta. Everyone who has a boat, or something cobbled together to resemble a boat, works their way down to Elliot Key for a weekend of drinking, partying and whatever else your vessel can sustain.
There hasn't been a single regatta that's gone by that hasn't had it's share of mishaps or even deaths, luckily, this past regatta went by relatively smoothly, that is with the exception of a vessel that was moving people from Crandon Park Marina to Nixon Beach at Key Biscayne sinking just west of the Miami Seaquarium in relatively shallow water. Here's a photo of the vessel partially submerged in what looks like approximately ten feet of water...
The New Times and most of the other local media outlets reported that the boat "capsized"...
Thirty weekend revelers and a dog were pulled from the waters off of Miami yesterday after a catamaran they were on began taking on water and capsized.Clearly, the vessel did not capsize, that's not the point. Switch over to Channel 10's story about the incident where they interview Officer Jorge Pino from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the full interview can be found here. What I can't believe is that Officer Pino takes a gratuitous jab at the City of Hialeah, in case you missed it, here it is again...
Did you get that? In case you didn't, Officer Pino when referring to the construction of the subject vessel states:
"It could mean that someone in Hialeah put it together"
Now what exactly is that supposed to mean Officer Pino? Does the fact that it could have been put together in Hialeah mean that it was built improperly by unskilled labor or by sub humans? Honestly JORGE?!
In case officer Jorge Pino is unaware, some of the greatest names in the boating industry got their start in Hialeah, Officer Jorge, ever hear of a company named Bertram? Guess what, Bertram started in Hialeah and even after they moved over off of the Tamiami canal, the overwhelming majority of the craftsman that built them came from where? You guessed it, HIALEAH! Take a ride to Marina Mile in Fort Lauderdale and look around the shipyards, guess where the overwhelming majority of skilled craftsmen, carpenters, fiberglass workers, etc come from? You got it, HIALEAH!
While I'm not a citizen of Hialeah, I can tell you that the city is home to a bustling boat building industry as well as the source of skilled tradesmen that built many of the industry names who's vessels you'll see clogging the regions waterways on any given weekend. So with that said, I take issue with Officer Pino's "someone in Hialeah" statement.
With that said Officer Pino, as one of those people "in Hialeah", I'll leave you with this...
