Tampa's Fireboat Back Into The Water

I first posted about this fireboat in the fleet of Tampa Fire Rescue back in May 2009. Click HERE. Tampa had just purchased a new boat and was awaiting its delivery in September of that year. Click HERE to read about the city's newest boat, the Patriot. She's quite the vessel. I caught the crew putting this boat back into the water at the Seaplane Basin ramp on Davis Islands.

Skywatch Friday, Season 4, Episode 13 - Paradise Found: Autumn in Tampa

Fall weather has really arrived in Tampa and along the Gulf Coast. When I took this picture it was 78 degrees, 47% humidity, a light, almost cloudless sky and no wind. It is so nice our air conditioning, which runs about 300 days a year, is off. It was a delightful evening to walk along the channel on Davis Islands and watch the sunset and lights come up on the boats and buildings of Harbour Island and downtown office towers. If you look close in the left center you'll see the blue roof of the Sail Pavilion on the Riverwalk of the Tampa Convention Center. THE place to sit, cool off with a drink, enjoy the pet friendly atmosphere right on the water, have something to eat and watch the sunset in the western sky.

Visit Skywatch Friday to see the beauty and wonders of the world's most magnificent skies. It's always an amazing show and all brought to you by Skywatchers from all over the planet.

Watery Wednesday: A silent, empty dock

It's not impossible to find a slip to dock your boat in Tampa, if you're here for a short, temporary stay and aren't interested in basic amenities such as water and electric. If you want more permanent space, and this is surprising, there aren't enough. It's a strange and almost unexplainable situation why there aren't more slips - temporary and permanent - in a city nearly surrounded by water. But, strangely, oddly, they are in short supply.

These relatively new and well-designed floating slips look great but are empty. Not one boat. In talking with an experienced yacht broker, who really knows his yachts and our waterways well (and who has his offices across Tampa Bay in St. Petersburg), they built these slips without fresh water and electric hook-ups - a must for decent size boats. They are temp slips (for transient boaters as the city calls them) that aren't very inviting or attractive to many boaters. So while even the sea gulls aren't enjoying the quiet on these temp docks, that were designed without the necessary hook-ups, the monthly rental slips are full. And waiting lists for marina space and monthly slips grow longer and longer. Serious boaters, who have invested big money in their boats, don't dock here. They just go elsewhere. (Note that across the channel are docks for the homeoners's boats on Harbour Island.)

So, my watery scene of this dock is devoid of boats altogether. None of the exciting shapes and styles, sleek designs and nautical flair that could fill this watery scene is there. Our water, sky and empty boat slips will have to do. Now all I need are some of our abundant and colorful waterbirds to fill my frame. Where are they now when I need them?

Click HERE to see other wet and Watery Wednesday images from around the world.

The Little Lighthouse that wishes it could

Can you make out the sweet little lighthouse on the right? It stands oh so proudly but wishes this view didn't shout industrial park. It would seem that it is engulfed by equipment and is smack in the middle of a less than ideal location. Well, the camera can certainly deceive, even lie to us at times. Right? Let me tell you a bit about what seems to be the lighthouse's unfortunate and less than desirable location. First, it is not sitting smack in the midst of ship repair cranes, boat lifts, fuel tanks and mechanical equipment of every size and description. It's actually on its own narrow point of land at the tip of one of Tampa's most desirable pieces of real estate - Harbour Island. (Yes, I've shown small parts of the island in previous posts and written about its excellent views of the city and superb location. The island can boast of two really good restaurants that I recommend Cafe Dufrains and That's Amore Italian.) The lighthouse - and I would guess its owners have given it a name - is a special architectural folly, if you will, at the home of one of Tampa's most generous families, the Baileys, widely known for their philanthropy through the Bailey Foundation. The 13,000 square foot home they designed and had built sits on the tip of the island in a gated section called The Pointe. It's an exclusive section of home owners who enjoy the proximity to Tampa's downtown, its exclusive address, and walled and gated security. Not only does their exquisite home feature the lighthouse but its own 100,000-gallon swimming pool. The entire home was said to cost between $4-million and $6-million. Harbour Island, which used to be a very totally forgettable eyesore so close to downtown, a dusty, dirty island of railroad tracks and loading docks for phosphate, was transformed (not overnight) into a wealth of homes, condos, apartments, shops and amenities such as restaurants, bars and office buildings. All of this within walking distance of downtown. Two bridges connect the city to the island but it remains a world unto itself. Jogging trails, playground, boat docks and lush landscaping announce you've arrived in a bit of paradise. From its earliest start as a planned development in 1971, it has gone through many lives and grand ideas to arrive at the totally transformed and highly desirable address it is today. When you look at the lighthouse, all of the other things you see are across Sparkman Channel, a very wide, 40 foot+ deep channel which is directly accessible from the Gulf of Mexico. Once a ship slides under the 175 foot height of the Skyway Bridge, they enter Tampa Bay. Many ships are headed for the lighthouse's neighbor, Tampa Ship, LLC, just across the channel. It has got to be fun to watch the traffic right in your backyard. A company which has a long history in Tampa, Tampa Ship employs over 500 men and women in building, inspecting and repairing ships of almost any size. The really huge lifts to the left of the lighthouse and building are for accommodating ships of up to 907 feet...three times the length of an American football field. The building is 600 feet long and 145 feet wide and 115 feet high - that can contain a mighty big ship. The lifts can handle over 800 tons. So, is the dear lighthouse surrounded by ruffians and tough characters. Yes and no. Just a leap across the channel is a giant ship repair facility. To the other side across Seddon Channel is Davis Islands, a beautiful place to live. The lighthouse celebrates two worlds. A special companion, a folly of sorts, to a multi-million dollar home. Its other world? What every lighthouse has always been asked to do. Shine its beacon for ships and sailors looking for land, comfort and safe passage. It excels in every respect. Now, what is its name?

Tampa Fire Rescue keeps its fireboat at the ready

This is quite the boat. Although she has seen her younger days slip by, just like every other piece of expensive firefighting equipment, from firehouses, trucks, cars to, yes, fireboats, she looks absolutely brand new. (She's a real honey at 20 yards.) Soon to be joined by a spanking new boat by the same company that built her, right now she's at the ready and does see her share of fires. The boat is moored in front of the dock master's building at the Marjorie Park Yacht Basin on Davis Islands. The basin opens into Seddon Channel that leads up to the Hillsborough River or down to the Hillsborough Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Built by MetalCraft Marine of Kingston, Ontario, Canada and Clayton, NY, the current boat will be joined in June by her planned replacement. (I won't let on in case she's jealous.)Along with greatly increased water pumping capacity, the new boat, the Firestorm 69, will be fast. Measuring 70 feet, the boat will reach 35 knots and be powered by 825-hp diesel engines. (This one has huge outboards.) Cost? Close to $2,000,000. (The replacement is long overdue and if it saves one life it's worth every penny.)

MetalCraft Marine builds a variety of specialized craft including high speed patrol boats, fire boats, rescue boats, and work boats. The new FireStorm 69 will be the fastest fireboat in the world and will pump 10,000 GPM (gallons per minute.) Its increased capabilities in our many different kinds of water, including the river, bays, channels and port, should make everyone - commercial ships, cruise ships and locals alike - feel much better protected. Tampa's new vessel will be delivered next month. I will keep my eye out for her arrival and compare the two vessels, realizing that aside from being able to find our fireboat at dock, I'm totally unqualified and uninitiated in fireboat technology. I'll simply leave it to my camera to do the detail work and comparison.

I don't know what will eventually happen with this sweet boat. In the condition she appears to be in, and knowing that Tampa Fire Rescue maintains her, I imagine she'll live a very long, long life - perhaps retired to do some sleepy fishing in Costa Rica or in the Florida keys. (Only kidding.)