Can quiet paddlers, wild jet skiers share a calm Miami lagoon? Not happily, that’s for sure
The Miami Marine Stadium basin, known for its calm waters and picturesque views of the downtown Miami skyline, is roiling with conflict. It’s high-powered water bikes vs. low-powered paddlers — and it’s gotten ugly.
Rowers, kayakers and paddleboarders are swamped and capsized by waves from speeding water bikes, commonly known by the Kawasaki brand name, Jet Ski. Miami Rowing Club practices are suspended when water bikes overrun the course. Water bikes, often piloted by inexperienced renters, collide with each other and with moored sailboats. There has been at least one death as well as injuries. Tempers flare, curses fly. Even manatees and dolphins get buzzed by water bikes.
The result: A tranquil piece of Biscayne Bay, which hugs a Virginia Key nature preserve on one side, has turned into a noisy racetrack.
“We ask them to slow down and they scream at you, show you the finger, rev their engine,” said Maria Carolina Quijano, a mother of two teenage girls who are rowers. “They are very aggressive and the situation is worsening. We dread what could happen here.”
Sue and Ron Kern said their rowing classes have been interrupted by reckless water bikes. Their rowing shells are thin, with long oars and wide turning radiuses. Large waves can wash over the sides and quickly fill the cockpit.
“One guy threw a huge wake and next thing I knew I’d flipped and I was in the water,” Ron Kern said.
Rowers can only see in one direction and fear that an inexperienced driver could plow into them.
“They just don’t seem to care how close they come to the rowers or how big their wake is,” Sue Kern said.
Miami Marine Patrol Sgt. Jason Kostowic has observed the chaos inside the basin and beefed up patrols in conjunction with the U.S. Coast Guard and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. He believes it’s an offshoot of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has driven more people onto the water seeking an outdoor outlet.
“In the last four to six months the increase in traffic on the water everywhere has been insane,” Kostowic said. “At the stadium, it’s up tenfold. Jet skis can go up to 60-70 mph and if you’re not trained, you will lose control. Are people drinking and driving jet skis? Absolutely. It’s dangerous out there.”
The driver of a Sea-Doo died Aug. 29 when he crashed into a concrete outcropping of the graffiti-covered Marine Stadium, which has been closed since 1992. Two drivers were injured two weeks ago when they collided. Rowing club members have observed many other accidents and near-misses, said Coach Cesar Herrera, who is often frantically directing traffic with a megaphone from his coach skiff. In his 11 years at the club, he’s never seen it as hazardous as it’s been since Memorial Day weekend, he said.
“It’s worse every day,” he said.
The Kana Lui Miami Outrigger Canoe Club is based between the rowing club and MAST Academy and has had its practices disrupted by water bikes. School rowing crews and triathletes also use the lagoon.
“Unfortunately, we’re dealing with the Miami mentality, where people tell their friends about a beautiful place, a crowd gathers, then they abuse and destroy it because they lack the common decency to follow rules, respect others and take care of our natural resources,” said Kostowic, frustrated, too, by the trash and pollution generated by boaters.
The city recently designated the basin as a restricted speed area but has not posted any minimum wake zone signs.
“We can’t stop and cite people when the tickets won’t stick,” Kostowic said. “Until they put the signs up it’s tough to enforce. We’ve ordered signs and are waiting for them to be made.”
The city, which owns the basin bottom, and the state, which has jurisdiction over Virginia Key waters, should ban water bikes from the 300-yard-wide and one-mile-long basin and limit its use to passive water sports, Sue Kern said.
“For that space, it’s a bad mix,” she said. “Signs, fines and police presence are needed, but if you’re driving a boat with a motor, how do you not understand there should be no wake in an enclosed area with anchored boats, rowers and paddlers?”
Kostowic said the surge in volume has occurred in tandem with the pandemic. Unemployed people and people working from home have more spare time and are eager to get outside, he said. There’s also been a proliferation of unlicensed, guerrilla water bike rental companies that set up shop wherever they can find customers or tow jet skis into open water and let renters launch from the boat. They skirt permitting regulations on insurance, safety training and providing a guide to accompany renters.
“We are making arrests of people running these illegal rental companies in collaboration with the Coast Guard, but they are elusive given the number of marinas and ramps,” he said. “It’s quick money for them.”
In contrast, Miami Waterlife Tours has been operating at the Rickenbacker Marina for 12 years as the only legal private concession in Virginia Key or Key Biscayne, said the manager working on Saturday, who did not want to give his name.
He warned a renter not to drink alcohol or speed or “the police will impound the jet ski,” he said. Another renter, Francesca Franco, and her family said they were given a safety briefing and 25-question test before they embarked on a one-hour ride with a tour guide. They did not travel into the basin “or do anything crazy or irresponsible,” she said.
Powerboat traffic has also increased dramatically inside the lagoon. Sometimes they are large yachts packed with partying passengers cruising around. Sometimes they’re towing water skiers or boogie boarders. Sometimes they’re carrying jet skis that unload at the northeast end of the basin where other boats serve as floating food and beer stands. All blare loud music as passengers lounge on the sand along the shoreline, and leave piles of litter behind.
“We filled 37 large trash bags last weekend,” Quijano said. “It’s a big party spot. They throw plastic in the water, endangering the marine life, the birds and the bay environment.”
Water bike owners and renters get an undeserved bad rap, according to the Personal Watercraft Industry Association, which has seen sales skyrocket 41 percent this summer compared to last year.
“The majority of people who operate personal watercraft do so safely. We want our riders to be situationally aware, respectful and driving at a safe speed and all these can go together easily,” said association vice president David Dickerson. “It’s a fantastic way to socially distance, and a fun and healthy option for people trying to shake the pandemic out of their bones.”
Enforcement is key to keeping the peace inside the basin, but manpower is lacking given the explosion of recreation on the water during the pandemic, Kostowic said. Miami has eight officers patrolling 26 miles of shoreline from Coconut Grove to the Upper East Side, including the Miami River.
“We do everything we can with the resources we have in a city surrounded by water, in a state with the highest number of registered boaters,” he said. “People don’t realize how busy it is and how many challenges we are facing. It’s been nonstop.”
This story was originally published October 7, 2020 at 9:25 AM.
