Florida Keys Lobster Trips

Fill it up with biodiesel

The environmentally sensitive island chain now has its first biodiesel production company.

Marathon BioDiesel is the result of seven years of effort by Jeff Lillie, a former commercial fisherman of spiny lobster and stone crabs. Lillie said he and his accountant wife have spent their life savings, about $200,000, to get the venture off the ground.

At age 59, he says his motive is not to get rich but to do his part to help the environment, especially the ocean.

“We can’t go: ‘Timeout. I want to go to Earth 2’,” he said.

Capt. Jeff Bowman, co-owner of Namaste’ Sailing Charters of Key West, is one of Lillie’s clients. He started off using a 50 percent blend and now uses 100 percent biodiesel after spending about $50 to modify the engine’s fuel lines. Nauseating, dirty fumes no longer belch from the diesel engine. His sailboat’s engine runs quieter and smells better.

“People walk down our dock trying to find the Chinese restaurant,” Bowman said. Others say it smells like French fries.

He had previously used biodiesel —which is less toxic than table salt and biodegrades at the same rate as sugar — to fuel the charter sailboat when operating out of Pensacola. But after moving to the Keys in 2008, he could not find a local biodiesel distributor until discovering Lillie’s company on Facebook.

“I think it is high time we have someone in the Keys doing this,” said Key West High School teacher Josh Clearman, whose students have been making biodiesel in the school’s Alternative Energy Center for four years to run. So far, it’s only an educational endeavor to run an old Mercedes.

While biodiesel technology has been around for more than a century, it plays only a relatively small part in the United States’ fuel consumption. The Jefferson, Mo.-based National Biodiesel Board has 170 biodiesel plant members from around the country. They produced about 1 billion gallons in the past year for a road diesel market of about 40 billion gallons annually, said Jessica Robinson, the board’s director of communications.

“It really is just a start,” she said. “The intent of the biodiesel industry is to displace 5 percent of the on-road diesel market by 2015.

Lobster | Florida Keys Lobster Sport Season Memories In Heaven ...

Lobster | Florida Keys Lobster Sport Season Memories In Heaven

The Florida Keys is a isolated place. In fact Key West, the Florida Keys most distant island, is only 90 miles from Cuba. On the gulf side you can go offshore for miles, stop your vessel and stand in knee deep still water and not see shore anywhere around you. It’s an absolutely surreal trek for an ocean lover and outdoors person. I’ve encountered many a sting ray and dolphin while there. The Florida Keys can be considered the American tropical paradise and features all the same amenities and places to stay as other island destinations. There are many things to do such as world class deep sea fishing, scuba diving and snorkeling, trolling, kayaking, sailing, and species tours beyond belief. Each of our island destinations has some unforgettable experiences. We invite you to visit each area individually and discover our tropical paradise in the Florida Keys. One of the main reasons for my families trips down to the Florida Keys is for Lobster Sport Season. The locals call it bug hunting. It only last for about 3 days and the place is packed. If your into fishing for lobster, this is quite an exciting activity. Don’t leave behind your snorkel, tickle stick and net! The kind of Lobster you’ll find down there are the Spiny Lobster type, which have no claws and can get quite large. Spiny Lobster are larger than some Main Lobsters in some cases. Don’t forget, recreational harvesters are required to have a valid Florida Saltwater Fishing License with a current crawfish stamp. Consult a local tackle shop for exemptions to licensing needs. Licenses are available through local convenient stores, tax collectors, many tackle shops and marine supply stores. What does it cost to travel to the Florida Keys? I’m finally getting to that. The Florida Keys is by far the best tropical vacation destination for any professional fisherman, scuba diver, or just plain traveler. But watch your pocket book! The Florida Keys can be quite expensive. My family and I shopped around extensively for the best hotel rates and by far the best we found was a little place right off the highway called Big Pine Key Motel. They had the best rates and the biggest rooms of every “affordable” place to stay down there which were around $70 and up! And I do mean up. Some establishments were asking over $500. If you’ve got the nut, I would highly recommend Little Palm Island. It’s one of the top 10 destinations in the world and the only way you can get to it is by boat. The Big Pine Key Motel is just a 20 minute drive from Key West and is surrounded by dive shops, fishing charters and great places to eat. I’m going to end with a warning. The Florida Keys is protected by many environmental laws that cater to endangered species. If you do any hiking around lookout for the poison wood. It looks as innocent as an apple tree and 10 times more dangerous than poison ivy. The locals can’t chop it down because it grows a fruit that an endangered species of bird eats.

Sport Diver

Insiders' Guide to the Florida Keys and Key West

Report on the FAO/DANIDA/CFRAMP/WECAFC Regional Workshops on the Assessment of the Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus), Belize City, Belize 21 April-2 May 1997, Merida, Mexico, 1-12 June 1998

Insiders' Guide to the Florida Keys and Key West, 13th

Highroad Guide to Florida Keys and the Everglades