By Steve Plunkett

Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Co. is back offshore pumping sand from the ebb shoal just south of the Boca Raton Inlet to beaches south of the inlet.
The roughly 1 mile of beaches between the inlet and the city limit with Deerfield Beach will remain open to the public except for about 500 feet around each day’s active area.
The $6.5 million project started in March and is scheduled to be completed by May 1. The city’s permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection does not allow sand to be deposited on the beaches from May to November to protect nesting sea turtles.
While signs on State Road A1A say turtle season is March 1 to Oct. 31, intense nesting does not begin that soon.
The turtle conservation program at the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, which monitors the city’s 5 miles of beaches every morning during the season, as of March 27 reported only two leatherback nests and no loggerhead or green turtle nests.
Boca Raton routinely nourishes its south beach every seven years, rotating the work with projects on its central and north beaches. Hurricanes and other storms can lead to emergency sand projects.
The cost of the current work will be partly offset by grants from Palm Beach County and the state DEP.
The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District uses its tax revenue to pay for 50% of beach nourishment projects.
Through separate contracts, Great Lakes will also pump sand onto Deerfield Beach and its southern neighbor, Hillsboro Beach. Those municipalities are paying for their own work, supplemented by state and federal money.
Besides widening beaches for visitors, moving sand south helps keep the Boca Raton Inlet navigable to boaters.
“So excited to hear they are dredging the Boca inlet! Needed badly, it has been a little bumpy on the north side going out!!” Boca Raton boater Cindy Galiardo posted on Facebook.

By Mary Hladky

Two days after Mayor Scott Singer proclaimed March as “bicycle month” in the city, a crash claimed a bicyclist’s life and highlighted residents’ concerns about pedestrian and bicyclist safety on East Palmetto Park Road.
Bicyclist Mark Rudow, 66, of Boca Raton, was killed around 8 a.m. March 3 when a northbound 2015 Dodge pickup truck, turning from North Federal Highway onto East Palmetto Park Road, struck him as he was crossing the intersection while riding northbound in the bicycle lane.
The driver, who was not identified by the Boca Raton Police Services Department, was issued a citation for making an unlawful right turn.
Speaking about Rudow’s death, avid cyclist Jim Wood, a contributor to the BocaFirst blog, said, “When something like that happens, it raises awareness of the risks of cycling. It’s a concern.”
Beachside residents have long sought a revamp of the stretch of Palmetto Park Road from the Intracoastal Waterway to State Road A1A to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety as well as the road’s appearance.
On March 28, the City Council approved hiring Alta Planning + Design consultants to draw up plans for making improvements along the span from Federal Highway to the Intracoastal.
That project was spearheaded by former Deputy Mayor Andrea O’Rourke and land use attorney Ele Zachariades.
“We are very concerned” about the fatal crash, said Katie Barr MacDougall, president of the Riviera Civic Association, shortly after meeting with County Commissioner Marci Woodward about the changes she feels are needed on the eastern portion of the roadway.
From 2020 through 2022, crashes involving three pedestrians and three bicyclists, one of whom was seriously injured, took place along Palmetto Park Road from Federal Highway to A1A, according to the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency.
Lifelong cyclist Les Wilson, also a BocaFirst contributor, thinks he knows how the fatal crash occurred. The truck driver probably was looking left to see any oncoming traffic and may not have been aware of the cyclist moving on his right side. The cyclist wouldn’t have known the driver intended to turn right unless he used the turn signal, he said.
The City Council unanimously approved a resolution on Oct. 25 to designate Boca as a “Vision Zero city” as part of a national program to reach a goal of no severe traffic injuries or deaths. They also directed staff to create a plan to achieve that goal.
The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded the city a $300,000 grant on Feb. 1 to pay for that plan.
“Vision Zero, that is a game changer in the city,” Wilson said.
In an effort to help the city reach the goal, BocaFirst launched a Vision Zero Project page on its blog.
It includes a detailed map of city bike lanes that Wilson compiled after riding 300 miles of them and a link that allows residents to report bicycle infrastructure problems.
Wilson sees Vision Zero as an answer to making the streets safer for bicyclists.

March brings five minutes of spring to subtropical South Florida.
It also heralds eight months of sea turtle nesting season, which usually draws more than 20,000 female loggerhead, leatherback, Kemp’s ridley and hawksbill turtles to Palm Beach County shores to dig nests and lay their eggs in a cycle that has continued for millennia.
That annual cycle also brings out teams of professionals and volunteers who devote their mornings to monitoring and tagging nests, ensuring that obstacles to nesting are cleared and making sure lighting that might confuse hatchlings is redirected.
Here’s a look at the people who monitor our shores, ensuring that cycle that has continued for thousands of years can continue uninterrupted, at least in southern Palm Beach County.

Rebecca Germany, sea turtle conservation assistant at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, washes the ATV used for turtle monitoring following her early morning beach patrol.

Ecological Associates Inc. environmental monitor Michelle Simpson clears sargassum from a leatherback turtle nest in Delray Beach. It was the first recorded turtle nest in the state in 2023. The eggs were laid in a nest so early in the season, Feb. 16, that it caught EAI personnel off guard and they needed to involve Gumbo Limbo in the marking of the nest because they did not have their equipment on hand for the season. Simpson has worked as a turtle monitor for four years, with this being her first year with EAI. The group is responsible for a little over three miles along Delray Beach.

Lexie Dvoracek logs disorienting and distracting lighting conditions during her first lighting survey of the 2023 turtle nesting season along the shore at Gulf Stream. Dvoracek is the conservation program manager for Sea Turtle Adventures.

EAI environmental monitor Michelle Simpson has a tattoo of a leatherback on her right leg and another turtle tattoo on her left wrist.

Photos by Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

By Tao Woolfe

A neighbor of The Pierce has told the city that an approved street closure to accommodate the $73 million downtown development project would cut off easy access to his property.
Attorney Aaron Williams, who represents the owner of property at 209 N. Federal Highway, declined to say last month whether he had filed suit against the city.
Williams did appear before the City Commission on March 9 to say that the closure of a section of Northeast First Avenue would deprive the property owner of the ability to develop his parcel.
He said the owner, 209 North Federal Highway LLC, would be prevented from obtaining “the highest and best use for the property economically now and in the future” if the abandonment is allowed.
The owner had hoped to have a 125-room hotel built on the site, Williams said.
Williams’ traffic engineer, Joaquin Vargas, told the City Commission that the street closure would cause serious traffic tie-ups and safety concerns. It would also reduce the five ways to get to 209 N. Federal to three, and only one of those routes would be an easy one for drivers.
City commissioners, wary of lawsuits that shut down developments and result in huge legal expenditures, asked many questions of city Planning Director Amanda Radigan, the developer and the city attorney before voting unanimously to approve closures of the three rights of way.
Radigan said the police, fire, engineering and planning staff had all looked at the impact of closing three rights of way and determined that the impact on traffic would be acceptable.
City Attorney Michael Cirullo said he could not predict the outcome of any litigation against the city, but advised that the commission could continue to support the development of The Pierce. Plans for the complex at 115 N. Federal call for 300 apartments and space for offices, restaurants and retail establishments.
“A taking case is a lawsuit for damages. It would not stop the project per se,” Cirullo said.
Michael Weiner, attorney for Pierce developer Affiliated Development, said the commissioners should trust the opinions of the many city staff members who reviewed the project.
“You have done your due diligence,” Weiner said.
“There’s no substantive competent evidence” that the 225-foot closure of Northeast First Avenue would truly shut off access to the property at 209 N. Federal, Weiner added. “It’s saber rattling and should not dissuade you.”
The commissioners agreed after more than an hour of discussion.
They did reiterate, however, that Affiliated must work with the owner of the adjacent Ace Hardware store to ensure that delivery trucks and emergency vehicles can easily get in and out of her store.
Commissioners Thomas Turkin and Woodrow Hay asked why the complaining Federal Highway neighbor waited so long to express concerns about traffic.
“I will not be bullied or intimidated by lawsuit threats,” Turkin said.
The unanimous vote was the last hurdle Affiliated had to clear with the commission to proceed with the project.
Besides agreeing to the street closures, the commission gave final approval to Affiliated’s requests to rezone the 2.3-acre complex to a new mixed-use downtown core designation; tweak the master and site plans; redesign the parking garage; and abandon the alleyways.
The Pierce will offer 150 units each of workforce and market-rate luxury rental apartments and 17,000 square feet of commercial area.
It will feature public art projects, including murals and a huge, perforated metal corner treatment on the south parking garage emblazoned with nautical images and lettering that says “Welcome to Boynton Beach.”
The garages will offer 450 spaces, 150 of which will be for public parking.

In one of Ocean Breeze’s residential districts, a single-family manufactured home sits on a traditional foundation next to others elevated on concrete stilts. The one in the center has an exterior elevator. Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star

By Joe Capozzi

As part of an ambitious resiliency project, town leaders are working on a land-use proposal that would give Briny Breezes residents a flood-protection tool allowing them to raise their homes on stilts and pilings. 
But their research will not include a field trip to a waterfront mobile home community in Martin County that has homes on stilts, as some members of the town’s planning and zoning board had suggested. 
“I know that flies in the face of due diligence, perhaps, but I find this to be counterproductive,’’ Town Manager William Thrasher said March 23 when he recommended against a visit.  
A trip to Ocean Breeze, a town of 300 residents on the Indian River next to Jensen Beach, would give Briny Breezes leaders a physical look at what raised homes in Briny might look like. 
But the idea was proposed at a time when on-again, off-again efforts by some in Briny to market the town for sale have caused divisions among residents, who are also concerned about the effects of rising sea levels on their coastal town. 
Briny Breezes’ proposed code changes call for the creation of a district allowing homes damaged by storms and floods to rebuild on stilts or pilings. 
“This code may not be perfect on first go-around, but it would at least establish a tool by which a person could improve their home. And if there are major damages we have tools in which we can allow reconstruction,’’ Thrasher said. 
The planning and zoning board is still working on the language in the code, but it could be presented to the Town Council later this year. 
Thrasher said he has heard “rumors” around Briny Breezes that “the purpose for this exercise is to create another Ocean Breeze. We all know that’s not it. We all know that’s not possible,’’ Thrasher told the council. 
“I am thinking that the tour is counterproductive and can create more confusion than what we are already dealing with,’’ he said. 
Ocean Breeze and Briny Breezes are the only two Florida towns where residents live in a mobile home park bearing the name of the town, according to the census. Both towns are bordered by water. 
But the similarities end there. 
Briny is a co-op of individual shareholders, and any changes to Briny Breezes’ code would require not only approval from the Town Council, but also from Briny Breezes Inc., the corporation of homeowners who own the 43-acre mobile home park.
Ocean Breeze, which has a Publix-anchored commercial district, is managed by a Michigan-based company that owns other manufactured homes and RV communities across the United States. 
“More than half of their community is on stilts, up high. It is different from Briny in the fact that it is owned by a single entity that rents space to these people. It’s not a co-op like Briny,’’ Jerry Lower, Briny’s planning and zoning director, told the council. 
“It’s the same thing as Briny as far as dealing with sea-level rise being right on the Intracoastal,’’ he said. “That’s where the huge similarities are.’’
Lower is publisher of The Coastal Star.
If any field trip were taken, it could only involve one member of the planning board and one member of the Town Council because of Florida’s Sunshine Law, which requires open meetings. 
Council member Liz Loper said she liked the idea of a field trip.
“I would just like to see what one of the raised places would look like. Not to say that’s going to be all Briny, but if someone wanted to do it, you could say, ‘Well, this is kind of what it would look like,’’’ she said. 
A visualization can be accomplished by going online and seeing photographs of homes with stilts in Ocean Breeze, council President Christina Adams said. 
“My big concerns are grouping a lot of us together, the Sunshine Law and misrepresenting what our code is trying to do. I don’t want to do that,’’ Adams said before the council agreed to cancel the field trip. 
“We want people to be able to build and rebuild and have safe and healthy homes they can live in, but it’s not going to be another Ocean Breeze. We are always going to be Briny Breezes, and by taking a group of people, I don’t want to misrepresent what we are doing in the town, either.’’
In other March action, the Town Council named Adams as president. Sue Thaler, a council member for 12 years, had been the previous president.
Budget hearings will be held Sept. 14 and Sept. 28.

By Charles Elmore

For all the charms of Palm Beach County’s southern coast, driving does not always represent one of the unalloyed delights. Now motorists face the prospect of thinking about ways to steer through some of the nation’s biggest car insurance bills in 2023.
“We are seeing increases across the board from all of the auto insurance carriers we work with, anywhere between 25% and 50%,” said John G. Backer, one of the owners of the Gracey-Backer Inc. independent insurance agency in Delray Beach.
The South Florida region — including Miami through Palm Beach County — ranks as the most expensive among 25 top U.S. metro areas with an average car insurance premium of $3,447, according to research by Bankrate.com. That’s more than double the average annual premium of $1,328 in Boston.
That’s not what every driver in the region automatically pays, but the broad strokes seem clear enough.
What to do? It’s a moment to consider some serious shopping around for what competing insurers charge, looking for discounts for things like taking a safe-driver course, or trying to lower premiums by choosing higher deductibles, people in the business say. That means the driver agrees to pay more out of pocket if accidents occur. 
“Auto insurance in South Florida is going to be expensive regardless of who you are insured with,” Backer said. “Knowing what discounts are available and tweaking your deductibles should help offset these higher premiums.”

Debt can do damage
Some ways to lower the bill may not be obvious or widely known. One involves the advice to “clean up your financial house,” in the words of Harvey Brown, owner of a Delray Beach-based agency bearing his name.
He is referring to the impact of credit scores, measures of how well someone handles debt. This is a controversial part of the rate-setting business, because it affects premiums apart from a person’s tickets or accidents or actual driving record. Industry officials say it does correlate to risk to the insurer, though some consumer advocates argue it is not fair to good drivers who accumulate some debt.
In any case, the Bankrate survey captures how it can matter.
If a driver’s credit score decreases from “good” to “poor,” insurance costs can go up anywhere from $37 more in Seattle to $4,989 more in Detroit.
So where possible, it might be wise to tackle unpaid bills or avoid new debt even if it might seem unrelated to insurance, Brown said.
Whether drivers are affluent executives or seniors on fixed incomes, no one particularly enjoys higher premiums, he said. 
“When they get a big increase they get pretty mad at the agent,” Brown said. “The first thing we say is we’re going to check with other companies.”
Both home and car insurance have become a source of heartburn around the region lately.
In the South Florida market, car insurance costs account for 5.51% of the typical household budget, Bankrate found. That is about 2.5 times the percentage in Charlotte, North Carolina, for example.
As for adding a teen driver, welcome to the priciest place to do that — an additional $3,754, Bankrate figured. Compare that to an extra $1,666 to add a 16-year-old to the policy in Portland, Oregon.
“The increases are due to a variety of factors,” Backer said. 
These include rising costs for auto materials and repairs, more advanced technology in cars, appreciating car values, availability of new and used cars for purchase, and rising population which leads to more congested streets, thus increasing the likelihood of accidents, he said.

Area growth drives up prices
South Florida’s popularity as a place to live has figured in other recent insurance narratives. People with the means to do so bought a lot of houses in the county during the coronavirus pandemic, driving up property prices, which in turn lifted home insurance rates. That is because the cost to repair or replace a damaged home has gone up.
With car insurance, some of this is related to issues that came up during the pandemic but are still playing out in the cycles of how insurers set rates, analysts say.
“Although inflation has shown signs of slowing lately, we expect rates to continue to rise in 2023,” said Bankrate analyst Cate Deventer. “Full coverage car insurance premiums rose due in part to inflation, supply chain disruptions and labor shortages. These factors all individually increase the cost of claims, and when combined, drove up the cost to repair or replace vehicles significantly.” 
Nationally, auto insurance costs climbed 13.72% in 2023, to $2,014 per year, which is 2.93% of the average household income, Bankrate figured. That compared to $1,771 in 2022.
Quoted rates are based on a 40-year-old male and female couple, driving a 2021 Toyota Camry, and carrying a package of typical coverage that amounts to more than the bare legal minimum in most states. That includes $500 deductibles for collision and comprehensive coverage.
Some insurers permit higher deductibles such as $1,000. That costs the customer more if a claim occurs, but helps keep annual premium costs down and saves money in accident-free stretches.  
“Overall, higher deductibles should save you money over the long run,” Backer said.
Fraud schemes and a high rate of cases going to court in Florida also drive up costs, but drivers can take the wheel into their own hands in several ways, said Mark Friedlander, Florida-based spokesman for the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute. 
“Auto insurance is the most competitive insurance market in the country,” he said. 
Bundling home and auto policies with the same insurer can provide discounts where available, for example.
Ask about discounts for things like not having an accident in the last three years or willingness to pay the full premium up front, he said.
“Shop your coverage,” Friedlander said. “Get multiple quotes to compare costs, discounts offered and coverage levels.” Ú

By Christine Davis

The Soloviev Group, led by Chairman Stefan Soloviev, purchased properties in downtown Delray Beach for $32 million in February. They were located at 11 S. Swinton Ave., 2 E. Atlantic Ave., 203-209 E. Atlantic Ave., 9 NE Second Ave. and 5 SE Second Ave.
The Soloviev Group, based in New York City, “is a multisector company that’s been around since the 1970s,” said CEO Michael Hershman. “It has real estate holdings in New York, Colorado and California and we own agriculture. It’s one of the 26 largest landowners in the United States.”
Hershman moved to Delray Beach five years ago. Soloviev moved to Delray four years ago. Both are now full-time residents. They opened an office on Atlantic Avenue a year ago.
“I never thought about living in Florida,” Hershman said. “My wife and I have friends here and we visited and fell in love with Delray. Stefan came down to visit me and fell in love with the place; it’s hard not to. Delray is walkable, friendly and vibrant and it felt like a perfect place to live.
“We are excited to be part of the community and to be investing in it.”  
The Soloviev Group does not plan on making changes or redeveloping these properties, Hershman said. “We have great tenants and we love the way the properties are operated. We look at Delray as a high-growth market, and since we are residents of Delray, we want to keep it as it is: a charming village by the sea.”
Tenants include Atlantic Avenue Yacht Club, Bull Bar, Tin Roof, Coco & Co., and Rack’s Fish House & Oyster Bar.
Representing Soloviev in these deals were Jeff Kelly and John Jaspert of CBRE. Dominic Montazemi and Mike Ciadella of Cushman & Wakefield represented the sellers, which were entities managed by Delray Beach resident Steven Cohen.

***

Pebb Capital, a real estate and private equity investment firm, broke ground in February on Sundy Village, a mixed-use development at 22 W. Atlantic Ave., Delray Beach. 
Located on about 7 acres, with architecture by Gensler and RLC Architects, Sundy Village will include 99,000 square feet of Class A offices, more than 28,000 square feet of retail and dining space, and multiple structures listed on the local and national registers of historic places that will be preserved. These include the Sundy House, The Rectory and the Cathcart House.
Bluewater Builders will be the general contractor, with delivery expected summer 2024. CBRE oversees Sundy Village’s office leasing, while Vertical Real Estate handles retail leasing.

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Changes are happening at Mizner Park in Boca Raton, with the opening of new eateries: Penelope, American Social, Shaker & Pie, and Eddie V’s Prime Seafood. Penelope, with a New Orleans-inspired menu, will occupy the 1,500-square-foot space that was Kapow! American Social will take the space formerly occupied by Truluck’s Seafood, Steak and Crab House. Shaker & Pie will open this summer where the Dubliner was once located. Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, planning a May opening, will take over the space occupied by Ouzo Bay.
Also, The Shade Store is now open, Spirits and Spice plans to open in April and Visual Eyes will double its existing store, taking over the space that was previously occupied by Le Macaron.

***

A trust in the name of Michigan-based developer Frances Moceri paid $28 million in February for a six-bedroom, 10,661-square-foot estate on a .56-acre lot at 372 E. Alexander Palm Road, Boca Raton. Moceri is a founding partner of a family real estate company that has built communities throughout Michigan.
The seller was 372 Alexander Palm Trust, with local attorney Jeffrey A. Baskies as trustee. The home was built in 2022 by Boca Raton-based SRD Building Corp. David W. Roberts of Royal Palm Properties represented both sides of the deal. 

***

Daniel E. Edwards bought adjacent properties at 553 Harbor Court and 526 N. Ocean Blvd., Delray Beach, from Michelle Broda for $22 million, according to public records.
The 12,000-square-foot, five-bedroom main house and 8,000-square-foot, two-bedroom guest house border the ocean and cover almost an acre.
Broda is the widow of Randall Broda, who died in March 2022. He was president of Jay-Bee Oil & Gas in Cairo, West Virginia. Edwards is a real estate investor. Compass agent Warren Heeg and Thomas Reutter of Reutter Investments represented the seller. Diana Varhley, an agent with Beachfront Properties Real Estate, represented the buyer.

***

TRX, a fitness company that specializes in strength-training systems, will open a facility at 1110 S. Federal Highway, Delray Beach, where it will have offices, workout facilities and two film studios. 
Ingrid Kennemer, a broker with Coastal Commercial Group, represented TRX with its multiyear lease in the 12,000-square-foot building, previously occupied by Office Depot. Drew Schaul, Paul Grossman and Alex Cesar of CBRE, Inc. represented the landlord. 
Moving its headquarters from San Francisco, TRX aims for a “revitalized” new start after being reacquired by its founder, retired Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick, who started the company in 2004. He sold his controlling interest in 2019, but in 2022, he bought it out of bankruptcy for $8.4 million with Jack Daly, a Delray Beach resident and former partner at Goldman Sachs who will serve as CEO of the company.
“Delray is a vibrant fitness and technology business environment and we think it’s a perfect place to have the business here,” Daly said.
He also noted that Delray Beach resident Mark Fields, former CEO of Ford Motor Company, is on TRX’s board, as is retired astronaut Susan Kilrain.

***

Florida Atlantic University and Florida Power & Light Co., through its charitable arm the NextEra Energy Foundation, have agreed to a four-year collaboration to establish the FPL Center for Intelligent Energy Technologies. The center will be housed in the university’s College of Engineering and Computer Science.
The $1 million gift was approved by the university’s board of trustees. The new center will focus on research relating to the energy sector’s smart technologies and products, along with workforce development.
Yufei Tang, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will serve as the director of the center. James VanZwieten Jr., Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering, will serve as associate director. The gift also allows for the creation of the FPL InETech Center scholarship for undergraduate and graduate students.

***

The Boca Raton Airport Authority received the Corporate Community Service Award from the George Snow Scholarship Fund. In addition to its contributions to the Snow fund, the authority established a scholarship in 2017 that offers financial aid to Palm Beach County students pursuing careers in aviation and aerospace. The award was presented in February at the Rhinestone Cowboy Ball, held at Boca West Country Club.

***

The Delray Beach Housing Authority was recognized by Eat Better Live Better, which provides healthy food to residents living in the authority’s properties.
“When Eat Better Live Better needed help securing toys for our families, the Delray Beach Housing Authority stepped up and helped us to secure over 100 toys for our families. In addition, they have helped identify other avenues of support for our programs,” said Debra Tendrich, founder and president of Eat Better Live Better. 

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The top producing Diamond Star Award was presented to Tripta Chawla as Lang Realty recognized its 2022 top agents and teams at a breakfast at Hunters Run Country Club in Boynton Beach. 

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Boynton Beach resident Clovis Moodie was elected to Palm Health Foundation’s board of trustees. Moodie has worked as an education consultant, a leadership development consultant, a classroom teacher, a workshop developer/facilitator and coordinator of several programs and systems. She retired in 2016 after 40 years of service.
Currently, she is vice chair of the Art Advisory Board for the city of Boynton Beach and the Adopt a School coordinator for the Florida State Leadership Conference. As a member of Chapter EX of the Philanthropic Educational Organization, she serves on several committees, and previously she served as the secretary of KOP Mentoring Network.

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Katherine Alano was appointed financial controller of Boca Helping Hands in February. Some of the executive roles she held were with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Straz Center, Veredus Corp. and Bugatchi Uomo.  

***

The U.S. Association of Blind Athletes has named 16 individuals who will serve as the organization’s sport ambassadors for 2023.
Among them is sighted guide Je’Von Hutchison of Boynton Beach, a track and field athlete. He won a bronze medal in the 600 meters at the 2015 USA Track & Field Indoor Championships. Hutchison holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in business administration from Hampton University.
“As a pro track athlete and U.S. Paralympic guide, I have witnessed the tremendous impact that sports for the blind can have on people’s lives,” he said. “Being a USABA sport ambassador, my goal is to raise awareness about the significance of sports for people with visual impairments and encourage more people to take part in these activities.”

***

Feeding South Florida’s fourth annual “Feed Your Creativity” art competition is underway and students are invited to participate. Winners will have their artwork displayed on one of Feeding South Florida’s semi-trailer truck outer wraps, serving as a 36-foot moving billboard. This competition is part of Feeding South Florida’s “Summer Hunger Ends Here” initiative, which aims to raise awareness and funds to end hunger for children during non-school months.
All participants’ artwork will be displayed during gallery night, May 17, at the school of the first-place winner. Online submissions start April 15 and must be submitted by May 5. Visit https://feedingsouthflorida.org/events/ for more information, the competition toolkit, key dates, additional awards, and how to submit final artwork. 

Send business news to Christine Davis, cdavis9797@gmail.com.

The Butcher and the Bar in Boynton Beach held a watch party when the restaurant appeared on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Seated at bar are (l-r): Renata Jaremko, Joe Pisicchio, Elizabeth Greene and her husband, Graham. Foreground: Ashley Weber and Roy Madalinski. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

Suzanne Perrotto of Rose’s Daughter in Delray Beach with Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Photo provided

Food Network star shines a spotlight on local eateries

By Faran Fagen

A hot dog with attitude, a giant and juicy food truck burger and short-rib pappardelle sure to make any mom proud all made their way into the culinary spotlight last month when celebrity chef Guy Fieri brought his Food Network show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives to South Palm Beach County.
Of course, the food items shared the limelight with the chefs who “made them great” and with the restaurants where they have distinguished themselves as favorites.
Although the episodes aired in March, filming was done in December and the restaurateurs continue to savor the memories, photographs and the added business the exposure brought them.
Now back to the edible stars.
In Boynton Beach, the Butcher and the Bar’s signature hot dog is a 100% Florida beef — no fillers — natural casing favorite. Head butcher Logan Gates grinds the meat with a variety of spices.
For just the right taste, the New York-style delicacy is smoked to cook it through and cooled. For service, it’s reheated on the grill, put on a split-top bun from Old School Bakery, and topped with a house-made sauerkraut and yellow mustard.
“Guy told us people are going to travel from around the state to eat these menu items, so you better stock up or they’ll disappear,” co-owner Eric Anderson said.
The Butcher and the Bar (aired March 17) is one of five South Florida eateries featured in the latest season of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
The other four establishments and their air dates were: Boca Raton food truck Cheffrey Eats (March 17); Rose’s Daughter, which serves Italian-American cuisine in Delray Beach (March 3); La Cosinita Latina in West Palm Beach (March 24); and Hellenic Republic, which serves Greek and Mediterranean food in Coral Springs (March 24).
The series has showcased Fieri tasting and evaluating food for the soul at stops throughout the United States on the Food Network since 2007. The Rebel House in Boca Raton appeared on the show last year. Also last year, Fieri bought a house in Lake Worth Beach, and uncorked a style of his show at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.
And, by the way, Fieri doesn’t really drive around in that souped-up 1967 red Camaro seen in the promos. The convertible is shipped on a trailer to each locale and Fieri is simply filmed opening and closing the car door. 

Jeffrey Lemmerman of Cheffrey Eats has a portrait of Fieri on his food truck.

Savory burgers
Jeffrey Lemmerman is the owner of Cheffrey Eats. His food truck offers mouth-watering burgers in the parking lot of Barrel of Monks Brewing in northern Boca Raton.
Since the December filming, Lemmerman was itching to talk about his appearance on the show. On March 3, when the new season began, he and his following were finally able to spread the word.
“We have a very supportive community,” Lemmerman said. “The responses have been very genuine and heartfelt.”
The March 17 watch party took place inside Barrel of Monks.
Lemmerman said Fieri was “blown away” by the size of his operation.
“He couldn’t believe the high volume of food we produced and he was surprised we have such a vast menu with the size of our kitchen,” Lemmerman said. “It was a very humbling experience for us.”
When he took a bite of one of Lemmerman’s signature burgers, Fieri said, “A lot of these ingredients were made with love.”
Lemmerman felt proud.
“We order our patties daily and season them daily for the freshest burgers,” Lemmerman said. “And each burger is given the same close attention. Consistency is the key.”
Fieri tasted two of Lemmerman’s items: the Barnyard Burger, an eclectic chicken breast over an Angus chuck blend burger, plus candied bacon and cheddar on a kaiser roll. For dessert, he had brownie-batter cheesecake in a mason jar.
The filming lasted 20 hours, just two of those hours with Fieri. He insisted on doing the interview in front of a mural of Fieri’s face that Lemmerman’s brother, Brian, painted on the food truck.
“We’ve always been pigeon-holed, and people knew us as only a food truck guy before they knew us,” Lemmerman said. “Now the phone is ringing off the hook.”
Lemmerman believes in personal attention so much that he doesn’t take online orders. He likes talking to people so he can get to know them and build longtime customers.

Suzanne Perrotto of Rose’s Daughter says she was relieved when Fieri gave her short-rib pappardelle a glowing review.

Homage to Mom
Suzanne Perrotto, chef/owner of Rose’s Daughter in Delray Beach, first drew inspiration from her mother, Linda Rose Kaufman, a chef.
She skillfully and lovingly showed Perrotto how to combine Italian cuisine with seasonal ingredients. Those skills and the resulting dishes are on display today at Rose’s Daughter.
Perrotto’s short-rib pappardelle and black truffle paste garnered rave reviews from Fieri.
The episode on Rose’s Daughter aired on the March 3 opener and generated much buzz in the restaurant just north of Atlantic Avenue. The watch party was a modest staff-only affair on the restaurant’s back patio.
“It’s surreal, seeing yourself on television,” Perrotto said. “It’s definitely part of promoting the business.”
Perrotto slow-roasts her short rib for almost a full day, and a main ingredient of the pasta is Caputo 00 flour, which has higher protein content than regular flour. This means that the dough will stretch more easily and doesn’t require as much kneading as other flours. Using Caputo 00 flour allows you to roll your dough thinner and avoid tears while it stretches to the right size.
Kaufman watched her daughter’s restaurant on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives from bed. She’s in recovery from open-heart surgery, although Perrotto said she is “getting a little better each day.”
What began as a need for carpal tunnel surgery turned into something much more serious after the prep work revealed a leaky heart valve.
“It’s just a miracle she survived,” Perrotto said. “She wouldn’t have made it without the surgery.”
Kaufman took part in the filming just before the operation and kept her sense of humor in front of the cameras. At one point, the producer asked her to cook something in the kitchen, and she responded, “Cook? I’m too old for that sort of thing.”
“She’s brutally honest,” Perrotto said. “I would know — she was my first mentor. Mom is from Brooklyn, and the restaurant layout mimics New York neighborhood style, with tables close together, so you’re sitting near strangers.”
The atmosphere was not lost on Fieri. He commented on how relaxed he felt.
“I guess he wanted a pillow so he could take a nap,” Perrotto said.
But the celebrity chef with the spiky hairdo was wide awake when he tasted the pappardelle.
“I was so relieved when he took the second bite,” Perrotto said. “I literally stared at him for two minutes of chewing until he finally made very flattering comments.”

The Butcher and the Bar team in Boynton Beach includes (l-r) Kal Foks (cook), Matthew Swig (lead bartender), Logan Gates (head butcher/executive chef), Taylor Tucker (manager), Marit Hedeen (managing partner) and Eric Anderson (managing partner). At right is Food Network’s Guy Fieri. Photos provided

A special porchetta
As for Anderson, he turned the watch party for the Butcher and the Bar, where everything is made from scratch, into a refined event. The pots and pans — and even the silverware — were cleaned to a shine. Samples of each item spotlighted in the episode — the hot dog and porchetta sandwich — were shared with guests.
For the porchetta — a type of pork — executive chef Gates adds fennel, lemon zest, other herbs, salt and pepper, rolls it and ties it, skin out. Then it is roasted, gradually, raising the heat, and finished under very high heat to crisp the skin.
To serve, the staff removes the skin, and chops it into fine, crunchy bits. The meat is sliced thin and warmed on the flat top while the ciabatta bun from Old School Bakery is toasted. The bread is spread with a gremolata (parsley, garlic, lemon zest, and oil) and topped with a fennel salad that is dressed with a house-made preserved lemon vinaigrette.
“Since word officially got out on March 3, it’s been a whirlwind,” Anderson said. “We’ve been extremely busy, which we appreciate very much. We were obviously very excited to see how things turned out, what made the show, what didn’t, and how our food and ourselves looked on TV.”
Anderson said since he doesn’t often get the chance to appear on national television, he wanted to put his best foot forward. It happened to be St. Patrick’s Day, which he said brought him luck.
“We really appreciate having this opportunity and want to thank Food Network, Citizen Pictures and Guy Fieri for this amazing opportunity,” Anderson said. “And more importantly, thank you to all our regular and new customers for their support and well wishes. We wouldn’t be here without them.”

The porchetta sandwich from the Butcher and the Bar. Tim Stepien/The Coastal Star

It was an evening of altruism for almost 200 supporters who came to celebrate man’s best friend at American Humane’s fifth annual “Pups4Patriots” dinner dance at Club Colette in Palm Beach.
To date, the program has delivered nearly 270 service dogs to U.S. military veterans — at no cost to them — to help with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. The affair raised enough money to pair six more dogs with service men and women.
“There is no pill or therapy session that can put a smile on a vet’s face like a wagging tail,” American Humane CEO and President Robin Ganzert said. “We want every veteran to know that they do not need to face this battle alone.”
For more information, call 800-227-4645 or visit www.americanhumane.org/program/military/

Cocktails in Paradise
The recent Cocktails in Paradise event — the second of three in the Historical Society of Palm Beach County’s series — sold out once again, this time at La Coquille Club in Manalapan.
The Magnificent Morgans, an exhibit created for the event, showed images taken by the father-and-son photography duo of Bert and Richard Morgan. For more than half of the 20th century, their images preserved the lifestyles of the rich and famous and the area’s culture.
Attendees also were treated to a presentation tracing the path of commercial air travel and proof that the first international trips were piloted in Palm Beach County prior to the August 1919 flight from London that is publicized as the earliest.
For more information, call 561-832-4164 or visit https://pbchistory.org.

Rhinestone Cowboy Ball
The George Snow Scholarship Fund had its 29th annual Rhinestone Cowboy Ball, with more than 300 guests who enjoyed dinner, live music, an open bar, casino games and wrestling with a mechanical alligator.
The event set a fundraising record, $150,000 and counting. Proceeds support efforts to provide scholarships to students in need.
“We really can’t thank our sponsors enough,” CEO Tim Snow said. “Their commitment to the George Snow Scholarship Fund and our events has changed the lives of hundreds of deserving students.”
Call 561-347-6799 or visit https://scholarship.org.

April 19: The Florida chapter of the National Society of Arts and Letters will honor Lifetime Achievement Award winner Arlene Herson and raise funds for its scholarships, competitions and mentoring programs for performing and visual artists. Time is 5:30 to 10 p.m. Cost is $350. Call 561-945-0999 or visit nsalflorida.org. LEFT: (l-r, sitting) Judi Asselta, Dr. Ronald Rubin, Shari Upbin, (standing) Kirsten Stephenson, Herson, N’Quavah Velazquez and Alyce Erickson. Photo provided

April 18: This is the day members of Impact 100 Palm Beach County have been waiting for — when they announce which local organizations will receive $100,000 grants that will help transform their nonprofit missions. Time is 10 a.m. for the mimosa reception and 11:30 a.m. for lunch and presentations. Cost to attend for non-member guests is $60. RSVP at 561-336-4623 or impact100pbc.org. ABOVE: (l-r) Board members Holly Schuttler, Kelly Fleming, Kimberly Boldt-Cartwright and Jeannine Morris. Photo provided

The nationally known Bon Jovi tribute band Living on a Bad Name will perform at the April 8 fundraiser. Photo provided

By Amy Woods

The first-of-its-kind Go Pink Rock N Roll Dinner promises to catapult guests back to the ’80s with a special performance by a nationally known Bon Jovi tribute act.
Boston-based Living on a Bad Name will take the stage April 8 at Crazy Uncle Mike’s in Boca Raton in a benefit for the Boca Raton Regional Hospital Foundation’s Go Pink Challenge.
Proceeds support breast cancer care at the Eugene M. & Christine E. Lynn Cancer Institute and the Christine E. Lynn Women’s Health & Wellness Institute.
“We’ve had such great feedback,” Alyssa Kern, the foundation’s events coordinator, said of the five-man band that bills itself as the only Bon Jovi tribute act to have been chosen to replace the real deal. “Our staff is very, very excited for this event. I think it’s going to be so awesome.”
Francesca Thompson, the marketing director at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, said the concert more than likely will sell out.
“We’ve had, so far, a good response for tickets,” Thompson said. “And this is our first time working with the Go Pink Challenge.”
The Go Pink Challenge kicks off following the Go Pink Luncheon, an October mainstay at The Boca Raton that draws more than 1,000 guests and generates $1 million-plus. A yearlong campaign, it encourages people in the community to step up and support the cause by organizing third-party fundraisers in the fight against breast cancer.
“Anything we do is a win,” Go Pink Challenge Chairwoman Nicole Flier said. “Not only will we be the recipient of what money is raised, but more importantly, it gets the word out.”
Alan Rose, a member of the foundation’s Philanthropy Guild, is underwriting the event. The local philanthropist plans to fly the band into town for the show and cover the costs of a VIP experience that will include an open cocktail hour and a gourmet burger bar.
“I felt it my duty to support the efforts of the hospital,” Rose said. “I’m in part two of my life. I’m going to be here for, hopefully, a few more decades if I live as long as my father did and just wanted to ensure that there is good health care.”

If You Go
What: Go Pink Rock N Roll Dinner
When: 6 p.m. April 8
Where: Crazy Uncle Mike’s, 6450 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton
Cost: $35 show ticket, $75 VIP ticket
Information: 561-931-2889 or crazyunclemikes.com

Send news and notes to Amy Woods at flamywoods@bellsouth.net

The Dreyfoos School of the Arts Foundation celebrated 30 years of excellence during a musical night of performances by students and alumni. Proceeds will benefit the foundation, which provides more than $1.5 million in support to the school each year.
ABOVE: (l-r) Linda Silpe, Don Silpe and Dorothy Lappin.
BELOW: Gil Cohen with event Chairwoman Lisa Marie Conte Browne.
Photos provided by Capehart

The fundraiser for the Literacy Coalition of Palm Beach County set a record this year, bringing in $88,000. More than 500 runners, walkers and cyclists supported the benefit along with generous sponsors and powerhouse individuals and teams. Proceeds will go toward reading programs for adults and children. ABOVE: (l-r) Debra Ghostine, coalition CEO Kristin Calder, Laura Silver and Leslie Coughlan. Photo provided by Tracy Benson Photography

Boca Raton Regional Hospital’s Diamond Jubilee drew a sold-out crowd of nearly 1,200 and raised $4.2 million to benefit, enhance and advance patient-care services. Honorary Chairwomen Christine Lynn and Elaine Wold were recognized for their dedication, as were 13 doctors for the multitude of philanthropic gifts made in their honor by grateful patients. Lionel Richie performed.
ABOVE: Richie and Lynn. Photo provided

(l-r) Daniel and Fina Mulvey, Brenda Sands, and Dawn and Larry Edwards.

Close to 200 guests attended the benefit for Baptist Health Bethesda Hospital put on by the Baptist Health Foundation. The event honored members of the Giving Society and other donors and featured a cocktail hour, dinner and dancing. Contributions made that evening, which totaled more than $400,000, will help the Bethesda Hospital Emergency Services Campaign to renovate the emergency department at Bethesda Hospital East.

(l-r) Baptist Health Foundation CEO Alex Villoch with Julie Shen-Sivitilli and Rob Sivitilli.

(l-r) Herb and Linda Kahlert and Lucy and Mike Brown.

Dianne and Bill Jayne.

Barbara and Ben Lucas. Photos provided by Capehart

Florida Atlantic University’s Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters raised more than $80,000 for student scholarships at its Culture, Arts and Society Today Party. Chairs of the event were Melanie Cabot, Maurice Plough and Beth Schwartz. Entertainment was provided by FAU faculty members and students, a jazz band trio and visual-arts pop-ups. The night ended with a performance by the Commercial Music Ensemble. ABOVE: (l-r) Francesca Daniels, Michael Horswell and Myrna Skurnick. BELOW: Margo Green and Nancy Dershaw. Photos provided

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County welcomed 140 guests to the third of four conversations in the 18th season of the popular series. The event took place in a beautiful rooftop ballroom and featured the topic ‘History’s Mysteries: 20th Century Secrets & Scandals in Palm Beach County.’ ABOVE: (l-r) Lauri Saunders, Denise Alman, Susan Gillis, Mary Csar and Kirsten Stephenson. Photo provided by Jacek Gancarz

Eau Palm Beach in Manalapan welcomes Bōken to the dining options it offers. Photo provided

By Jan Norris

Spring brings a number of new spots, moves and closures in the area.
Chef Eric Baker, owner of Rebel House and Uncle Pinkie’s Deli on Palmetto Park Road, has decided to change those spaces out for his other format, an izakaya-style restaurant, Alley Cat, now in Royal Palm Place in Boca Raton.
The move will afford staff a much larger kitchen and dining room, including a private sushi bar/dining room at Uncle Pinkie’s.
Although Baker has owned Rebel House for four years, he’s been connected as a former patron since its opening more than a decade ago.
Izakaya is a Japanese format of small-plate, sharable dishes paired with cocktails and sake, and is popular with groups.
Some of Baker’s dishes include lobster ceviche with sweet potatoes and coconut; crab tacos with nori shells and avocado; and barbecue lamb ribs finished with yuzu, chili and sesame. A pastrami sandwich on the menu is a nod to Uncle Pinkie’s.
The new Alley Cat is slated to open in early April at 297 E. Palmetto Park Road.

***

Seems the burlesque brunch that helped launch the rebranding of Ravish Off Ocean in Lantana was too much for the town. The brunch was shut down after only three weeks after the town hit the place with a code enforcement violation as “activities going on at the burlesque show were not up to town code.”
Ravish co-owner Alexandra Dupuis says the show involved dancers who would shed some of their clothes during their performances, but it was tasteful dancing.
The weekly brunch show that began Feb. 12 was so popular it was sold out for weeks ahead. “I’ve had to call and cancel reservations for weeks out,” she said.
Town Mayor Karen Lythgoe was a frequent attendee, Dupuis said.
“Yes, code enforcement shut down the burlesque show,” Lythgoe said. “It was a fun time for all in attendance and attracted a lot of business. However, code needs to be adhered to. We are in the process of reviewing all code as part of our Master Plan project so of course the burlesque show will be discussed.” Dupuis was told Ravish didn’t have a permit for live entertainment or live music. That stumped her because the previous incarnation of Ravish that she took over had featured music and live entertainment, as do several other venues on Ocean Avenue — also with no special permits.
While waiting for the town to reexamine the code that Dupuis calls outdated, she is now featuring an Arabian Days brunch with belly dancers.
She’d like to bring back the burlesque show, but for now, doesn’t want to rock any boats.
“I’ve got a talented chef,” she said, “Johnny Demartini, who’s got a great reputation. We have a great menu.”
He opened Lionfish on Atlantic Avenue, has been a sous chef with the Max Group and worked at various other area restaurants.
Ravish Off Ocean, 210 E. Ocean Ave., Lantana. Phone 561-588-2444; ravishkitchen.com. Reservations taken for Sunday brunch.

***

Bōken, a new omakase restaurant, is part of the Eau Palm Beach’s multimillion-dollar renovation that started in 2022. The 10-table Japanese “chef’s choice” spot is the first of its kind in the area.
Guests leave the menu design and ingredients entirely up to the chef, Chris Cantrel. From a menu of sushi, sashimi and nigiri, including fresh catch and premium imported fish, Cantel will craft a five-course meal for diners, along with a sake menu and wine pairings.
The restaurant hosts two omakase seatings Thursday through Saturday from $155 per person. Monday through Wednesday, diners can choose a la carte from the menu.
Polpo is the new Italian restaurant in the Eau, which also has several bars and cafés.
Bōken, at Eau Palm Beach, 100 S. Ocean Blvd., Manalapan. Phone 561-533-6000; eaupalmbeach.com.

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In May, a New York steakhouse plans to open its first outpost, in Boca Raton. Gallaghers Steakhouse, based on a speakeasy from the 1920s in Manhattan, will be off Glades Road on Executive Center Circle.
Known for 21-day, dry-aged steaks cooked over hickory grills, Gallaghers cuts the meats in-house — a practice owner Dean Poll says is disappearing.
Gallaghers opened in 1927 on 52nd Street in Manhattan. It’s an upscale, relaxed experience, Poll said, featuring silver place settings, custom linens and a professional service team. Photos of celebs who have dined at Gallaghers will line the walls.
Decor will be 1920s speakeasy, South Florida style. The kitchen will be visible from the 200-seat dining room, and the glass-enclosed meat locker will be visible from the bar. Outdoor seating for 100 will be available, and two private dining rooms will accommodate groups.
The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner daily.

***

In brief: Ta-boo, the iconic “ladies who lunch” restaurant on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, has been served an eviction notice by its landlords. The new owners of the building say they already have a new tenant to liven up the place. But if hue and cry from the old-timers who revere the meet-up spot have their way, the restaurant may get a reprieve. Stay tuned. …
A revival of the former Falcon House, in a 100-year-old Delray Beach house, didn’t make it. Sean Iglehart of Boynton Beach’s Sweetwater closed the renamed Falcon in March. No word on what it will become. …
A special chef is making an appearance for the annual “More Than a Meal” Meals on Wheels luncheon April 5. Lorena Garcia, of TV and restaurant fame, will speak at the Kravis event to raise money for the program that feeds homebound seniors in the county. Tickets are $225; go to mowpb.org for more information.

Jan Norris is a food writer who can be reached at nativefla@gmail.com.

Will we have a repeat of last summer? August 2022 staff file photo

By Larry Barszewski

Sea turtles aren’t the only things returning to south Palm Beach County beaches this year.
So is seaweed. Lots and lots of it.
Not since Jaws has so much attention been given to a potential menace lurking off the coastal shoreline. Most every major television network, including cable, has run news segments in recent weeks about the massive amount of sargassum — a brown, free-floating seaweed — heading this way.
The sargassum — or the “blob,” as some have dubbed it — has also made the pages of the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal — even The Guardian in England.
It is accumulating in the Atlantic Ocean at a record pace, forming the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt that stretches 5,000 miles from the west coast of Africa to South America and is hundreds of miles wide.
Offshore, it is a floating buffet, offering food and a place to hide for small fish, juvenile sea turtles and other marine life.
On the beach, though, it decomposes and produces a rotting-egg stench as it releases hydrogen sulfide gas. Beach visitors stepping in or touching the seaweed can get skin rashes and blisters from jellyfish larvae, sea lice and other marine organisms on the sargassum.
“I don’t want to scare away tourists by giving a false alarm: ‘Look, there’s a gigantic blob coming your way.’ No, that’s not the case,” says professor Chuanmin Hu, an optical oceanographer at the University of South Florida in Tampa who studies the sargassum. “What my group has been saying is there’s a gigantic blob in the Atlantic Ocean and a small amount of that blob will sooner or later come to Florida. And that doesn’t mean every beach will get a lot of sargassum.”
So, if you’re wondering whether the sargassum washing ashore on South Florida beaches will be more or less than last year’s, the answer is yes.
Where the wracks of sargassum land is at the mercy of coastal currents, tidal action and wind patterns. Some stretches of beach will see smaller amounts than in 2022, while other sections will see significantly more pile up.
“Predicting nature, especially in this regard, is dangerous because we don’t fully understand what’s going on in the vast ocean,” Hu says.
But make no mistake, there’s an awful lot of sargassum out in the ocean — more than 6 million tons of it in the belt as of February — and more is expected. Last year peaked at about 22 million tons in the ocean in July. Last year’s amount broke the previous record set in 2018, and this year may well top the 2022 level.

Not a single blob
The sargassum belt is not a single blob, though it may look that way from satellite imagery. It’s made up of clumps of sargassum spread out over about 2 million square miles of the ocean. If you took out the spacing between clumps, the sargassum would cover an area roughly the size of Lake Okeechobee, Hu says.
The amount of sargassum in the belt doubled in size in December and doubled again in January, before shrinking by about 20% in February, according to USF research data. Early indications were that it was growing again in March.
It’s anticipated that it will keep growing as we head into the peak summer months, fueled by nitrogen and phosphorous flowing into the ocean from the Congo, Amazon and Mississippi rivers.
While Southeast Florida could see large amounts of sargassum this summer, it’s unlikely to have beaches with anywhere near the 6-foot-high piles known to rise up on some islands in the Caribbean.
Sargassum is carried here on strong ocean currents. The sargassum is at its densest as it flows through the Caribbean, along the Caribbean Current, depositing huge piles along the shores there.
Then, as it heads toward Mexico it is picked up by the Yucatan Current and then the Loop Current that takes it through the Gulf of Mexico. The sargassum that hasn’t been washed ashore then moves into the Strait of Florida between Cuba and the Florida Keys, traveling along the Florida Current. That current then takes the sargassum into the Gulf Stream, which carries it northward just off the East Coast, where a good wind out of the east will push it to shore.
The worst of the sargassum beaching here is expected in the summer months, but last year significant amounts showed up in April and May and kept landing on local beaches even into September.
“Mexico is already being heavily impacted,” says Florida Atlantic University professor Brian LaPointe of the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute.
Where sargassum will come ashore, like where a hurricane will make landfall, is hard to pinpoint with great precision. There is great variability because sargassum floats on top of the water and is heavily influenced by winds. Better satellite imagery of the coastal ocean is needed to make more accurate forecasts, LaPointe says.
“We’re hoping in the future to be able to give better predictions on sargassum landings,” he says. “Right now, we’re kind of constrained by the technology.”