Here's the lifeguard station

teamreelloco2 · Here's the lifeguard station

This thing is gonna be huge.

Here's the bottom half

Looks like it'll go where the troff and the sandbar meet. I guess that shouldn't worry us, no one fishes there anyway. Especially springtime.

Here's the holes in the concrete

Here's the top half. I put my rod next to it for perspective. The rod is 8' tall

This is the monster that they are putting in the middle of our pier.

stupid

county for wanting to put it there. It's a fishing pier, not a

swimming pier.

.
We got dolphins eating fish and bait. We got boats anchoring at the end of the pier. We got AJ's Sea Bastard. And now this. What the hell else are we going to have to put up with.

blaminack

Looks like some vandals could make a wicked smoker out of the pedestal.

jewfish

"Hey brah, we go pack it in here den you go light it up over there, ok mon?"

"I'm broad, broad, broader than Broadway."

blaminack

I meant fish cooker not bong! LOL

Kingfshr

WTF! Are they gonna jump out of it?

Nite Legend

Man, what a ling tower!!!!

blaminack

As long as the lifeguards are hot in shape young ladies in lifeguard out fits I would be ok with it.

Kingfshr

"We got dolphins eating fish and bait. We got boats anchoring at the end of the pier. We got AJ's Sea Bastard. And now this. What the hell else are we going to have to put up with."

You have the sabiki crowd too.

Nite Legend

Don't forget the gotcha jiggers!!!!!

DevnDeb

Between the coversation I had with some county dude and what doug told me...here's the scoop...
1) It will the supervisor up there with a radio watching the beach mostly to the weat...there's a gap in coverage over there...
2) It WILL NOT be some hot chick, but some old dude with an attitude whom I''ve had a few "Discussions" with in the past.
3) The base of the house is as wide (If not a bit more) than the concrete portion of the pier...good luck getting by it
4) The life guard that was on the pier when they brought that monstrosity up (I was there) said..."It's 7 feet high, so that won't pose a problem"...My smallest rod is 7 foot...in a cart...it's about 7.5...HUMMMMM
5) Should I damage ANY of my tips on that thing, I'm sending the repair bill to the county...and I think everyone else should as well...the idiots that put that thing there (At a cost of over $45,000) need to know what's up...and they only understand costs...
6) If there WAS a gap in coverage, why not put an extra tower and more lifeguard out there? Oh gee...that's right...that would create more jobs in a down economy...I'm sorry...I'm making sense again.
7) There was an FWC cop that was there to make sure no fishermen caused a ruckus...as I was talking to the county guy, he came up and butted in and said "Just thnk...he can spot cobes for ya"...II told him if the lifeguard was doing that, then he wouldn't be doing his job, now would he?"...looked at me like "How dare you talk back to me"...
Anyway, I digress...It's not a stupid idea, but an ABSOLUTELT stupid place to put it. I asked the county guy why there...his answer was "That's the way they do it in California and we're mirroring them"...last I checked, this isn't California and we sure as hell don't get the big waves and rips they do...

Jhurley27

Gay...

T-wagon

I sent this email message to the editorial page of the NW Florida Daily News:

"Dear Mr. Shoffner,

I am concerned about the trends at Okaloosa Island Pier. Are anglers still welcome there? There's an archway too low for pier rods on a cart obstructing the entrance ramp. The pier house obstructs the pier access vertically and constricts traffic inside the house horizontally. Now an obstructive lifeguard station is being erected on the pier. In years past, I have seen groups of lifeguards diving from the end of the pier on training exercises. Diving from the pier is prohibited for a very good reason. It's dangerous. The pier management says they call county sheriff's deputies if a complaint is made about people violating the swimming, boating and surfing restrictions in the immediate vicinity of the pier. Well, visiting anglers are complaining that these rules are not effectively enforced.

Now a physically obstructive lifeguard station costing $45,000 is being placed on the fishing pier. It is reasonable to assume this will be manned by someone claiming to be in a position of authority. This is misplaced. Anglers are not swimming and do not need a lifeguard. They could use some security from theft and violence, instead. It is, or was, a fishing pier, not a political football. Visitors to the Okaloosa Island Pier pump a lot of much needed money into the local economy. There will soon be two great new piers at Panama City Beach, one at Navarre, one at Gulf State Park, Alabama, and an existing pier at Pensacola. It may become unpleasant, as well as inconvenient, to visit your pier. If it does, I can, and will, go elsewhere.

I encourage you to see that the Okaloosa Island Pier is run as an angler friendly fishing pier. Make access easy for pier carts (give up to 12' vertical clearance, 8' or so horizontal clearance) and don't harass the anglers. Improve security. Make the lifeguards watch the swimmers and leave the anglers alone. I fear the lifeguard people are out to take the pier over. Don't let them. Better yet, build them their own station on the beach, where they can yell and scream at people whom they can actually assist. I'm willing to wager they'll spend their time on the pier calling the sheriif's dept. to control irritated anglers, instead of providing safety to bathers, whom they'll be 150 feet from in each direction.

You have a goose that lays golden eggs. Do you really want to kill it?

-(T-Wagon)"

Please express your opinions. I'm all for lifeguarding; it just doesn't belong on a fishing pier.

jim mills

This is just my humble opinion here.

Putting a lifeguard tower on the fishing pier is perhaps the stupidest thing I can imagine going on around a fishing pier. Whoever came up with this idea can't possibly have more than one brain cell in their head and that one brain cell is completely dysfunctional. What an idiot! The damned thing should have gone on the beach at a spot where lifeguard coverage is weak.

Next time I'm asked, I may state how I really feel. This time I was being nice.

Jim

teamreelloco2

WOW! When the county is starting to cut back on benefits for first responders (and hinting at possible lay-offs) they turn around and spend $45k on that hunk of horse squeeze. To try to "imitate" california. Last time I looked cali had some major problems. I don't think we need to try to do anything they do.
Just shows how some people get into positions of authority and power and prove how big of a dumb

they really are.
How bout the county try to do what is best for those that live here 12 months out of the year rather than have blown that much money on something that will only be good 7 months out of the year.

SonShineFishing

They could have bought a really nice chair and umbrella for less than $450.00, drill a mounting hole in the concrete for the umbrella and you have the functional equivalent for one percent of the cost.

MS PAT · PIER GUARD STAND

WONDER HOW MANY FISHERMEN/WOMEN WILL ABANDON OIP FOR ANOTHER VENUE, i.e. PANAMA CITY, PENSACOLA AND NAVARRE WHEN IT IS COMPLETED NEXT SPRING

WHERE IS EVERYONE GOING TO POMP AND LING FISH

WONDER HOW MANY "DINGS" THAT MONSTROSITY WILL SUSTAIN WHEN SOMEONE TRIES TO CAST

YOU WOULD THINK THAT SOMEONE COULD FIND MUCH BETTER USE FOR $45,000. IF THEY WANT TO THROW AWAY MONEY, I'LL BE FIRST IN LINE

STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES AND THEIR AIN'T NO CURE FOR STUPID

FishAddict

That is the most foolish thing I've ever seen.

T-wagon

btucker51175

Looks like they are putting the thing in Today. Looking at the Cam they are working on something.

Jhurley27

mike83z

$45k+ for that thing? What a waste. Wonder what is next

pop I

They should mount it on the roof of the shack. Then it would be out of the way and they would be able to see a lot further down the beach. I'm sure someone would jack the life guard up there one way or another.

Jigslinger

Looks like a jumbo port-to-let to me. What a waste.

YankeeFisher

I'm definitley going to fish Navarre pier when it opens. I loved fishing OIP this year and even considered getting year pass for it but I dont like this whole lifeguard tower deal.

kingling

i take it they are putting it there so when you pop a ling off due to the stand, you can get on top off it and watch him swim to navarre...
am i right?

......

Here's the lifeguard station

PIER GUARD STAND