Conference vicki::boats

    Sherry,
    
         For what its worth, a few years ago my wife and I went to Florida
    on a vacation. We stayed in Orlando & also went to the Kennedy Space
    Center. When we were driving out to the space center I saw lots, and I
    do me LOTS of alligators in the wild. On the sides of the road, on the 
    beach area and swimming along out in the water. Some of these areas
    looked for all the world like a beautiful place to go swimming and/or 
    have a picnic. Until you looked around. They even have signs in the
    area of the space center advising of the approximate number of
    alligators residing in the area. I would most certainly check with
    locals to find out where one can swim/boat/ski ect. I'm sure there must
    be some areas considered safe. I just didn't happen to see them.
    
    Bernie

re .0	I always think of alligators and crocs as living in swamps, 
not the kind of place I'd want to ski anyway, no that the Merrimac is 
exactl<cut>  Anyway, doesn't Florida have all those artificial lakes 
specifically FOR water skiing ?  complete with clinically sterile water, 
etc.    

	R

    Re: 1)  The space center is full of them because it's a protected
    wildlife reserve.  You wouldn't be able to ski there anyway.
    
    Re: 2)  Crocodiles are only in Africa (and zoos).
    
    Re: 3)  Clinical? probably;  Sterile? unlikely. (tastes terrible,
            smells worse) :^)
    
    Re: 0)  I wouldn't worry too much about alligators in the more popular/
            busier lakes and rivers.  They hate people more than people
            hate them.  And as for private ski-sites, the people who work
            at them are pretty good at eradicating 'Gators.
    
    I'd suggest going to Florida so us Noters have someone to visit when we
    go down on ski trips..  ;^)  ;^)
    
    Doug 

    My first thought on this was BULLSHIT but then again it has been a
    number of years since I lived in the Orlando area.  I know that a
    number of lakes in the Orlando area are used heavily for water skiing.
    
    1) The spce center is over run because it is a wildlife refuge and they
       are protected.
    
    2) The alligator is one of the great conservation come backs of the 70's
       and 80's.  For an animal on the edge of becoming extinct to a menace
       that is now legally hunted in 20 years.  By and large alligators tend
       to shy away from man.  The problem is that development has encroached
       on areas where they live.  To make it worse people start feeding the
       alligators when they are small and treat them as semi pets.  Cute when
       they are little but when they grow up attack the dog not so funny. 
       When an alligator becomes a problem in an area the is heavily used for
       recreation or where people live it is killed or moved.
    
    3) The bottom line is you can still ski and do it year round until you get
       the point where 70 degrees is cold. Don't laugh my relatives
       complain about the cold when it is in the 70's.  
    
    
    Forrest

    Having lived in Brevard County for 8 years and worked at KSC, the idea
    that anyone would not move there because of alligators is rather
    amusing.  What has beeen said about gators in abundance at KSC due to
    the fact that it is a protected area is 100% true.  There are also
    hundreds of vicious wild boar running around there too.  
    
    In places like the Indian River and the Banana River, where water
    skiing is common, and on many lakes, I have never seen a gator.  I
    spent plenty of time in these areas as I live for water.
    
    Oh sure, every now and then (like once every other year) you read about
    a kid that gets mauled by a gator while swimming in a very small canal of 
    standing water where no one ever goes.  A little common sense often
    avoids this situation.
    
    There are some rather humorous stories about gators climbing people's
    fences for a dip in the pool or a gator chasing Fido around the
    backyard for a couple of hours, but more people win megabucks than see
    gators in their pool.  At one time there was a gator that lived in the
    pond outside of Harris Semi-Conductor in Melbourne.  Apparantly the
    employees started feeding it regularly.  When they returned from a 3
    day weekend one time, the alligator blocked the front door in the
    morning soliciting a sandwich.  It appeared to be quite hungry.  The
    big guy was summarily removed and relocated to the everglades.  
    
    All in all, I wouldn't worry about it.
    
    One point though, if you do see a gator, especially one with baby
    gators, stay clear.  Gators run faster than most dogs for bursts of
    100 yards.
    
    /brett

    I lived in Ocala Florida and we would ski in some small lakes that
    had alligators. The boat noise would keep them away and when anyone
    would wipe out the splash scared them to the bottom (for a while
    anyways) and the boat would have plenty of time to come back (engine
    noise scaring the gator away again) and pick you up or restart.
    	I agree with previous note to avoid gator families, gators
    can outrun a human in short distances, and if you really want to
    worry watch out for nests of water moccasins. 
    	Follow the locals and you'll be fine.