Save Our Shore - Pine Key Project
Donation protected
Save Our Shores is a fundraising project to assist the ownership group of Pine Key (aka Beer Can Island) in preserving and replenishing the eroding shoreline of the island.
Beer Can Island is a privately owned island located 2 miles offshore Apollo Beach, in the heart of Tampa Bay, Florida. For generations, this island has been a boating and camping hotspot. The previous owner had a hands off approach and left the island to fend for itself. The island was well known for its raucous parties, which contributed to a garbage laden landscape. After our purchase of the property, we have made it our mission to make the island one of the most beautiful and unique islands in the world. We have removed several tons of garbage, beautified the landscape, added amenities like bathrooms, food/drink service, and our mere presence alone has added safety to the experience for everyone. But unfortunately it hasn't all been rumrunners and sunsets for us.
Since our purchase of the island in late 2017, we have watched helplessly as wave action has eroded the shore of the island. We estimate to have lost 3 acres of upland during our time, but this has been an ongoing problem. What is now a ~8 acre island used to be as much as 18 acres.
The island is located in a high wave energy area adjacent to a shipping channel that serves one of the busiest ports in North America. The wakes from passing ships in the channel have taken their toll on the island, losing lots of usable land and endangering boats with fallen trees in the channel. Steps must be taken to reinforce the shoreline before our beloved island erodes to nothing.
The Pine Key Project was created to preserve the island and reclaim the land that has been lost. We are designing a plan with engineers to protect and expand the beaches of the island. We have surveyed the property extensively and generated loads of data on wind and wave patterns to develop this plan.
The next phase involves installing geotubes along the shore to stabilize the island and halt erosion. We then can backfill with dredge to restore the beaches on the south, west and north sides.
The final phase is to install breakwaters, which will protect the shores from damaging ship wakes, collect sand to naturally expand the beaches, and create protected areas for recreation.
As you might imagine, moving large amounts of equipment and sand around on the water is extremely expensive, not to mention the surveys, environmental studies, data research and permits to make it all possible. While we are an enterprise that has already incurred significant expenses (and we expect to pay for more), we are a humble grassroots business. For us to bear the entire burden of this project will not only hurt us financially, but also elongate the timeline for the project, allowing more erosion to take place. With your generous donation, we can help us accelerate the timeline of this project, return the island to it's former glory while protecting it for generations to come!
Beer Can Island is a privately owned island located 2 miles offshore Apollo Beach, in the heart of Tampa Bay, Florida. For generations, this island has been a boating and camping hotspot. The previous owner had a hands off approach and left the island to fend for itself. The island was well known for its raucous parties, which contributed to a garbage laden landscape. After our purchase of the property, we have made it our mission to make the island one of the most beautiful and unique islands in the world. We have removed several tons of garbage, beautified the landscape, added amenities like bathrooms, food/drink service, and our mere presence alone has added safety to the experience for everyone. But unfortunately it hasn't all been rumrunners and sunsets for us.
Since our purchase of the island in late 2017, we have watched helplessly as wave action has eroded the shore of the island. We estimate to have lost 3 acres of upland during our time, but this has been an ongoing problem. What is now a ~8 acre island used to be as much as 18 acres.
The island is located in a high wave energy area adjacent to a shipping channel that serves one of the busiest ports in North America. The wakes from passing ships in the channel have taken their toll on the island, losing lots of usable land and endangering boats with fallen trees in the channel. Steps must be taken to reinforce the shoreline before our beloved island erodes to nothing.
The Pine Key Project was created to preserve the island and reclaim the land that has been lost. We are designing a plan with engineers to protect and expand the beaches of the island. We have surveyed the property extensively and generated loads of data on wind and wave patterns to develop this plan.
The next phase involves installing geotubes along the shore to stabilize the island and halt erosion. We then can backfill with dredge to restore the beaches on the south, west and north sides.
The final phase is to install breakwaters, which will protect the shores from damaging ship wakes, collect sand to naturally expand the beaches, and create protected areas for recreation.
As you might imagine, moving large amounts of equipment and sand around on the water is extremely expensive, not to mention the surveys, environmental studies, data research and permits to make it all possible. While we are an enterprise that has already incurred significant expenses (and we expect to pay for more), we are a humble grassroots business. For us to bear the entire burden of this project will not only hurt us financially, but also elongate the timeline for the project, allowing more erosion to take place. With your generous donation, we can help us accelerate the timeline of this project, return the island to it's former glory while protecting it for generations to come!
Organizer and beneficiary
John Gadd
Organizer
Apollo Beach, FL
Pine Key Tampa Bay
Beneficiary
