ABOVE: A view looking across Government Cut at Fisher Island public beach. Photo by Bryan Sereny

When most people think of storming a beach, the Invasion of Normandy comes to mind—the monumental event when 156,000 allied soldiers crossed the English Chanel to retake occupied France. It was a heroic day when lives were lost, legends were made, and boys became men.

The time has come to take a stand and storm the beach once again. But thankfully, we don’t need to go all the way to France to get our feet wet.

Fisher Island: The Challenge

On November 17th, workers, religious leaders, community activists, and the general public are invited to take part in a history-making landing on the shores of Fisher Island beach. The purpose is to expose the unfair treatment directed at the workers who maintain Fisher Island.

What! Fisher Island, you say. “I thought that place was super private. Don’t you need to be some kind of billionaire to go there?”

Well, yes, that is true. Fisher Island is very exclusive. In fact, they’ve done their best to wall themselves off from the rest of the world. The only way to get to the island is by invite-only ferry, boat, or helicopter. The island promotes its exclusive reputation by refusing to allow the general public to ride the ferry unless they have been personally invited. However, a stretch of the beach on Fisher Island is public—and that is the beach we’re going to invade—but we need your help to figure out the best way to safely and lawfully make the landing.

The Fisher Island workers union has launched a national contest— “Fisher Island: The Challenge.”  People are urged to submit their best ideas for the campaign to the One Miami Now website. Entrants will receive a free “Fisher Island: The Challenge” T-shirt and a reserved space to participate in the landing.

Here’s my suggestion on how to invade Fisher Island…

Enlist the Duck Tour Land & Sea Vehicle

If you’ve spent any time in South Beach, no doubt you’ve seen Miami’s famous Duck Tour roll by. Perhaps you’ve even heard them shout their signature “Quack, Quack” at you.

Duck Tours uses a custom made amphibious vehicle called a “Hydra Terra.” Each vehicle is a Coast Guard approved vessel as well as a certified passenger vehicle for use on the roadways. On land, they can travel up to 65 miles per hour.  By sea, the vehicles travels at 6 knots and must be operated by a U.S. Coast Guard Licensed Master Captain.

The Hydra Terra has a seating capacity of 49 passengers, and are equipped with life preservers for everyone aboard.

If you ask me, comendering a Duck Tours craft sounds like the most lawful, safe, and fun way to invade Fisher Island beach.

The gentleman in charge of operations at Duck tours is named Justin. I suggest OneMiamiNow contact him and mention it’s for a noble cause.

Gus Moore heads up Miami Beach 411 as site administrator, where he has been helping people understand how Miami works for over a decade. See more articles by Gus >