Stein,( are you the Stein that was here about 10 years ago with the broken foot or ankle) I do not know when you were last in Key West or if you had a drinking problem when you were last here , but it does not "suck" as you say, at Smathers a lot has changed , there are no rocks in the riding area except for a few stones right as you enter the water, no one even uses booties for this, also, where we launch at Smathers it is mostly kiters occupying the beach , another thing that happened is that last year the city gave us permission to remove the pole that was in the riding area which has opened up a larger kiting area for us . On certain days we do get sea grass which washes up on the beach and does not look to pleasant, but this slime as you call it helps to keep the general public away as they do not like it, however this is only along the shore and not really in the water. As for Key West only being for drunks, well myself and some of the other kiters enjoy a beer now and then especially after a good session , so if this is what constitutes being a drunk ,well ????.
I suggesst anyone that wants to come down here just google key west in general and kiteboarding in key west and see for themselves what we are all about, and if you do not like what you see try the rest of the Keys, Islamorada is also a great place to kite .
Greg
http://keywestkiteboarding.com/index.html