The “Dr. Karl Sinclair Franz Memorial Reef” was commissioned by family and friends in memory of Dr. Franz of Marianna, FL. Dr. Franz was no stranger to Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe. To him, the area held many a great memory. Dr Franz grew up in the Panhandle of Florida and spent many summers as a child visiting his aunt and uncle at Beacon Hill, and later spending time with his family and friends at Port St. Joe and Mexico Beach. Dr. Franz enjoyed the outdoors, especially fly fishing for tarpon, trout, and red fish, and the occasional off-shore excursion for grouper and snapper. The reef not only serves as a memory to him, but also as a way to preserve the place that he loved. 35 reefballs were deployed on 06/14/2000. Reefballs are scattered over about a 150 ft. x 150 ft. area. 8 Florida Limestone Artificial Reefs measuring 8 feet tall added on 10 Nov 2016. This reef addition was constructed under FWC Grant 15158 with funds from the Natural Resources Damage Assessment Phase III. Two piling mounted Ecosystems added on 26 Apr 2017. Verified 3 Jan 2021.
Location:
Bell Shoal
REEF ID: 14
Latitude: 29° 54.474 N
Longitude: 85° 28.456 W
Range: 3.47 nm
Bearing: 222
Depth: 26 feet
Range and Bearing is taken from mouth of Mexico Beach Canal.