If only all battles could be fought with light-hearted hilarity, and hangovers as the only wounds. The 42nd annual Great Sea Battle of the Conch Republic took place April 26 in Key West Harbor and was, as always, a highlight of the irreverent 10-day Conch Republic Independence Celebration.
Each year the harbor battle pits the Conch Republic military fleet, led by the Schooner Wolf, against their U.S. foes in the forms of Coast Guard vessels, manned by good-spirited Coasties.
The battle includes a water-cannon war between the Coast Guard ships, the Wolf and a fleet of private privateer vessels fighting on behalf of the Conch Republic. Crowds line Mallory Square to watch the action, while cannons boom and swashbuckling swords are made from loaves of Cuban bread.
Each year, the Coast Guard valiantly surrenders to the Conch Republic forces and the party resumes on shore, where enemies are once again friends.
The offbeat 10-day festival commemorates the Florida Keys’ symbolic secession from the United States and reinvention as the independent Conch Republic.
The republic, whose motto is “We seceded where others failed,” was born following a 1982 U.S. Border Patrol blockade of the island chain. In protest, citizens organized the secession, declared war on the mother country, surrendered 60 seconds later and demanded $1 billion in foreign aid. The anniversary of the secession is marked each year with a roster of animated events.
