We reported a couple weeks ago that Jimmy Buffett was helping a Vero Beach boat builder in the oil relief effort, and now the first of four Shallow Water Attention Terminal (S.W.A.T.) boats is on its way to the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory:

The first of four specially designed Shallow Water Attention Terminal (S.W.A.T.) boats built and designed by Florida-based Dragonfly Boatworks, and funded by Margaritaville Holdings and Landshark Lager heads to the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Southern Mississippi this week to begin a massive rescue effort.

Prompted by images of an ever-widening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which threatens Mississippi, Alabama and Florida’s coast, Vero Beach boat-builder, Mark Castlow, Jimbo Meador and Meador’s longtime friend, musician Jimmy Buffett, “had to do something.” All three men have long histories in, on, and around water earning their livings and loving the lifestyle. All three are concerned with short and long-term effects the spill will have on the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean, on visible marine life and the less-visible eggs and microorganisms that support the system.

“Instead of pointing fingers, we wanted to lend a hand,” Meador said. That led to the design of the S.W.A.T. boat. Using multiple resources, Buffett, Castlow and Meador designed the “life” boat for oil-injured wildlife. Unique features set the rescue boat apart: shallow draft with a bow-mounted trolling motor to avoid unnecessary noise, a worktable mounted mid-deck coated with a sanitary gel and a coarse surface to help animals grip without slippage, solar fans, a misting system to cool researchers and wildlife, plus a folding, collapsible canopy shading the entire boat. The Evinrude Company, showed it’s concern about the cleanup effort in the Gulf by promptly donating four low-maintenance 40-HP ETE outboards, which exceed all Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. SWAT boats will also be equipped with a camera system so that researchers and the public can view the activities on the Internet.

View more photos of the boats at Margaritaville.com

After a month-long hiatus, Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band hit the road again tonight for the first of two shows at the Comcast Center (Great Woods) in Mansfield, Massachusetts.

Listen to the show live on Radio Margaritaville on the web or on Sirius/XM. The pre-show begins at 7 pm ET and the show will get rolling shortly after 8 pm ET. Also be sure to check Ustream.tv for live video streaming of the soundcheck around 3 pm and during the show too!

Reminder: the parking lot opens at 3:00 pm today.

Buffett will play Mansfield again on Saturday (parking lot opens at noon), then head to Detroit next Tuesday and East Troy, WI on Saturday. View the full tour schedule.

Last week Jimmy Buffett visited the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory to see how their work is going as their Oil Response Team tries to combat the oil spill in the gulf:

The singer and songwriter met with the University’s President, Dr. Martha Saunders and her team of researchers on June sixth.

Buffett visited USM’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory in Ocean Springs to talk about their needs regarding the examination of this spill. To help out, Buffett partnered with a boat company from Florida called Dragonfly Boats. Designer, Mark Castlow is creating specialized boats for the lab.

Buffett is donating those vessels to the University. Dr. Saunders said Buffett e-mailed her about two weeks ago saying he wanted to see the lab’s work.

“So he came and met with our scientists and got a briefing on the kind of work we are doing. And Mark Castlow came and we talked about the progress of the boats and so it was a great day. We got to see a great alum and talk about what we can do together toward maybe improving the prospects with this oil spill,” said Saunders.

Jimmy graduated from USM in 1969 with a bachelor’s degree in history.

You can donate to the Southern Miss Oil Spill Response fund visit at www.usmfoundation.com/oilspill and read about the Spill Response Team here.

Read more about Buffett and the Dragonfly boats here.

Last week we reported on Briggs & Stratton’s effort to get 240 generators to earthquake-stricken Haiti and how Buffett was trying to help move them through customs (read the story). Laura Timm, director of corporate communications for Briggs, left a comment today on our article letting everyone know they got through:

This is Laura Timm with Briggs & Stratton. Our generators cleared customs today (6-10-10). Thanks to Jimmy and everyone who helped us get the generators in the hands of those that need them most.

Garden & Gun has an article on Buffett’s “grease experiment.” After running his Green Tomato surf van on used cooking oil for a couple of years, Jimmy came up with the idea to supply oil to commercial fishing boats:

Jimmy Buffett has a vision for his golden years. “My dream,” explains the musician, “is to get a big ole tanker truck, with huge holding capacity, and drive it up and down the Eastern seaboard collecting used cooking oil.” This from a man who’s built a mini-empire of concert tours, best sellers, and restaurants, and who could probably rest on his laurels somewhere besides the cab of a semi. “I want to collect all that used grease and distribute it to commercial fishermen along the coast to use as fuel for their boats.”

Buffett’s food-centric epiphany came from a green tomato. Actually, the Green Tomato, his giant green surf van converted to run on used cooking oil, a process that is actually relatively simple compared with using biodiesel. The van is hard to miss, and driving around the United States in search of swells, Buffett found himself acting like an ambassador for the grease engine movement. “I felt like a teacher because I was giving lectures everywhere I went about the benefits of burning grease,” he says.

Along with the usual suspects—surf bums and eco-hippies—commercial fishermen were anxious to hear his pitch. “These guys are always being screwed by the high cost of diesel,” Buffett says. And among fishermen, no one is more familiar with being screwed by high fuel costs and measly returns than the American shrimper. While shrimp prices have declined due to the flood of farmed shrimp onto the market, most of it imported from Asia, the same cannot be said for fuel.

Continue reading this story here.