BS3 02 – Marathon
As I write this we are tethered to a mooring in Boot Key Harbor, within Marathon, Florida where we plan to stay a bit longer before turning North. We’ve only been here a short bit but we very quickly came to understand why this area has such a sticky bottom reputation, because already it is really hard for us to imagine leaving!
Well maybe it’s not so hard to imagine leaving, but it is definitely going to be hard to go! Just three days into our stay here we were already having that conversation about staying put instead of turning back North for the season. Alas, we have commitments that will require our attention this year and so we will have to leave, but we are already making plans for a return later this year, and hopefully that return will be much earlier in the season!
I know that a lot of you are unfamiliar with Marathon, Florida beyond finding it’s location on Google Maps, but Marathon is actually a city, which was incorporated in 1999. The city encompasses several islands which extend from the East end of Seven Mile Bridge to the West end of Toms Harbors Bridge, within the heart of the chain of Florida Keys. Public and private transportation opportunities are available to transit in either direction affordably, so that day trips to Key West or Key Largo are easily within reason.
Marathon is well known for being one of the Keys’ most marine-friendly cities, and the Marathon City Marina located within Boot Key Harbor is a favored destination of cruisers and live aboards for it’s ideal location, the multiple amenities the marina offers, the friendly and professional staff, and so much more all with reasonable rates. We refer to it as a cruisers’ paradise, built intentionally with full time live aboard cruisers in mind!
What is even more spectacular, is the community within Boot Key Harbor and the surrounding anchorages. Every morning at 9am on channel 1080 the residents gather to broadcast local news which includes such topics as harbor rules and information, current weather, arrivals to and departures from the area, buy/sell/trade/free offers, questions/requests/announcements, gatherings and goings on, and even jokes and trivia among other topics of interest. This daily broadcast usually lasts a half-hour and can be quite entertaining as boaters join in and share a few minutes.
Residents are also encouraged to monitor channel 68 locally where it is not uncommon to hear boaters call out to one another for a quick chat, ask for assistance, or to advise others on a situation currently of interest to the harbor residents (such as a family of manatee hanging out near the docks to watch for, or maybe a dinghy which has come untethered and is floating freely into the nearby mangrove channels, etc.).
There are always fun events and gatherings going on such as morning exercise sessions, daily Pickle Ball games, and socials at the “tiki” (a tiki hut on the marina property) which includes weekly events such as jam sessions (gatherings of local musicians), weekly happy hour (every Friday at 5), and corn hole tournaments which are held several days a week (when weather allows) to name just a few.
The meet and greet and other opportunities to actively participate locally really make everyone feel welcome and included, and even though this is a largely consistently transient community, it is undoubtedly the strongest marine community I have personally ever witnessed. Every boater can be as anonymous or as active as they like, but trust also that everyone here looks out for each other and respects the environment, as it should be!
Although there are several year-round residents living aboard their vessels in the area (both on moorings and in the nearby anchorages), the majority of spaces here do appear to be transient. Travelers heading in all directions find Marathon and Boot Key Harbor especially, a perfect stopping point for repairs, re-provisioning, and especially relaxing. Many find the harbor to be a perfect staging point to prepare their vessels and wait for the perfect weather window to make their next leap, just as we will do in the coming weeks, and maybe again next year.
Home for us is truly wherever our anchor drops as they say, and that is the beauty of living aboard. We could decide to stay wherever we like fairly easily, and after we have tied up some last loose ends later this year we will have no reason not to do as we please, whether that means staying here or heading out to sea. No matter what the future holds, we’ll be ready for our next adventure.
Until next time my friends, fair winds and following seas!
