Bee-ing Homeless

The mooring field in Marathon, Florida

Marathon, Florida is not as I remember it. We had been there before in our first boat, Lorax and we were very excited to return to the cruising mecca that is Boot Key Harbor. Last time we were there the mooring field which consists of 500+ moorings was filled with sailors headed to far off places waiting for weather windows to cross the Gulf Stream and buying their time with baseball leagues, dinners out with other cruisers and sun downers on different boats. It was a collaborative community where we made friends we still keep in touch with today. The Boot Key harbor we arrived at this time, however, painted a drastically different picture. 

We did visit our favorite bar, The Hurricane, and had some awesome nachos!

It seems that, due to the increasing cost of living in the Keys, there has been an influx in people moving onto boats and staying on a mooring ball at Boot Key. This results in sad sailboats without sails, broken engines, and derelict boats in general. Putting aside the political and economical issues at hand, this is also sad for the cruising community. There aren't any sailors! 

We also had ice for a night! Fancy cocktails, anyone?!?

When we signed into the office and got our mooring assignment there was something different about the place and I couldn't quite figure it out. Spencer, later, nailed it on the head. It was like a soup kitchen/ post apocalyptic zombie camp. The people working there look at you with kind, concerning eyes while speaking in soft tones, telling you to "please not steal the shopping carts from nearby shops, if you need a cart they can provide you with one" or "Not to sleep in your car" or "If someone is watching a show on the communal TV, please be courteous and not change the channel without asking or yell at the TV." 

We did meet a fellow young sailor, Dan on Saga Blue, and we took him
and his twin brother sailing to the reef nearby! 

Gone were the "Gulf Stream Crossing" meetings and the "Sailor Buddy Boat List," instead they were replaced by angry gossip about "Hillbilly Express" (actual boat name) stealing shit off of people's boats and selling everything at a garage sale on a neighboring island or "Double Wide" (again, actual name) getting drunk one Friday night and leaving his music blaring while other residents scream on the VHF that they are going to cut his lines. Although I have to commend these new residents for making their lives work in the Keys, because 75% of them have jobs and lead respectable lives, I am very sad for the loss of the sailing community that once thrived there. As a cruising sailor you feel like an outsider, an unwelcome guest where residents assume you think you're better than them because you own a "nice sailboat," in other words one that moves, and in all honesty, we couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. We were thrilled when a weather window opened up to cross to the Bahamas and we left Marathon in our wake.

The lighthouse at Lighthouse Reef outside Marathon, Florida.