Boot Key Harbor - Marathon, FL

[lorenzo b]

Robbies boatyard on Stock Island at the end of Shrimp Rd. There's a small liveaboard community here, the rates are good. If you're in the hood, come on by, you can't miss my boat.

[teejayevans]

They don't mention this on the marina website: do they have wireless internet?
TIA,Tom

[lorenzo b]

I just checked and it seems they don't.We use Verizon.
It's a boatyard, not a marina, and the services are basic and industrial
It is also right between the airport and the Naval Air Station but quiet at night.

[motion30]

I saw your boat, I will stop and say hi tomorrow I am no. 40 on the waiting list for a mooring Had a hard time finding a place to drop the hook

[Sea Yawl Later]

We are anchored out at Boot Key Harbor in Marathon at the City Marina. For $13.00 a day or 48.00 a week dinghy fee you have use of the community center with WiFi, Laundry ($3.00 a load, wash and dry), showers, trash and pump out. We have really enjoyed the 3 days we have been here. It is not as crowed as it was. I don't know about the waiting list since we are anchored out.

[ActiveCaptain]

Originally Posted by motion30

I saw your boat, I will stop and say hi tomorrow I am no. 40 on the waiting list for a mooring Had a hard time finding a place to drop the hook

Yikes! 40!

Weather tomorrow is looking quite nasty. Make sure you're well tucked in - let me know if I can help with anything. We should be around all day.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by ActiveCaptain

We had to stay outside of Boot Key for 3 nights waiting for an open mooring so I got pretty used to the aids to navigation outside the channel too.

Where do you sit for three days?

[bella]

www.bootkeyharbor.com is a great website. I don't recall it being posted in this thread.

[Sea Yawl Later]

You can enter Boot Key harbor from the west next to the Overseas highway bridge, from there you go by 3 marinas then thru an open bascule bridge section. When you pass the bascule I guess your in the harbor proper. There are about 300 mooring balls, right now the normal wait to get one is a week and a half. Alternatives are that you can anchor outside the yellow markers that define the mooring field including a designated anchorage in the SW corner of the lot.
If all that doesn't work.... there is another entrance to the harbor from the south called sisters creek. "waiting outside the anchorage" means setting a hook in sisters creek. I found holding good there, and where I was it was 10' deep right at the mangrove lined edge.
There IS a government installation there that throws around a lot of electricity and radio waves... some say your anodes will go away in very short order in sisters creek, and I don't doubt it. I imagine the government listens to a list of Cuban who's who from sisters creek. There are a lot of good options in the creek and it's very protected.
Sea Yawl Later
Rusty

[ActiveCaptain]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Where do you sit for three days?

We're 53', draw 6' and couldn't fit inside the anchorage area of the harbor - it's pretty full right now too. We stayed just north of the R/G buoyed channel leading into Boot Key. When the weather is from the south through west there, it's pretty terrible there. It wasn't bad for 2 days of northern wind but when it shifted to the south, it got bumpy. A better alternative would have been to go on the bay side.


We anchored at the Boot Key North Channel anchorage marker (in that area).

Other anchorages to consider are Fanny Keys, Pretty Joe Rock, Rachel Key (more north and east). If you're shallower draft, check out the Sister Creek anchorage too. I just took my dinghy through there today (we take our dogs swimming at the beach every morning) and it was pretty filled up too but it's a nicely protected area if you can fit.

Today is a good example of the issue here - winds are south/southwest now and for most of the day. Tonight they're predicted to change to the north/northwest. The only place to get well-protected from those shifting winds is inside the harbor.

[lorenzo b]

On the north side of Marathon just east of the white lighthouse is a good anchorage with a city boat ramp right there you can tie up at for free if you do not stay overnight. I checked with both the sheriff and the CG and it's OK. If the wind is heavy from the north, go through the bridge and do the other side.

[stacy]

How is the sister creek entrance into the anchorage. We have a 70' mast so can's go throught the bridge entrance. We draw 4'5''. Thanks

[ActiveCaptain]

I know of boats with 4' draft who have gone through on all tides. There's a good 1.5' tide but boy, I think I'd go in a dinghy first to find a space and make sure it's OK by the edge. It's pretty crowded there now but everyone is tied so they won't swing allowing more boats.

[motion30]

Originally Posted by lorenzo b

On the north side of Marathon just east of the white lighthouse is a good anchorage with a city boat ramp right there you can tie up at for free if you do not stay overnight. I checked with both the sheriff and the CG and it's OK. If the wind is heavy from the north, go through the bridge and do the other side.

Does the marina you are in at KW have any slips availble? what is the cost per ft? Headed that way in a day or so
michael

[Christian Van H]

I've been in and out of Sisters with a Hunter 35.5 that drew 4.5' a ton of times. Shouldn't be a problem. As for marinas in Key West...A+B Lobsterhouse marina puts you right in the middle of the action. It's pricey, but if you stay just a week and then move out it's not that bad. You can see the town, and step right onto your boat at the end of the night. I recommend it!