Marathon does not have any regulation regarding leaving your boat. I am currently on a mooring ball in Boot Key Harbor and the marina staff is doing everything possible to make everyone feel welcome. There was a proposal last fall about leaving your boat but it was quickly dropped and there is no discussion about a new ordinance.
Captain Harv
S/V Camelot

Hi Claiborne,
We were just in marathon for a weekend jaunt, they have really cleaned up the mooring field, alot! Saw very few “junker” boats,, even in the anchoring area.
Happy new year!
See you on the Waterways!
Capt. Sterling

Hey there,
There never was anything on the table here in Boot Key Habor that proposed to make it a crime to simply leave your boat. The confusion is that there are two different entities making revisions on separate matters: 1) the City of Marathon, and 2) the FWC.
The FWC revisions are to make it easier for municipalities to prevent and control the problem of derelict boats. Any city or municipality can choose to enforce those prohibitions (if and when passed) or decline and/or set up their own set of rules to use.
All the powers that be in Marathon do not want to prohibit anchoring inside Boot Key Harbor. They have stressed this time and again that liveaboards are not in threat of losing their right to anchor here. They have made that CRYSTAL CLEAR in every way.
What they do want to control is the problem with boats left unattended and literally abandoned. This Harbor had plenty of those years ago and I’ve watched those pests be towed off, put in the queue, and then destroyed. What a breath of fresh air that has been!
To keep that problem from occuring again, the City Marina wants boaters to let them know IN WRITING when they are leaving their boats for longer than x” period of time (quite reasonable) and who to contact in case of emergency. That has previously been an unwritten courtesy that any sensible boater has done in the past without urging.
One must admit that it does make it pretty apparent who is aboard and who is not. The Harbor was never intended to be wet storage for absentee owners who come here very eight
months. There have been owners who rent boats and are never here and then abandon them when they end up in the mangroves after a big blow. It’s how the icky stuff gets started.
Too, boats that do not navigate do not have to register with the State of Florida. Makes no sense to me. That is exactly the true origin of the derelict boat problem. Anyone can tow whatever in here and plunk it down anchored to an engine block and leave to never return. There is no way of bringing that owner to court for costs incurred due to his vessel because there is no registration to track. That’s LEGAL. Unreal.
The derelict boat problem for Boot Key Harbor is not even really inside the Harbor at all (at least not as of today). The problem lies in the specific area immediately west of the bascule bridge.
So the bad press Marathon has been getting is all for naught. There is no truth to it at all. You will not find more compassionate and caring advocates for boaters, liveaboards, and full-time cruisers than those in the employ of the City of Marathon Marina and Boot Key Harbor.
Hope this clears up the matter for ya.
Big Hugs,
Charmaine Smith Ladd
Aboard s/v September Sea

Click Here To View the Florida Keys Cruisers’ Net Anchorage Directory Listing For Boot Key Harbor Mooring Field and Anchorage