jitts3
Well-Known Member
After many years of dreaming, I finally got to take the RV trip with my family The Florida Keys. In the dead of winter too no less. Until recently, times have been a little tough, and with my boats still not operational, we decided to rent one down there. This is part of the story.
I was surprised to find that with all that water down there, most is too shallow to run in. You must stay in the channels. And have done all my boating in the rivers and bays of New Jersey and a Pennsylvania lake, seeing bottom regularly will mess you up a bit. I am used to if you see bottom, you already hit it. The water is so clear down there it is strange to me.
So we pulled the 24' deck boat (non Sea Ray) out of the marina and headed thru the channel and under the Rt. 1 bridge to go around the north side of Key West. We were headed west and went between the islands and Key West just north of Mallory Square and the cruise ships. I was warned about the islands west side being "The back country". Very shallow and most renters that go that way wind up buying props. But as i started near Mallory Square I saw an old house boat at anchor. It looked like hell. Garbage all thru it. Most of the windows with plywood on them. A small row boat on the roof with bikes in it. And a few tarps on the front badly ripped up. We circled it to check it out. I was wondering how it stayed floating. Then i saw 2 generators on the roof as well. No registration numbers on it either. A small dinghy tied to it with a decent looking engine. Then next to that one was a smaller yet still very charming old style sail boat. Again in very bad shape. At this point a cuddy cabin looked swamped and listing a bit. I went closer to check that out. There was gunk all around the sides where the water line has been for some time over the starboard transom. She has been there for a while. I couldn't get too close when I found out why this one was leaning. She was on the bottom as i was starting to kick up mud in my prop wash. A little too close.... I raisdd up the outboard some, and carefully backed up some and turned around for deeper water.
Later on that day I saw 2 more. Both closer to shore. Larger boats. 30 ft or so. Grounded and abandoned. Clearly the first two i mentioned the homeless were living on them. How did the boats get there. They were anchored well. And in deeper water. Were they placed there? By who? How is this allowed? I googled this and found a few articles about the abandoned and derelict boats and the problems they cause.
I just figured I would mention it here and see what others know and think. I can't imagine as I am trying to restore my boats why would anyone just abandon a good boat like that. And its not just a few, but many. It certainly isn't what I was expecting to see. Just like the wild roosters in Key West either. But thats for another thread.
I was surprised to find that with all that water down there, most is too shallow to run in. You must stay in the channels. And have done all my boating in the rivers and bays of New Jersey and a Pennsylvania lake, seeing bottom regularly will mess you up a bit. I am used to if you see bottom, you already hit it. The water is so clear down there it is strange to me.
So we pulled the 24' deck boat (non Sea Ray) out of the marina and headed thru the channel and under the Rt. 1 bridge to go around the north side of Key West. We were headed west and went between the islands and Key West just north of Mallory Square and the cruise ships. I was warned about the islands west side being "The back country". Very shallow and most renters that go that way wind up buying props. But as i started near Mallory Square I saw an old house boat at anchor. It looked like hell. Garbage all thru it. Most of the windows with plywood on them. A small row boat on the roof with bikes in it. And a few tarps on the front badly ripped up. We circled it to check it out. I was wondering how it stayed floating. Then i saw 2 generators on the roof as well. No registration numbers on it either. A small dinghy tied to it with a decent looking engine. Then next to that one was a smaller yet still very charming old style sail boat. Again in very bad shape. At this point a cuddy cabin looked swamped and listing a bit. I went closer to check that out. There was gunk all around the sides where the water line has been for some time over the starboard transom. She has been there for a while. I couldn't get too close when I found out why this one was leaning. She was on the bottom as i was starting to kick up mud in my prop wash. A little too close.... I raisdd up the outboard some, and carefully backed up some and turned around for deeper water.
Later on that day I saw 2 more. Both closer to shore. Larger boats. 30 ft or so. Grounded and abandoned. Clearly the first two i mentioned the homeless were living on them. How did the boats get there. They were anchored well. And in deeper water. Were they placed there? By who? How is this allowed? I googled this and found a few articles about the abandoned and derelict boats and the problems they cause.
I just figured I would mention it here and see what others know and think. I can't imagine as I am trying to restore my boats why would anyone just abandon a good boat like that. And its not just a few, but many. It certainly isn't what I was expecting to see. Just like the wild roosters in Key West either. But thats for another thread.
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