Key West Florida, wrecked and abandoned boats.

[jitts3]

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.

 

[Gofirstclass]

FL, like many states, has a real problem with derelict boats. There are just too many of them and too few dollars to get rid of them. It's a sad situation and no quick and easy solutions.

I'm glad you didn't end up having to pay for a prop for your boat. That would have been a bummer of a way to end your day.

 

[BritLady]

Welcome to the Conch Republic Seriously, Key Wst is a great place to visit but it certainly has some issues, apart from being shallow That said, we even have some abandoned boats further up on the west coast too. These awful looking boats will moor in the local mooring field, spoil the view and then become abandoned. Eventually, I think the state slaps a sticker on them and if no one claims them within a certain time, tows them to the local ramp, takes them off and gets rid of them as scrap. One of our offices is near the ramp and I see some of these boats and some are pretty big, it's such a shame. Most are sailors but a few power too.

 

[jitts3]

My son was telling me about the whole Conch Republic thing on the drive down. Funny. Stuff they dig up. We all had a blast down there and are dyeing to go back next year too. So much we missed and litterally had just under us. There is just never enough time. So now they are all on board with me getting the boats going finally and towing one down with the Motorhome. This year we towed the Cadillac and barely used it. Just a few trips to Key West from the KOA campground.

 

[madgrit]

Headed to the Keys for the first time at the end of the month for an extended weekend. This is a surprise weekend getaway for my wife's birthday. Any suggestions on must do's?

 

[RollerCoastr]

This sloop was abandoned in front of our condo building in Miami and stayed at anchor for about 4 years.

It started out as a decent-looking little cruiser. It had an outboard for a tender hanging from the aft rail and a supply of gas cans lashed to the foredeck. It even had a solar operating anchor light that worked for years. Items were slowly picked from it. I watched helplessly has a couple of a-holes in a late model whaler boarded to steal the sail cover. (if you can afford a $70,000 run-about, you'd think you could buy your own sail cover, but maybe they had stolen the whaler too?) Eventually, thieves stopped bothering to close the companionway and she began to sit lower in the water. I inquired about having her towed away, but I wasn't given much hope.

One day she finally broke loose and washed ashore. The pic above was taken the NEXT day - they were in a real hurry to get her off the shore, which is a public park. We called her the "ghost boat". I actually kind of miss spying on her.

The eastern portion of Ft Myers Beach has an area of live-aboard derelicts. They more or less serve as homeless shelters. A year or two ago, an extremely-neglected 40-something wooden motor yacht sunk and healed at anchor. They actually raised her and are occupying her today. At any given time, there's 2-3 derelicts on the bottom (in 4-6 ft), but they eventually disappear.

 

[jitts3]

We rented a boat and went to Sand Key Lighthouse. Good snorkeling there but we had "issues" when we got there. Still a cool sight to see. We went up and down Duval st. and did some shopping, and ate at the Hard Rock. Took pictures at the Southernmost Point. Almost made it to Mallory Square for sunset. For me I had to stop at Mile Marker 0 on US1. I grew up near it but in New Jersey. So much to see down there it can't be done in a week or even two.

 

[jitts3]

I have a few videos of the big houseboat all busted up. Can't load them on here as I don't have the ability to go from Hi8 but maybe later on take a pic of the video on the TV el cheapo style