Marathon (MM 1194)...

           February 15, 2023       




After the Manatee cleared our boat the short trip up to Marathon was less than 2 hours.  We again had shallow water having periods on the depth finder showing .1 foot of water under the boat (which is 4 feet below the water line, so an additional inch!).  Marlin Bay Marina was a good marina and good location as many places were walkable.  Marathon is in the middle of the Florida Keys between Key Largo to Key West and is usually known as MM50 (Mile marker 50 plus/minus in each direction north and south on the road).  By water, Marathon is MM1194 on the intercostal waterway (Norfolk/Portsmouth- where Waterside is MM 0).  My favorite place in Marathon is the Turtle Hospital.  They do great work doing the 3R's and they do it well having grown over the years.  Marathon is also more populated than other keys and many services for Monroe County are provided here in addition to a hospital in the Keys.   

A day after we arrived here I got a special surprise when Morgan, Dylan, and Miss Charlotte arrived.  They stayed about 3 miles down the road in an AirBNB.  We enjoyed Somebrero Beach and Crane Hammock Park in the area and relaxed at the pool at the Marina.

Sunset at Marlin Bay Marina




Charlotte at the pool with stacking cups and Scuba Steve; Putting sand in her bucket, and showing Pop-Pop where Spot the dog is.......

While we had a good time at the beach, it was cut short by rain.  I was somewhat glad as I was walking the beach there were quite a few Portuguese Man-O-War on the grasses at the water line.


Crane Hammock Park was a great place to learn about the area.  We learned about the different trees throughout the Keys.


  • Florida thatch tree were the ones used to make thatch roofs
  • Buttonwood trees would burn slowly and was good for the use of charcoal
  • Gumbo Limbo trees have sap that is green because it has chlorophyll, they grow rapidly after hurricane due to the destruction of other trees 
  • Poisonwood trees had beautiful black spotted bark with sap that would ooze out and burn you skin
  • Lignum vitae tree known as the strongest tree in the world and as the tree of life has been used in propeller shafts for packing
The naturalist showed us the mangroves to include the red and black mangroves.  There were "dry solution holes" which were areas of limestone with deep holes that would capture rain water ultimately breaking down the limestone over time.
George Adderly from the Bahamas purchased this property in 1903 for $100.  Interestingly, he had 90 dollars down and financed the 10 dollars over 3 years.  He farmed the land and harvested sponges from the Gulf.  In 1904, Henry Flagler wanted to bring his railroad through the land owed by George Adderly.  The compromise that was reached was Adderly would allow Flagler to build through his land(but not own the land) and Flagler gave Adderly a red flag.  This would allow Adderly to stop the train anytime he desired when the railroad was completed in 1912.  He would use the flag to stop the train to ship his fruits, vegetables, and sponges down to Key West.  The station for the stop was named the Vaca station.  There are many things with the word Vaca used throughout Marathon.  In Spanish, vaca means cow.  Of course there were no cows in this area.  The reference to cows is to sea cows or manatees!  In 1935, a Labor Day hurricane destroyed the railway but George retained the property.  The hurricane was a category 5 storm with 200 MPH winds and 600 people lost their lives.  The railroad ceased to exist and 10 years later a road operated down to Key West.  
The Crane family purchased the property allowing Adderly to maintain his home built of tabby.  
Making tabby is a long process.  It starts with combining hardwood which have been burned to ash and adding oyster shells which also have been burned to ash.  This is an old recipe for making lime. Once combined you mix water and sand to make a type of concrete to forms of bricks and/or walls adding washed oyster shells to the outside.  The amazing thing about this house, is the roof despite MANY hurricanes has never been damaged!       
Currently the Florida Keys Land and Sea Trust own the property.

While on the tram tour, I heard someone touring on foot,  about a boat they had seen.  I quickly left the tour to walk to that area.  To my amazement, there was a styrofoam built boat that had landed with Cuban refugees.  I asked later when did it land there and no one could answer.  The best answer I got was the fact it was in good shape and had not deteriorated must mean it had been recent.  I asked the definition of recent and was told I am not sure... It's pretty amazing, the name Emmanuel was on the side of it.




A Golden Orb Spider and Charlotte talking to Oliver, an injured Osprey.


    Charlotte also had time to show us how to ring the bell on the boat and the best technique to  throw sand bags in to the corn hole.





    Crab Pots or Lobster Pots? 

    While walking back from breakfast, we saw a man working on pots and he gave us an interesting lecture on pots. Stone crab pots are now mostly plastic although wood is still used. While he agreed the plastic doesn’t breakdown, he showed us a number brought up from the water which appeared to have become part of a reef.   The people fishing these pots go out 2-4am coming in late afternoon. They work 7 days a week during stone crab season November-April.  He also told us that the claws have to be cooked before they are out on ice.  If they are not handled that way, the shell will never separate from the meat.  Also something we never knew.

    The lobster pot are made of wood. The fisherman feels the lobsters respond better to the wood because the wood absorbs the seawater and more likely to draw the lobster into the pot. They will set pots from there 100-150 miles out staying out for days until their boats are full. They work 7 days a week with the season being 8 months ending the last of March.  




      What I found fascinating is we saw some wood pots with wire around the center. He explained these were for the lobster because those “damn” turtles tear the wood off the sides and eat the lobster. So they replaced the wood with the wire.  The issue with the wire is it is illegal to have fish traps in Florida and the wire makes it fall into a “fish trap” definition so they must be set 10.75 miles away from any point of land on the gulf side and 3.75 miles off any point of land on the Atlantic. He said the technology on boats now tell you clearly when you have reached that point in the water. While the season lasts until March, he said usually the lobster are gone but they have hung around this year. Currently getting $10 per pound, he mentioned 6-7 years ago they were getting $14-15 dollars a pound. We spoke with him a good 20 minutes and as we left, Danny said, well he obviously didn’t know who he was talking to when he said those “damn” turtles.  I behaved myself!

    Fred the Tree

    We have been to the Keys multiple times and have seen numerous growths on the old 7 Mile Bridge but never knew one of the trees had a name.  Fred is an Australian pine tree which is growing on the old bridge.  The bridge is closed but someone decorates it every Christmas and has weathered recent hurricanes and still prospers!   Fred has his own Facebook page in case you are interested in making contact with him as well as a children's book and T-shirts!  

    Touring Pigeon Key just past Marathon allowed us to see the living quarters on the Key where a number of the men lived while building the railroad for Flagler.


    We had great food everywhere we ate in Marathon except maybe one location.  Our last evening was a place that had been around for a long time, Barracuda Grill but had never eaten there. Yellowtail snapper and we tried pork dumplings with a great sauce with vegetables.  Another place was the Butterfly Cafe which we had eaten previously with the Sagers on vacation- beautiful place and great food!  Danny and Dylan liked the Bongo Cafe given their interesting selection of beers and eclectic food.
    We leave Marathon on our way to an anchorage going north but before Key Largo...


    TOTAL MILES TRAVELLED   1324.2 miles
    TOTAL DAYS  96




    



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