Marathon

Sombrero Beach Park, Marathon, Florida Keys

by Barbara Ann Weibel at Hole In The Donut Travels

Sombrero Beach in Marathon, Florida, may be the quintessential example of a multi-use beach. Am I talking swimming, snorkeling, sunbathing, picnicking, volleyball, barbecuing, and climbing on playground playground equipment? Well, all those things can be done at this beach, but that’s not what I was referring to.

Sombrero is a multi-use beach because humans are not the only ones that use it. Between April and October each year, Loggerhead turtles crawl up onto the beach at night to lay their eggs in the sand. During these months, city workers remove tables and park benches from the beach, nesting areas are roped off, and local officials and volunteers patrol the beach at least once a day to ensure nests are not disturbed. The rest of the year belongs entirely to humans and their canine friends, who are welcome as long as they are leashed (the dogs, not the humans).

With soft white sand, gentle waters, and no crowds, Sombrero Beach is a favorite with locals and visitors.

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Miami Lobster Mobster Charged With Possession of 332 Wrung Tails in Row Boat

BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff

An accused lobster poacher allegedly tried to sneak into an Upper Keys marina with hundreds of wrung tails early Tuesday.

Jorge Vargas, 46, of Miami was charged with possession of 332 wrung lobster tails on the water, possession of 332 over-the-limit lobster tails, possession of 274 undersized lobster tails and possession of nine stone crab claws out of season. All are misdemeanors.

Vargas reportedly was rowing a small boat with no lights toward Sea Bird Marina on Long Key at 2:30 a.m. when a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy stopped him, searched the vessel and found two large mesh bags full of lobster tails, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spokesman Bobby Dube said.

Vargas had no dive gear and no bully net on the boat, but there was lobster trap mud on the vessel, which led FWC officers to believe Vargas had been robbing traps, Dube said. He had neither a commercial nor recreational fishing license, Dube said.

The area north of Long Key in the Gulf of Mexico historically has been known to lure trap robbers.

“It’s very easy to go undetected there,” Dube said. “There are not a lot of houses and it’s mostly mangrove shoreline. Nobody is going to rob traps in front of a row of condos or houses.”

Conch Key-based commercial fisherman Gary Nichols said he doesn’t put traps in that area because they were always plucked by thieves.

“For the past couple of years, trap robbing there has been really bad,” Nichols said.

Vargas was booked into the Monroe County jail in Plantation Key.

Lobster thieves often strike, Dube said, while commercial fishermen are busy preparing for stone crab season, which begins Saturday.

4 Local Marathon Lobster Mobsters Arrested & Charged With Felonies

Boat operator Nelson Rojas, 43; and crewmen Jesus Zuluago Carillo, 35; Maikel Martinez Alvarez, 31; and Raudel Rubio, 25, all of Marathon, were arrested. Twenty undersized lobster were seized.

Apparently spooked by a passing Mosquito Control aircraft, crewmen aboard a Marathon-based commercial lobster boat drew the attention of marine officers Sept. 2. An investigation ended with the arrest of all four on felony charges from a suspected trap-robbing trip north of the Seven Mile Bridge, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

“Our officers were working undercover on the water when they saw a boat — the Classy Lady — suddenly start moving and traveling in a zig-zag pattern,” said Officer Bobby Dube, an FWC spokesman. “A [Florida Keys] Mosquito Control [District] aircraft flew overhead, and these guys seemed to think it was one of our FWC planes,” Dube said. “That alerted our officers to them.”

Officers Bryan Fugate and Josh Peters kept an eye on the boat and moved in after they reported witnessing possible trap-robbing activity. The officers said the crewmen began dumping containers of lobster over the side of the boat, even after one of the officers had boarded the lobster boat. That resulted in felony evidence-tampering charges added to felony trap-molesting counts.

“Some people believe that if they get rid of the lobster, they won’t get charged for having a big number of lobster,” Dube said. “They’ll still get hit with a felony for interfering with an officer.”

Marathon’s Faro Blanco Resort May Return in 2012

Veterinarian Doug Mader Discusses Iguanas in Keys

Doug Mader of Marathon Veterinary Hospital will be Save-A-Turtle’s guest speaker 7:30 p.m. Monday at The Turtle Hospital, 2396 Overseas Highway,

“Iguanas in the Keys” is the title of the presentation by Mader, who is the consulting veterinarian for the Key West Aquarium, The Turtle Hospital and the Monroe County sheriff’s Animal Farm. He’s had many articles published in scientific and veterinary journals, national magazines and more, and wrote the Saunders publication “Reptile Medicine and Surgery.”

Also there will be author Bonnie J. Doerr, who wrote “Stakeout,” a book inspired by The Turtle Hospital and Save-A-Turtle, whose meetings are 7:30 p.m. the first Monday of the month.

Florida Keys Turtle Hospital Releases Loggerhead Seaturtle

Turtle Hospital officials are planning quite the going-away blowout for one loggerhead turtle that swam up to the docks behind the Marathon-based facility in late March. Florida Keys residents and visitors have been given a public invitation to join in the release of the 73-pound turtle, at 9:20 a.m. Sunday at Veteran’s Park on Little Duck Key, Mile Marker 40.

Dubbed “Kincaid,” the turtle has reached celebrity status, as the release will be televised live on the national “Fox and Friends” show on the Fox network. The turtle’s walk-in appointment turned into a stay of several months while staff veterinarians treated the lumbering reptile for an internal bacterial infection.
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Gary Graves — Crab King of Keys Fisheries

Keys Voices has an excellent piece on one of the Middle Keys Treasures, Gary Graves. Gary is the owner of Marathon’s Keys Fisheries restaurant and manager of the fishing operation, has been with the business since it began more than 40 years ago. His fleet of boats ply the Florida Keys and surrounding waters capturing lobster & stone crabs for your dining pleasure. If you have eaten at Joe’s Stone Crab restaurant you should thank Gary for providing those sumptuous crab claws.

The on-site seafood market and restaurant, obviously, serve up the freshest seafood available.  They are  famous for their lobster Reuben, Gary came up with the dish after attending a meeting in Miami at Joe’s Stone Crab, where he was shown the version offered at Joe’s Take Away. About five months later, he created an over-sized sandwich at Keys Fisheries using lobster meat, homemade Thousand Island dressing and freshly baked bread. “Being such a huge producer of lobster as well as stone crabs, we have leftover meat from the lobster tails,” Gary explained. “So it dawned on me, why not make our own lobster Reuben?” 

Like savoring the lobster Reuben, ordering at Keys Fisheries is a unique experience. Customers walk up to a window and place their order for pickup. But instead of being asked their name, as in most establishments, they’re asked the question of the day, which might require them to name their favorite song title, pet peeve or New Year’s resolution. When the order is ready, the customer’s answer is announced over the loudspeaker to signal that he or she can come collect the meal.

Read the rest of the story at Keys Voices.

What Were You Thinking Kerry Harrison??????????????

Here is a story as printed in a local paper, with my remarks added in red.

A woman and her 2-year-old daughter were found trying to swim miles to shore in the Florida Keys after spending the night on a boat that had run out of gas, Why would you ever leave a floating boat when you are miles at sea? Who puts their 2 year old in that kind of danger? Sounds more like a suicide attempt then an attempt at survival. according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Kerry Harrison and her toddler, both wearing life jackets, were picked up Wednesday afternoon by a boater and taken to Caloosa Cove on Lower Matecumbe Key.

Their ordeal began about 8 p.m. Tuesday, when they left a friend’s house on Key Colony Beach for the five-mile trip to their home in Marathon. But they never arrived. At 11 a.m. Wednesday, a worried friend called the Coast Guard and a search began with the assistance of the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. The mother and daughter were found by the private boat at 1:30 p.m. The boat ran out of gas shortly after leaving Key Colony Beach.  This boat must have had no gas. Harrison did not have a radio or cellphone. There are still people without cell phones?

Through the night, the boat drifted about 20 miles to the northeast, There wasn’t an anchor on board? All that water is less then 30′ deep, most less that 10′. ending up near Tennessee Reef Light off Lower Matecumbe Key in Islamorada. Sometime in the morning, the pair began the swim to shore, about four miles away.

”I’m extremely grateful they were located alive,” said Jim Olive, acting commander of Coast Guard Sector Key West. But he said in a statement the pair should have stayed with their boat. Duh!

There has got to be more to this story. Had she ever been in a boat before? Who let her take a boat with no gas? No radio? No signaling device?

Hopefully someone else will get custody of the child until her mom can get help.

New Marathon Boat Ramp Opens

 
A new boat ramp and marina bath house in the City of Marathon were officially opened to the public on Thursday.
 
It was a busy day for dedication ceremonies, as officials first opened the newly repaired 33rd Street boat ramp on Thursday morning. With the ramp back on line, the city now has three such public facilities within its borders. City officials hope the ramp will alleviate some of the stress from traffic on the Dodge Lake boat ramp, which is located in a residential neighborhood.

“This is another great benefit for the citizens and visitors of Marathon” said City Manager Clyde Burnett. The city’s third public boat ramp is located near The Island restaurant, north of Vaca Cut. [On the Gulf Side] All three public ramps have been fully repaired within the last three years.

The ramp at 33rd Street now features a 40 foot wide, pre-stressed launch, to replace the old 20 foot wide boat ramp. The parking lot was also repaved and the seawall was repaired. The parking lot and bathroom facility now comply with Americans With Disabilities Act requirements.

An hour later, officials headed across the highway to dedicate another convenience for boaters, a new 1,843 square foot bath and laundry building at the City Marina. The new bath house replaces facilities previously located in the main marina building. The bath house features card keys that allow boaters living in the harbor or on the seawall at the marina to gain access and pay for the laundry machines in the building.

Mangrove Marina in Tavernier and The Sombrero Resort and Marina in Marathon – Sold

Summit Development, a diversified real estate development company with offices in North Palm Beach, said today that it has acquired two prominent marina properties in the Florida Keys – Mangrove Marina in Tavernier and The Sombrero Resort and Marina in Marathon. Summit said it will undertake extensive renovations to upgrade both properties.

Robert Charney, who overseas Summit’s Florida operations, noted that Summit recognizes the importance both locations play in the Keys. “It is obvious that the deterioration of these two properties has been a cause for concern. We are well-financed and are confident that we can accomplish a repositioning of the two sites that will once again make them the valuable component of the Keys business community that they can and should be.”

Summit acquired the two sites from Sun Vest Communities, the successor to Cay Clubs. Robert Charney said: “We want to assure the Keys community and our visitors that under Summit’s ownership the two properties will be properly renovated so that they can regain their prominence in the community.”

• Mangrove Marina has 130 boat slips as well as rack storage, boat yard facilities, a fuel dock, boat launching ramp and a ships’ store. It is situated on the Inter-coastal Waterway and is protected on three sides by mangrove islands. Tavernier is about 12 miles south of Key Largo a 30-minute drive from the mainland.

•Sombrero Resort and Marina is midway between Key Largo and Key West. It includes a 54-slip marina as well as 124 one-bedroom condo-style suites and eight detached villas, “The Latitudes,” a full-service restaurant, tennis courts and a poolside tiki bar.