Ours is one of approximately 15
floating homes created by a skilled builder at the old Peninsula
Marina on Stock Island; it is titled and registered as a marine
vessel. Most of these boats are still located here in the Lower Keys;
in fact one of them shares the dock with us.
The boats builder had a reputation for over-building these floating houses, they're built like a battleship. The hulls are two layers of 3/4" marine plywood, with multiple layers of fibreglass in between and on the outer skin. The house structure is incredibly sound with lots of epoxy and heavy insulation throughout. This houseboat has survived several severe hurricanes including George, Donna, Rita, Wilma, Katrina and others with very minimal damage.
The houseboat is two stories; the bottom deck contains a full kitchen, greatroom, a very large and luxurious bathroom, and one bedroom (read fishing and fly tying room).
On the upper deck, the glass front doors face the ocean. The upper deck has a master bedroom, two closets, laundry and toilet. There is a large outdoor, under-roof dining and seating deck, with a full barbecue and a wonderful view of the open bay and the dancing, moored sailboats. The upper deck has a sunbathing area on shoreside and is surrounded by classic Key West picket fencing.
The entire hull contains a 3.5 ft crawlspace, which contains the holding tank, water tank, and hot water heater, plus ample storage.
For the interior, think old school sailboat, with lots of natural Key West pine wood. The kitchen has two refrigerators...one 110 volt, and one 12 volt, and a gas stove. We have typical home services at our dock: residential and 12 volt electricity, emergency generator, city water, city sewer and wired cable. Air conditioning keeps the boat quite cool in the warmer Summers, and the ever present Northern winds keep the doors open and the interior about 10-15 degrees cooler (no sun + wind = real feel of 25 degrees lower) most of the year.
Our fishing/diving boat is docked at our bay front door dock.
The waters directly around our boat
harbor hundreds of thousands of baby fish and sardines and act as a
marine nursery. We have all types of beautiful tropical fish up to about 20" or so that live
beneath the boats that appear and swim around in circles begging for
breadcrumbs. There are starfish, small, beautiful jellyfish of every
description (no stingers), dolphins, manatees that nip the garden
that grows (including some beautiful coral) on the massive boat hulls. The
water is crystal clear to the bottom, as it is in most of the keys.
The Florida keys are a fisherman's (and
a hell of a lot of very good woman "fishermen” as well), Boater's,
divers and birder's paradise.
There is a beautiful tropical garden on our path to the dock, a peaceful place to read a book, or enjoy the fire pit, whisky and a cigar in the evenings.
There is a beautiful tropical garden on our path to the dock, a peaceful place to read a book, or enjoy the fire pit, whisky and a cigar in the evenings.
The bay bottom where we are docked is private property, owned since
the 1970's by our sweet and benevolent landlords George and Marsha. They have two docks and four
houseboats as tenants. They are both wonderful people who only
live in their Key West home during the winter. Our road is incredibly quiet
and secluded, it's a hidden oasis only a short bike ride from downtown and
one minute to endless shopping.
Our houseboat is titled and registered as a Florida vessel so NO outrageously high Key West property taxes!
The city of Key West, and most of the other Florida Keys, has severely limited the availability of houseboat dockage, so the dream of living on a floating home in Florida is quickly becoming a fantasy. This is one of the few remaining Dream Boats in the Keys!
We call it the Hemingway Key because Hemingway was unhappy with his famous Key West house because his father in law designed it and presented it to he and his wife as a gift, which bothered Hemingway deeply as he was fiercely independant and liked to make his own decisions. His most valued time (other than hunting, his second sporting passion) was spent fishing, drinking and napping on his boat, the Pilar. I think he'd be happy on our vintage houseboat with its vintage fishing room, on quiet Key West waters only a jump away from a sound fishing boat and the open sea.
Welcome to Hemingway's Key
