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{{Short description|Natural body of water located in the middle of the Florida Keys, Florida, US}}
[[Image:Boot Key Harbor, Looking North.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Looking north over Boot Key Harbor]]

'''Boot Key Harbor''' is a natural body of water located in the middle of the [[Florida Keys]], entirely within the city limits of [[Marathon, Florida]], United States.

Boot Key Harbor can be accessed by boat via two inlets from the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. The western inlet has a controlling depth of {{convert|6|ft}} at mean low-tide, as does the rest of the main channel within the harbor. Sister Creek provides access from the south and has a low-point of {{convert|4.2|ft}} at mean-low tide.<ref name=BKH>{{cite web |title=Boot Key Harbor City Marina |url=http://www.ci.marathon.fl.us/index.aspx?NID=593 |website=City of Marathon Florida |accessdate=Sep 16, 2019}}</ref> Boot Key Bridge spans the west end of Boot Key Harbor connecting [[Key Vaca]] with [[Boot Key]] to the South. The bridge is currently closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic, and the [[Bascule bridge|bascule section]] was removed on October 26, 2010.
[[File:Derelict boats in the Boot Key Harbor, Florida Keys, Florida, US after Hurricane Irma.jpg|thumb|Derelict boats in Boot Key Harbor, after Hurricane Irma]]
Boot Key Harbor is well protected from severe sea conditions and is popular with recreational boaters seeking refuge from storms. One reviewer labels it as "perhaps the best managed municipal mooring field in Florida."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Landrum |first1=Ellen |title=Being in Boot Key |journal=Living Aboard |date=September–October 2005 |url=http://www.livingaboard.com:80/magazine/articles/09_05BootKey.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060109081959/http://www.livingaboard.com/magazine/articles/09_05BootKey.htm |accessdate=Sep 16, 2019 |archive-date=2006-01-09 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, in 2017, [[Hurricane Irma]] caused considerable damage. Over 200 boats were scattered or sunk, and one man, who tried to ride out the storm on his boat, was missing and presumed lost.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Swanson |first1=Peter |title=This is Boot Key Harbor Before Irma |url=https://www.passagemaker.com/trawler-news/boot-key-harbor-post-irma |website=PassageMaker |accessdate=Sep 16, 2019}}</ref>

A large portion of Boot Key Harbor is occupied by a 226-buoy municipal mooring field administered by the City of [[Marathon, Florida]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Mooring Field Information |url=http://ci.marathon.fl.us/index.asp?NID=42 |website=City of Marathon, Florida |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061004041855/http://ci.marathon.fl.us/index.asp?NID=42|accessdate=Sep 16, 2019|archive-date = 2006-10-04}}</ref> Prior to 2004 the harbor was "something like an elephant graveyard, where old boats went to die," and potential cleanup was mired in bureaucracy. Bruce Popham, a local boatyard owner, convinced Marathon to undertake the cleanup, and "authorities pulled out something like 200 wrecks from Boot Key Harbor." Following the cleanup Marathon installed the mooring field and began charging a fee for support services.<ref>{{cite news |title=Marathon cleans up boat graveyard in Boot Key Harbor |url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20041120/News/605236279/SH/ |accessdate=Sep 17, 2019 |agency=Sarasota Herald-Tribune |date=Nov 20, 2004}}</ref>

Since 1997 Boot Key Harbor has hosted an annual Christmas Boat Parade in December.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Java |first1=Theresa |title=Boot Key boat parade is back |url=https://keysnews.com/article/story/boot-key-boat-parade-is-back/ |accessdate=Sep 16, 2019 |agency=Florida Keys Free Press |date=Dec 5, 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{coord|24|42|23.58|N| 81|5|33.05|W|display=title}}

{{Florida Keys}}

[[Category:Florida Keys]]
[[Category:Marathon, Florida]]
[[Category:Landforms of Monroe County, Florida]]
[[Category:Landforms of Florida]]
[[Category:Ports and harbors of the Florida Gulf coast]]

Boot Key Harbor - Revision history

imported>Epolk: /* top */added unit conversion