The Day I Got Stopped by the Key West Coast Guard
It’s a memory I’ll never forget!
“Do those kayaks belong to you?” the officer asked, looking directly at me.
“No, we’re just using them to get out into the channel where the boat we rented is anchored,” I replied.
“I’m going to need to see some ID,” he said in response.
Nervous, I fumbled around in the backpack my husband had set down on the ground and, finally locating our passports, passed them to my husband, who handed them over.
“Are you able to lower that light, please?” the officer asked, making us both remember that we were wearing headlamps.
The whole time we’d been standing there, we’d been accidentally blinding them!
After looking us both over and comparing the passports we’d handed him with the real people that stood before him, he asked if we knew the boat’s owner or how we’d found out about it.
After explaining that we’d found it on Airbnb several weeks ago, the second officer began nodding, almost as if he was familiar with this situation and knew exactly what was happening here.
He then spoke to the first officer, muttering something about knowing this guy and how they’ve been having problems with him.
My husband and I just looked at each other, frozen and a little afraid, even though we’d done nothing illegal, and — at least knowingly — hadn’t broken any laws.
Were we going to get fined? Were they going to seize the kayaks? Where would we stay now? We had no idea what would happen next.
But let me start from the beginning.
A few years ago, my husband and I took a road trip to Key West.
Rather than staying at one of the many hotels or motels, we opted for accommodation of a much different kind: a sailboat that we found on Airbnb.
This was something entirely new to us, and we didn’t think much about it at the time of booking. We were just excited to have a private little boat to call home for three nights and to use as our base while we explored the island.
When we arrived, we met up with one of the owners at a convenience store, and she chatted away as she headed in the direction of the boat. Obviously, this part proved a bit more challenging than staying at more conventional accommodations. We couldn’t simply follow her to the room or roll our bags down the hallway. Instead, she led us to some kayaks that were locked up in a mangrove across the street a few minutes’ walk from the convenience store.
The ditches along the sides of the road were deep enough that this surprising little kayak access point was out of view of cars passing by. In fact, if you weren’t specifically looking for it, you’d probably never even know it was there.
Unless, of course, it’s nighttime and you see lights flickering in the surrounding bush as you approach.
We had been out and about for hours and ended the day with a nice dinner, which meant it was already dark by the time we were heading back to our little floating hotel.
As we struggled to locate the locks around the kayaks with our headlamps, a vehicle pulled over onto the shoulder and two men got out.
At first, I thought maybe someone had spotted our lights and was coming to see if we were okay or if we needed help. But as they got closer, I realized this adventure was about to take an interesting detour.
Which leads me back to the beginning of this story!
Despite really enjoying this unique experience, I guess the sailboat rentals are no longer operating, because I can’t find it listed anymore.
It doesn’t come up on Airbnb, and even a search for their website, Boat Camping Key West, turns up an expired page.
I have no idea what happened, but I suspect it may have something to do with the comments made by the second officer during our mini-interrogation that day.
They’d briefly mentioned that this little business he’d been running posed some safety concerns, as anyone could rent them with little to no experience being out on the water, as well as the environmental hazards potentially caused by those unfamiliar with the area (or just by those with little regard or concern for the natural environment and wildlife).
Then there were also concerns about the anchoring of the boat, and what would happen in the event of a storm rolling through that could cause the anchor to drag and the boat to drift. They informed us that there are some gray areas surrounding liability in the event of damage that renters should also be aware of.
In hindsight, these were all very valid concerns, yet neither of us even considered any of them when we first came across the listing. We can both swim, we’re both comfortable on kayaks, and we both love being on the water and have been around boats all our lives, so the setup wasn’t a concern for us.
All we saw was an adventure waiting to happen, and we couldn’t wait to get there!
I guess this couple had bought several old sailboats and refurbished them to convert them into memorable stays for visitors to the area. We weren’t the only customers at the time of our booking, and I know for a fact that we weren’t the last!
As I wrote about here, last time I checked, back in 2021, they seemed to be expanding operations rather than slowing down! They’d added more amenities, were in the process of preparing more boats for rental, etc. Now, it’s like they never existed.
I can understand both sides of this issue and ultimately, I’m torn between feeling sad that others won’t get to experience the magic of waking up to the sound of water gently lapping the hull of their very own sailboat (for the night), and feeling somewhat relieved.
The last thing any of us want is for someone to get hurt or drown while on vacation because they can’t swim or because the boat drifted away during bad weather.
If nothing else, this goes to show you that it’s always good to consider the potential risks when you book a place online — especially one as difficult to access as this one was!
If you haven’t already seen these stories, be sure to check them out!
I loved Amalina Davis’ piece on why she feels like a bad tourist and can relate to many of her points:
And here’s a story by Kerri Duncan that’ll make your stomach drop alongside the author’s: