The Marathon Man: Capt. Jack is Back on Track By Cyndi Perkins
A
s the Florida Keys celebrated the 100-year anniversary of the Overseas Railroad, Marathon mariners were marking another momentous occasion: the 90th birthday of longtime live-aboard Capt. Jack Burleson. For the past four years, Capt. Jack has made his home on the long dock at Marathon City Marina, living aboard his Spirit 28-foot sailboat Fantasy. Easily identified by his long white beard and jaunty yachting cap, Capt. Jack is regularly spotted strolling the marina grounds or chatting with fellow boaters in the Cruisers’ Lounge. The hale and hearty nonagenarian enjoys being close to the center of the action, vigilantly maintaining his reputation as a ladies’ man. Female boaters who have not been presented with a hibiscus flower and a debonair bow, often accompanied by courtly hand-kissCapt. Jack’s home at Marathon City Marina, where the live-aboard has settled ing, are few and far between. In addition to the home health care aides in at the long dock to the left. who take him to the grocery store, doctor appointments and run other vital errands, & Greet,” where the first of several cakes was bedecked many willing volunteers stand ready to help with chores, with candles in his honor. The Seven Seas Cruising including laundry. It’s a good thing the Captain gets reguAssociation hosted him at its Friday gathering at the popular exercise, balancing out the many goodies that come his lar Hurricane (home of the fabulous $5 lunch). A contingent way on a regular basis. It isn’t unusual to see Capt. Jack on of cruisers staying on the mooring field signed up to take walkabout with a cleaned-out plastic container, trying to him to the SSCA luncheon every Friday over the next sevreturn it to the donor who gifted him with soup or casserole. eral weeks. He was clearly delighted by his 90th birthday festivi“Now my friends say ‘I can’t take you anyplace; everyties, which stretched out over a week, beginning with a surbody knows you,’ ” says the local celebrity. prise party at the regular Wednesday night potluck “Meet The boating community rallied en masse when a darker situation reared its ugly head on the heels of the February 2012 birthday celebrations. Capt. Jack barely had time to blow out his candles before Marathon City Council raised marina, mooring field and dinghy dock fees. The rate hike included instituting a longer minimum boat length, 32 feet, for those tied up at the marina. Capt. Jack was irate. “The city manager got a raise—but so did I. I pay for 32 feet for a 28-foot boat. If I’m paying for it, I should get the dock space!” Living on a tight budget with a fixed income, Capt. Jack said he could not afford the roughly $100 rent increase. “They say they’re trying to work something out. I don’t know what that means,” he said, clearly worried about his future. “I don’t know where I would go.” Capt. Jack has lived in this protected harbor near Keys Mile Marker 48 for more than half a century. His landing in Marathon was a quirk of fate. “I came in here years ago,” he says. “I arrived in 1956 on a wooden sailboat.” He anchored on a reef outside Boot Key Harbor where unfortunately, “I tore the rudder out.” The shipwrecked sea dog took it all in stride. “I knew I had landed in heaven—as long as the beer wasn’t sold out,” he remembers, chuckling. For many years Capt. Jack ran a dive boat out of Marathon. He eventually purchased a home, 30
May 2013
SOUTHWINDS
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