Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A houseboat at Garrison Bight Marina partially sank and was resting against a neighboring houseboat for most of the day Tuesday.

City of Key West marina officials were notified about 5 a.m. Tuesday that the houseboat was sinking. Owner Dante Marrone was inside when it started to sink and attempted to pump out the water, but the motorized pump was not powerful enough, Marina Manager Mark Tait said.

The marina gave Marrone 48 hours to float the boat and get it off the neighboring houseboat, which suffered minor damage to its siding. If the boat is not raised, Marrone will be fined $100 a day until the boat is floating again, Tait said. Marrone also will face eviction if the vessel is not seaworthy within 15 days.

Marrone was working on the boat Tuesday afternoon and told marina officials he hoped to have it floating within 24 hours, Tait said.

The Marrone family has had a troubled history with boats.

The same houseboat partially sank about a year ago and had to be raised by marina workers, Tait said. The marina demanded Marrone have his boat bottom surveyed and fixed so it would not sink again, Tait said. Whether or not the work was done, or Tuesday's sinking was the result of the same problem, Tait said he did not know.

The houseboat is also the second one owned by the Marrone family that has sunk at the Garrison Bight Marina docks. The other houseboat, owned by Dante's father, Mickey Marrone, was damaged and partially sank during Hurricane Dennis in 2005. It eventually was towed behind Hilton Haven, where it suspiciously caught fire and burned to the water line after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission demanded the Marrones move it off the flat.

The state cited Mickey Marrone for abandoning the vessel on state submerged land. He later paid to have the shell of the boat removed and destroyed.

Another vessel, Mickey Marrone's Pair-O-Dice casino boat, broke loose from its mooring twice in the past two years, most recently in February. The state eventually hauled it away and had it cut up for scrap, which cost about $10,000.

The state plans to go after Marrone and his business partners to recoup the money.

tohara@keysnews.com