Marathon Yacht Club

The land on which the club was built was owned by the Florida East Coast
Railroad Company and sold to the Overseas Road and Toll Bridge District sold
the property to Monroe County, at which time the newly include the present area,
i.e. the ramp was removed from the club ownership and released to the County
for public use. In 2002, with the formation of the City of Marathon, the lease was
assigned to the City with no restrictions on use.
The Marathon Yacht Club was formed on April 24. 1951, with 24 present, and
Chet Tingler was elected first Commodore. An avid and knowledgeable sailor
and a member of the Florida Sailing Assoc., Tingler participated in training junior
members in handling and racing various types and styles of boats. Rivalry
between the Key West Outboard Club and MYC started an overnight ocean race
in 1952 and the following year the Tingler Perpetual Trophy for the Marathon to
Key West Ocean Race was placed in competition.
Tingler won it twice.
Construction was started on the clubhouse in 1954, membership topped 100 in
1955, and a kitchen was added in 1956. In 1960, Hurricane Donna reduced our
wooden docks and little kitchen to rubble. The wooden docks, a leftover from the
railroad days, were replaced in 1967, under Commodore Bill Fotheringham and
the present seawall was put in place. In 1982 the patio was built, along with the
south end of the seawall by the basin, and 1984-85 30 pilings were driven along
the seawall edge to enhance dockage. In 1986-87 the club