Humans of the Keys

Shay Ferguson - Key West to Islamorada

My Name is Shanna Kay Ferguson
-Prefere Shay -

I have the most Irish Name and didn't really know that until I moved to Key West at 23... quickly learning that there was a Bar with my name! I was told what Shanna Kay Means - the best Story teller. Well, my spelling and grammar may need work but I have one hell of a story...

My Life In a Conch Shell
Being in your beginning adult years is already fun all by itself... Adding the Florida Keys? PARADISE

I have always lived close to the ocean. I'm drawn to the mystery and the perturbation of the massive Hurricanes that you shouldn't wanna chase . But I do.

Knowing I could sing and dance and laugh a lot with people I knew was a plus, but I couldn't seem to get it together around crowds. I had a hard time finding who I was due to the fact that I thought that being everything that everyone wanted me to be would make me happy. And I learned, when I moved here, that people mostly liked me when I was just me.
I grew up in Chesterfield Virginia right outside of Richmond Virginia in a middle class (maybe lower class sometimes) suburb - LOL depending on life and money. I love that my mother has always taught me to be frugal and she is always taught me to work hard so when I moved here my work ethics stood out more than anything and I was quickly accepted into the boating community in downtown. My first job was on the water in Key West doing the charter to the Dry Tortugas - Sunny Days Catamarans. They had about 5 boats at the end of green street (Fury owns some now). Sunny days catamarans established in 1991 was also closed by 2010 due to the oil spill. They were amazing! We did trips to the Dry Tortugas, trips to the reef and the turtle tours, it was the most fun I had ever had in my life. I quickly I fell in love with everything to do with the water! The trip to the dry Tortugas is two and a half hours so my days were very long I used to call it my office LOL.
I still remember the day that Jared... Jared from Wicked Tuna - walked down my dock and asked me if I wanted to drink. I remember hanging out with Mikey Tillson at the bar and singing when his mom was in the hospital trying to raise money; it was an honor! I also remember my first Fantasy Fest, sort of, LOL and feeling so beautiful.
This place has truly brought out so many amazing things I didn't know I could do. I've always struggled with self-confidence and I carried a lot of pain that was erased by this beautiful water and beautiful people, who also had come here to find something. I never felt like I was running away, I just always have felt like I was running towards something that I couldn't find.
I have my mom in Big Pine and she runs Lower Keys tackle. She truly changed our lives.
We have had loss with my step dad and Brother gone. My children and my mom are all I have left in blood family. I do know this, that no matter what, when you live here - there is always someone around the corner that will listen, there's always someone that may have something else that is way more tough than what you are going through.

My brother Daniel Pendleton used to work at 801, when he first moved here. He was definitely scared of the word gay but how crazy that he was loved by all of these amazing people. He soon loved everyone there too. He died in 2014 and it was very tragic for me and my mom. We scattered his ashes over Lucy and Big Pine his favorite place to go down and hang out with the fish. Struggling from a little bit of addiction myself, I Can Only Imagine what my brother was going through. I will say, that this place was one of the best places I could be for support, forgiveness, and help to get my life back. There are people here that are so extraordinary. They make sure that I had a Christmas for my children a couple years back, and people who truly helped when we lost everything during Irma in Big Pine.
I honestly don't feel like I am from Virginia anymore because everything that happened to me that was life-changing has happened here - good and bad.
I moved to Islamorada when I found out I was pregnant with My two-year-old. I have to say each Key is so distinctive.
Everyone came for one reason or another. I know with my ups and downs that this is where I wanna be; even though I'm poorer than I have ever been. Everything about the keys makes the sacrifice of money seem small.
I make beautiful sunsets on canvas because of this place and I sing all the time, out with different bands. I dance to the rhythm of my own music and I finally see something inside myself that no one can ever get to, it's just mine.

All of my experiences have contributed to and led me to being who I am today. If you are ever having a hard time or just want to talk, I am one of those people that is always around the corner and always willing to listen. I live for what makes others happy, because without that connection what else is there in life? I feel that it has been lost. The one thing I love is that in the Keys, we still connect with each other.
I hope to keep singing. I hope to keep painting and dancing to the beat of the amazing drum circles.

Scott Franzen, Marathon
The last Marathon Chapter..........

I started out in Marathon on the lobster boats. Getting stopped and searched by the coast guard with a 50 caliber machine gun pointed at the boat. That can be a pretty exhilarating. Skip said 'don’t say a word let them board look around and they’ll leave'. We did and they did. All good so let’s go catch lobsters.

After sometime I took a job with a construction company pumping concrete foundations. Walking around with a hose full of concrete got old fast for somebody used to being on the water. I then went to work for another boat catching lobsters. however. part of the job included scraping the traps on a regular bases. Nope not for me. I wanted to be on the sea.

Now I thought about joining the coast guard, but after seeing the amount of drugs coming through that area and the types of people coming through from other countries (remember it was the late 70s early 80s) - too much discipline makes a pirate bored and dull so the coast guard was out.

I went to Lum's and washed dishes for a while. The most exciting place to be is in the Keys but, like I always say, you get swallowed up and stay in the Keys or you take a different path. Either way it’s hard to get out because once you experience it you never really get out.

For me. I decided to come back home and join the Newport Kentucky Police; take on the mafia, who use to have a strong presence there, and the biker gangs that started taking over. That’s where I ended up after my time and training in the Fabulous Keys. That’s a story for another time.

Scott Franzen, Marathon

Scuba diving or The Seafood Festival?

"I got my certification before I left for the keys I wanted to be ready to find pirate treasure and I heard pirates visited there often and gold was in the waters there. The gulf on one side and the Atlantic on the other. This should be fun I thought.

While on the lobster boats we had wooden traps. They were expensive to buy so losing one was a problem. Occasionally the ropes would break and The Skip would go nuts and threaten to take it out of our pay. He never did but it was his way of letting us know how important it was not to loose one. Since I was now a certified diver I volunteered to go snorkeling for them if we lost one. They tied a rope around my wrist and slowly dragged me through the water looking for the sunken trap. I had a mask and snorkel to help. The water in the gulf is relatively shallow and the water crystal clear. My problem was keeping my body below the surface so after a couple passes of the spot we decided to tie a weight to my chest to hold me down. While going through the water being pulled by a rope, I pictured the fisherman trolling for the big ones and I started to feel real uncomfortable 😳. After several passes I saw no traps, however, I did see an open wooden chest with many shiny colors in it and one color was gold. I tried to signal the boat to stop but Skip kept pointing to the rear of me and was screaming for me to swim to the boat. I looked behind me and saw a huge fin in the water about 100 yards heading towards me. Skip hooked the rope to the w***h a quickly got me to the ladder and on deck. 'I saw a sunken treasure chest in the water and it was filled with color.' 'Don’t know about that' said Skip, 'but that thing in the water coming toward you was a shark 🦈. If you want to jump back in be my guest', he said laughing at me. 'Did you see the trap?' he asked. 'No', I said, and we headed back to the fish house to sell our catch.

Next day was Seafood Festival so we couldn’t wait for it. The festival then was like a big party and so cool; all the fishermen and their crews were there. The biggest thing going was arm wrestling amongst the crews. There were tons of stories about who had the best boat and caught the most fish, which is what they called the lobsters, and I never figured out why unless they were to lazy to say lobster. I was pretty stout in them days. I worked out with weights and spent most of my free time at the gyms. I would always get asked to arm wrestle someone and test my strength. We would lay on the pavement and compete. This wasn’t how I saw it on tv and the ground was hot. Being a briar from Kentucky I didn’t care, I just wanted to be in the Keys and have fun. I could beat most of the other crews but these old captains whose hands were huge, rough and calloused from all that fishing, grabbed my hand like it was in a vise and put it on the ground pretty quick. Now there’s a certain respect you get from the captains when you challenge them and loose. It was all fun and the experience of the Seafood Festival is one I always cherished.

Later on my daughter got certified in scuba and joined me on trips like in the picture. The treasure chest and the gold I saw that day are still there and perhaps my daughter and I will go looking for it.

Scott Franzen, Marathon

Oh to be a pirate.......
I use to sit and listen to my story record; Robinson Crusoe two or three times a day, Long John Silver, Benn Gunn, Flint, the admiral Ben Bow. We didn’t have a lot to do as kids and no money so we found ways to entertain ourselves. I wanted to be a pirate.

I told myself that’s the life for me! As I grew up, the carefree life of a pirate always appealed to me so you can imagine my excitement when my mom came to me and asked if I would like to go to Marathon Florida and try lobster fishing. 'Great', I said, and I started packing.

It suddenly hit me 'Where is Marathon, Florida? I got my world map out and saw a picture of the Keys. 'It’s Treasure Island' I thought, my dream life! I finished packing and said to my mom 'I’m ready let’s go'. 'Hold on' she said, don’t you want to think about it? 'No', I replied; it’s just like the treasure island record I use to listen to as a child.

'I’ve already made the plans for you and you can leave in a few days' mom said. An old high school friend of hers said he had a nephew down there building houses and wants to try lobster fishing, only thing is he can’t keep steady help. They come to the Keys, he said, work a week, fill up their motorcycles and leave. He needed someone he could depend on so I got on a plane in Kentucky with $65 in my pocket and headed for Miami.

Finally! I’m going to get my chance to be a pirate. I got off a big plane and was directed to a small 6 passenger plane headed for Marathon Key. We landed at what they called an airport and I remember the pilot saying 'good luck captain Scott go get em'. I looked around, made two fists, flexed my guns and said finally I’m here and I can be a pirate. Then reality set in.

Where is here? No cars or people to greet me. The Gulf on one side of the road and the Atlantic on the other. Panic and fear started to set in as I thought back to waving goodbye to my mom and my comfort zone. Hey, I’m a pirate, I thought, and there will be no fear here. I picked up my belongings and headed for the only street I saw.

I found a cab and gave him the address of the people I was going to work for. He said 'Key Colony Beach, it’s a little up the road. Hang on captain' and we headed north. Nothing much here I said. 'You get use to it' he said. 'You a fisherman? he asked. No, I’m a pirate. He laughed and said 'here you go it’s your address'. I pulled a fin out of my pocket and asked how much. He said 'your first time?' Yes. He smiled and said 2. As I walked off he yelled 'HEY!' I thought I forgot something. "Go get em captain'.

Finally! I thought, A pirate life for me. I headed up the steps toward the door bell and the rest is history.
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