{"id":1058,"date":"2016-01-09T03:31:24","date_gmt":"2016-01-09T03:31:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/?p=1058"},"modified":"2016-01-11T03:56:30","modified_gmt":"2016-01-11T03:56:30","slug":"exploring-the-mangrove-tunnels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/2016\/01\/exploring-the-mangrove-tunnels\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring the mangrove tunnels"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>1\/9\/16<br \/>\nMarathon, FL<br \/>\nPosted by Bill<\/p>\n<p>Today we took a break from boat projects and took our dinghy over to Boot Key to explore the mangrove tunnels.  Our Harbour Cay friends Jim and Lanny led a flotilla of dinghys under the 7 mile bridge, through Boot Key harbor and into the mangroves.  The tunnels are very narrow paths through the mangroves and are marked by private buoys and orange painted branches.  You really have to know where they are.  Most of them are accessible only by kayak, and we encountered areas that were just wide and tall enough to let us get through.  It was great fun!<\/p>\n<p>Path we took to where the tunnels were:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv37274%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D365556%3B349346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Lanny pouring mimosas to toast our departure:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv35382%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D365555%3C2%3A7346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dinghys getting ready to depart:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv38653%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D36555555%3B3346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And we are off:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3675%3A%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D36555555%3B2346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Motoring through the canals and creeks of Boot Key:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv36%3B88%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D365555%3C2%3A%3B346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Entering the tunnels:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3B852%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D365555%3C2%3A8346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3A6%3A2%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D36555555%3B7346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv34732%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D36555555%3B5346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Working our way through the mangroves.  Most of the areas where very narrow and low, and we had to frequently duck down and pull ourselves through:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3A999%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D365555%3C2%3A9346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv38%3B62%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D365555%3C2%3A%3A346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After several hours&#8230;making it out:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv34433%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D3655565%3A72346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And then we motored to a local bar on the water, Dockside:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3A%3B9%3B%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D36555555%3B6346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3A%3A4%3B%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D36555555%3B8346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3487%3B%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D3655565%3A73346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>On the way back, we stopped at Sunset Grill for a few happy hour cocktails:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv36577%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D365555%3C2%3A5346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And then we had happy hour and watched the sun set at the tiki hut at Harbour Cay Club:<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images2.snapfish.com\/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3B648%3Enu%3D6646%3E863%3E255%3EWSNRCG%3D36555555%3A%3B346nu0mrj\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A great day!  Thanks to Lanny and Jim for leading us there and through the tunnels.  We would never have found them on our own.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1\/9\/16 Marathon, FL Posted by Bill Today we took a break from boat projects and took our dinghy over to Boot Key to explore the mangrove tunnels. Our Harbour Cay friends Jim and Lanny led a flotilla of dinghys under the 7 mile bridge, through Boot Key harbor and into the mangroves. The tunnels are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-florida","category-icw-intracoastal-waterway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ILlB-h4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1058"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1059,"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1058\/revisions\/1059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nauticalendeavors.com\/islandbound\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}