The Oil Slick...Kind Of Grady-Related.

[magicalbill]

If someone doesn't dive down and shut off the faucet, the experts say the consequences could be far-reaching.
I would be interested to know the thoughts of Bama96 and other Grady-owners living in the Panhandle stretching to Texas.
You all are close to the situation down there. Does all boating/fishing STOP if and when the oil reaches shore?
With the right winds and the incredible amount of oil continuing to pour into the Gulf they say it could affect Fla. all the way to the Keys and beyond. If it gets into the Stream, it goes up the East Coast.
This is scary to me...Tourisim(swimmers/vacationers) commercial fishing/wildlife..you name it; is affected.
I'm no expert, but I would guess the clean up (WHEN they get it shut down) could be a real challenge, not to mention how incredibly long it would take.

 

[Desperado]

Yesterday the shut down commercial and recreational fishing 20+ miles offshore for Miss, Alabama, and the Florida panhandle.

 

[SmokyMtnGrady]

This is really sad. We are in May and things are slowly being resolved. The Loop current in the Gulf of Mexico could start to move the oil out of the northern Gulf and possibly into the Keys and beyond. Not sure how diluted it will be or not and in fact I am speculating. I am heading to the Keys for a few weeks this summer to swim and fish ( Assuming my boat is fixed by then :wink: ) but, if they cant cap this bugger soon, it could have impacts down there too.

 

[magicalbill]

I am both sad and puzzled about your outboard, Smoky..Beyond that, I guess they are rigging a huge Liberty Bell" type of contraption to lower down and cover the source of the leak. Then, a tube runs from the "crown" of the bell up to the surface, funneling the escaping oil into a container ship on the surface,or something.
If it works, they can contain and break up the oil already on the sea surface.

With any luck, your outboard will be rectified and the slick cleaned up by the time you reach the Keys. I would like a water-condition report while your there..Hopefully the oil won't get carried that far.

 

[Bama96]

Still too many unknowns. Not sure what to believe at this point. Some say it is worse than they are saying and others are saying the new media is making it bigger than it is. No doubt there will be some oil here but how much? Really sucks for the Charter boat guys here. They were already dealing with tight Snapper Regs and high fuel prices. Now this. Nail in the coffin for the Charter boat business and tourism industry. As if the economy was not bad enough, now this. I just hope we can keep it off our sugar white beaches.

 

[magicalbill]

Hi Bama..
Keep us posted..Yeah, they media predicted the slick to be onshore LAST Friday with the Southerly winds associated with the storm system that brought all the rain to Tenn. and Ky.
The winds went NW after the system went thru, slowing the progress. Now they are concerned about the West coast of Fla..Just depends on the winds, I guess.
Hope that "Bell" apparatus works.

 

[LUNDINROOF]

The reports I am getting this morning is that some sheen has reached Cat Island, a small island about 10 miles from the coast of Pass Christian, the location of my summer home.

Oil has been spotted in and around Chandeleur and Breton sounds and on the islands themselves. Not a major clean-up job yet and if the winds/currents cooperate and the bell system works, it might not wind up being a big disaster in this area. They are also using chemicals to break up the oil and I understand that this is helping a lot.

The actual oil slick that can be seen from satellite is smaller today than it was two days ago. This could be because of the chemicals and/or the oil is starting to sink to the botton of the sea, off shore.

I was not able to fish the last couple of weekends because the weather was bad, but last weekend they also had mop up booms stretched out across the Bay of St. Louis. There was a gap left open at the draw bridge that we could use to get out but we were told that it was subject to close at any time and without warning.

The biggest problem right now is that the fishing industry, both commercial and recreational is shut down. That's a big problem around here, especially for those people that cannot get work for their boats on the clean up details.

BP is known having for saftey problems and should be punished severely.

I think the problem that is going to cost us the most is that this is going to be used as a reason to stop all off shore drilling and we will continue to have to ship our dollars over to people that would rather see us dead. Get ready for $6/gallon gas, on the street.

 

[JUMPNJACK]

Checking it out!

Hey magicalbill! How's it going. I will be heading out into the gulf friday morning to check it out. All the data that I have gathered indicates that as of yesterday the sheen was still about 80 miles west of the most western places that I normally fish. My area should not be affected yet. The fwc.com website has some good info concerning the spill and the areas that are presently closed. Heard this morning that one of the three pipes had a valve on it that was closed by a submersible rig but that it did little to quell the 5,000 barrels a day (210,000 gallons) that is leaking out. I have some awesome pictures of the burning/sinking rig but don't really feel like posting them. I can forward them to you if you are interested. Anyway, I will let everyone know what I see or don't see out there. 8)

 

[magicalbill]

JUMPINJACK/LUNDINROOF
Thanks for the comments and updates. For reasons we already know about, I don't trust everything the media reports. It's people like you all that provide the real info..

 

[JUMPNJACK]

Golden BB's

All Right Ya'll! Beautiful day out of Appalachicola Friday May 7. Hindered a bit by some sea fog around the bait hole area but by noon visibilty was great and seas were calm. Wound up at our old stomping ground about 60 miles southwest of Appalachicola. Picked a few hog size groupers and some nice Black Snappers as well. About the middle of the afternoon my first mate "One Eyed John" says hey what is this? I thought that he had spotted another fishing opportunity but I was wrong. I went over to his side of the boat and there was what I did not want to see. It was little golden BB sized specks of oil from the Horizon Rig accident. There was no big slick but just these tiny little spots of that oil every where. On our way back into Appalach we went by a boat that was towing around a siesmic cable and not wanting any one to get within miles of him. I know that this rig has been working the Florida Gulf waters for a while now as I've heard him PAN PAN several times previously if any body gets close to him. I know that they are mapping for future drilling in Florida waters but I am certainly hoping that it will never happen. Sorry guys, It's here too! It is real as I have traces of it on the boat at the waterline.

 

[magicalbill]

Thanks for the update...
It's interesting that the outer perimeter seems to be the small spots JUMPINJACK spoke of. I would assume that traveling into the thick of it you would see the enlongated sheen tracks that the TV aerial shots show.

 

[Gulf Coast Grady]

I was out on Ship Island on Saturday, May 8. No oil on the island. Water was clear with plenty of bait fish, mullet, and dolphins around the island. There were booms placed at the west end of the island that extended about one mile down the island toward the east. There were break points in the boom on the south side so that you could go inside the boom to the beach. All of this could change with the strong south winds we are having this week. This is a major environmental disaster but it has not reached the Mississippi barrier islands yet. I hope and pray that BPs efforts to cap the well are completed soon.

 

[Bama96]

Check this out. We are screwed.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=524_1273510578