For the Destin/Panama City area re. horrible oil slick in Gulf
Jun 5th, 2010, 08:30 AM
#222
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cemegone,
the reason I keep looking and posting questions is there is no way I can back out of this vacation or I would lose my money for the condo. I am coming down no matter what happens because of this and getting ANY and all info I can is appreciated. And if I get lucky and get a couple of days on the beach with my children would just make it wonderful. I do check other sites as well as the news. But hearing it from locals is also nice. And I'm learning what else we can do. As for using common sense I just won't pay in January for a trip on June. It's nice if I hear good news.
the reason I keep looking and posting questions is there is no way I can back out of this vacation or I would lose my money for the condo. I am coming down no matter what happens because of this and getting ANY and all info I can is appreciated. And if I get lucky and get a couple of days on the beach with my children would just make it wonderful. I do check other sites as well as the news. But hearing it from locals is also nice. And I'm learning what else we can do. As for using common sense I just won't pay in January for a trip on June. It's nice if I hear good news.
Jun 5th, 2010, 12:37 PM
#223
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PCB still beautiful as always. Too rough to go fishing today. Booms still being deployed in Destin, but nothing yet. If the sheen gets closer, the booms will hold the oil until skimmer boats remove it. Waiting to hear updates on FB from friends in Destin. I'll tell you what-- we've got our game faces on and we're ready if this oil shows up.
Jun 5th, 2010, 12:55 PM
#224
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lese55,
I don't know where you're headed, but unless it's PCB, I wouldn't bring a 33 month-old with respirarotry problems down here. And to be honest, I'd think twice about that. A lot can happen in the time between now and when you're due to come. Good or bad. (Which may upset some people, but that's just MHO.)
Some days here at Pensacola Beach (about 80 miles from PCB) we have smells, some days we don't. It has never been irritating, to me. But I have perfectly healthy lungs. I have a 30 month-old grandson and a 6 month-old granddaughter. Much as I love to see them, if either had breathing problems I'd tell their parents to not bring them here right now.
bkluvsNola,
That's a lack of good parenting. Common sense should tell anybody that playing with crude oil isn't a good idea. When I was walking the beach yesterday I told the parents of the one child I saw poking a tarball with a stick that that wasn't a great idea. I got a "mind your own business" look, bit my tongue and kept walking. Right now, here, the balls few enough and small enough that avoiding them is easy.
So far the oil on our beach (Pensacola Beach) doesn't look like what they have in Gulf Shores. It's still tarballs of varying sizes, but I fear it's just a matter of time until we get that bucketful-of-melted-chocolate-splashed-around look here.
Even if they totally stopped the leak as I'm writing this, there are just so many unbelievable gallons and gallons of crap already out there. Some of it will sink (to haunt us for years and years), some of it will head South, and some of it will come ashore. When, how far East, and how bad - I sure as heck don't know. And neither does anyone else on this board. All any of us can do is tell what is happening in the here and now and advise you to check out the NOAA website for the latest trajectory paths.
Once again - for those who don't take time to read anything but the last few posts - I'll repeat - I have zip to do with tourism, fishing, government, you name it. I've just been blessed to live for the last 30 years in a place that people spend their hard-earned money to visit. All I'm trying to do is tell people what I see. Here.
Right now the wind and rain are like a tropical storm. The good thing about that is, the wind is blowing its butt off out of the North. The longer it does that, the farther away from shore it pushes the heavier stuff. We already have some oil, and barring a miracle, we'll get more. But this may buy a little more time for Destin, PCB, and other points to the East.
I don't know where you're headed, but unless it's PCB, I wouldn't bring a 33 month-old with respirarotry problems down here. And to be honest, I'd think twice about that. A lot can happen in the time between now and when you're due to come. Good or bad. (Which may upset some people, but that's just MHO.)
Some days here at Pensacola Beach (about 80 miles from PCB) we have smells, some days we don't. It has never been irritating, to me. But I have perfectly healthy lungs. I have a 30 month-old grandson and a 6 month-old granddaughter. Much as I love to see them, if either had breathing problems I'd tell their parents to not bring them here right now.
bkluvsNola,
That's a lack of good parenting. Common sense should tell anybody that playing with crude oil isn't a good idea. When I was walking the beach yesterday I told the parents of the one child I saw poking a tarball with a stick that that wasn't a great idea. I got a "mind your own business" look, bit my tongue and kept walking. Right now, here, the balls few enough and small enough that avoiding them is easy.
So far the oil on our beach (Pensacola Beach) doesn't look like what they have in Gulf Shores. It's still tarballs of varying sizes, but I fear it's just a matter of time until we get that bucketful-of-melted-chocolate-splashed-around look here.
Even if they totally stopped the leak as I'm writing this, there are just so many unbelievable gallons and gallons of crap already out there. Some of it will sink (to haunt us for years and years), some of it will head South, and some of it will come ashore. When, how far East, and how bad - I sure as heck don't know. And neither does anyone else on this board. All any of us can do is tell what is happening in the here and now and advise you to check out the NOAA website for the latest trajectory paths.
Once again - for those who don't take time to read anything but the last few posts - I'll repeat - I have zip to do with tourism, fishing, government, you name it. I've just been blessed to live for the last 30 years in a place that people spend their hard-earned money to visit. All I'm trying to do is tell people what I see. Here.
Right now the wind and rain are like a tropical storm. The good thing about that is, the wind is blowing its butt off out of the North. The longer it does that, the farther away from shore it pushes the heavier stuff. We already have some oil, and barring a miracle, we'll get more. But this may buy a little more time for Destin, PCB, and other points to the East.
Jun 5th, 2010, 08:48 PM
#225
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Jun 6th, 2010, 08:35 AM
#228
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SouthernerzRock...who did you get this from? The NOLA trajectory map shows oil already hitting the beach in Destin, but not PCB. The condo we are going to says their beach is clear and they have a video posted. It not too convincing to show me 25 yards of white sand and declare all is well.
Jun 6th, 2010, 11:05 AM
#230
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moomoo1920,
I sure hope you're right about the action that will be taken in PCB. It isn't what's happened here (Pensacola Beach). Our fishermen have been hired by bp to go out and find the slicks that need to be skimmed. On the news the other night one captain was floating next to a fair-sized area. He said he'd called it in and had been driftng next to it for 4 hours waiting for a skimmer that had never appeared.
In the Pensacola News-Journal this morning Mike Sole, secretary of the Florida DEP was quoted: "It's hard for anybody to hear this: The beaches end up being your best boom." He went on the say that once it hits the beach, it's stopped. It can be collected. It's the estuaries that need to be protected from contact with the oil because removal is much more difficult, if not impossible, in those areas. And, he's right. To me, this means our Gulf front beaches are "expendable" and a certain amount of the oil will pretty much be allowed to come ashore unabated especially if it means taking a skimmer from an area deemed to be more critical.
The plan is to close the passes at Perdido and Pensacola with booms but not until the amount of oil coming in is much greater than what's coming in right now. (For now booms have been deployed in the Sound and the bays around ecologically sensitive areas as much as possible. And others are being put in place today.) Those passes, and the ones at Destin, PCB, etc, are a part of the Intercoastal Waterway system and can't simply be closed indefinitely to boat traffic. The booms will go up on the incoming tides to funnel oil to skimmers and come down on the outgoing tides to allow boats passage. Does this sound like what they plan for PCB and Destin?
All,
The NOAA map in our paper shows beached oil only as far east as the Grayton Beach area which is about midway between Destin and PCB. The article says that oil is forecast for today (Sunday) on beaches as far east as Apalachicola but I can't find that on any projection map. Maybe Southernzrock and the reporter who wrote the article have the same "unnamed source" for their info.
I sure hope you're right about the action that will be taken in PCB. It isn't what's happened here (Pensacola Beach). Our fishermen have been hired by bp to go out and find the slicks that need to be skimmed. On the news the other night one captain was floating next to a fair-sized area. He said he'd called it in and had been driftng next to it for 4 hours waiting for a skimmer that had never appeared.
In the Pensacola News-Journal this morning Mike Sole, secretary of the Florida DEP was quoted: "It's hard for anybody to hear this: The beaches end up being your best boom." He went on the say that once it hits the beach, it's stopped. It can be collected. It's the estuaries that need to be protected from contact with the oil because removal is much more difficult, if not impossible, in those areas. And, he's right. To me, this means our Gulf front beaches are "expendable" and a certain amount of the oil will pretty much be allowed to come ashore unabated especially if it means taking a skimmer from an area deemed to be more critical.
The plan is to close the passes at Perdido and Pensacola with booms but not until the amount of oil coming in is much greater than what's coming in right now. (For now booms have been deployed in the Sound and the bays around ecologically sensitive areas as much as possible. And others are being put in place today.) Those passes, and the ones at Destin, PCB, etc, are a part of the Intercoastal Waterway system and can't simply be closed indefinitely to boat traffic. The booms will go up on the incoming tides to funnel oil to skimmers and come down on the outgoing tides to allow boats passage. Does this sound like what they plan for PCB and Destin?
All,
The NOAA map in our paper shows beached oil only as far east as the Grayton Beach area which is about midway between Destin and PCB. The article says that oil is forecast for today (Sunday) on beaches as far east as Apalachicola but I can't find that on any projection map. Maybe Southernzrock and the reporter who wrote the article have the same "unnamed source" for their info.
Jun 6th, 2010, 02:43 PM
#232
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Heading out to Carillon Beach right now (west of PCB Beach, near Rosemary Beach and Seaside area). I'm sure it will be beautiful, but I'll update you guys when I get home late tonight. Wish I could post pictures of the water & beach......
Jun 6th, 2010, 04:42 PM
#233
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We are headed to Sea Grove Beach on 6/12 and have been watching this situation closely. I grew up spending 2 wks in Destin every summer. I met my husband there at age 17 and we were from different states. Spent our honeymoon there. Have vacationed there with our 3 kiddos for years. This breaks my heart. Our condo is offering "kinder cancellation terms." As much as I hate to not make our beach trip, I really don't want to have to travel 9 hrs from Houston to swim in a condo pool for a week because there are tar balls washing up on shore. Yesterday's trajectory map looked much worse than today's. We are still holding out hope. We'll throw our suits in a bag at the last minute as long as all looks well. It's hard to explain to a 4 year old why you can't get in the water...especially after a 9 hr car ride!
Many prayers for our beautiful Gulf Coast!!
Many prayers for our beautiful Gulf Coast!!
Jun 6th, 2010, 07:00 PM
#234
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We arrived in PCB Saturday evening. WAS ON THE beautiful white sandy beaches all day today. (except for a few lil showers here and there). No oil projected here yet?? Will continue to hope and pray that it never arrives. p.s. moomoo1920, we had grouper baskets tonight at Pineapple Willies........yum!
Jun 6th, 2010, 08:11 PM
#235
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Latest reports are tarballs at Ft. Walton Beach.
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/tiny...ulf_oil_s.html
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/06/tiny...ulf_oil_s.html
Jun 6th, 2010, 08:35 PM
#236
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Rumor Patrol: Just responding to some crazy rumors to offer clarification:
Rumor #1: TARBALLS IN FT WALTON BEACH: from the destinlog: Lifeguards on Saturday's first patrol found a "very minor" set of fingernail-sized tar balls on the western edge of Okaloosa Island, said Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Dino Villani. Less than a half dozen were found, he said
County spokeswoman Kathy Newby called the tar balls "specks" because they were so small. She said none were found Sunday.
Rumor #2: OIL IN PCB, PEOPLE TOLD TO GET OUT OF THE WATER. People WERE told to get out of the water today, but that's because of a super strong SW wind and double red flags, meaning strong rip tides and no one should be in the water.
It was SO windy today. Even with the SW wind, it didn't smell any different to me at the beach. Also, no oil or tar balls. The seaweed is starting to roll in, and from a distance (in pics online) it could look like oil, but it's not.
Fightin Illini: I'm SO excited that you got the grouper basket from Pineapple Willy's! That's one of my favorite places to hang out. You can eat on the pier then just walk down the steps to the beach. It's awesome! Keep us updated with your beach adventures! Make sure you take a trip to Shell Island. There's a shuttle at the state park that you can take. NO bathrooms over there, it's all natural. So be prepared!
Rumor #1: TARBALLS IN FT WALTON BEACH: from the destinlog: Lifeguards on Saturday's first patrol found a "very minor" set of fingernail-sized tar balls on the western edge of Okaloosa Island, said Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Dino Villani. Less than a half dozen were found, he said
County spokeswoman Kathy Newby called the tar balls "specks" because they were so small. She said none were found Sunday.
Rumor #2: OIL IN PCB, PEOPLE TOLD TO GET OUT OF THE WATER. People WERE told to get out of the water today, but that's because of a super strong SW wind and double red flags, meaning strong rip tides and no one should be in the water.
It was SO windy today. Even with the SW wind, it didn't smell any different to me at the beach. Also, no oil or tar balls. The seaweed is starting to roll in, and from a distance (in pics online) it could look like oil, but it's not.
Fightin Illini: I'm SO excited that you got the grouper basket from Pineapple Willy's! That's one of my favorite places to hang out. You can eat on the pier then just walk down the steps to the beach. It's awesome! Keep us updated with your beach adventures! Make sure you take a trip to Shell Island. There's a shuttle at the state park that you can take. NO bathrooms over there, it's all natural. So be prepared!
Jun 7th, 2010, 06:18 PM
#239
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I have been reading this blog for the last 2 weeks and REALLY appreciate all the locals and current visitors keeping everyone up to date on the status of the water and beaches. I have a family vacation planned to Panama City Beach the week of June 20th. It will be my children's first trip to the beach and they have been talking about it DAILY for the past 3 months. I am really hoping the oil holds off, along with everyone else! Please keep the updates coming. Thanks!!
