OIL! Something wicked this way comes......

[s/v Faith]

Those of us along the Gulf Coast are bracing for impact.

  The Deep Water Horizon drilling rig explosion is a terrible tragedy and the effects are likely to be devastating and with us for some time.

  I read comments from some in Louisiana last night who can already smell the oil, others are hauling out and getting ready.

  Here in Pensacola they plan to deploy booms across the pass to catch some of the oil that comes in with the tide, but if the leak continues like it is expected to they are not likely to protect the bay for long.

  I am sure there will be much discussion on this topic, please remember to leave any political discussions for other venues... thanks.

  Here is an email I received from Boat US, it has some useful info (ignore the boat US specific info if they are not your carrier)

Dear Policyholder:

BoatUS Marine insurance has been actively following news accounts of the ever-expanding oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico that is now threatening coastal areas in several states. Forecasters say changes in wind direction could see the light oil slick, which some news reports describe as an "iced-tea" like sheen about as thin as a layer of paint, making landfall as early as today.

As this giant slick approaches marinas, clubs, and boatyards, thousands of boats may be affected. Here are some suggestions to protect your boat:

    * If your marina or boat club puts oil containment booms in place, do not attempt to cross the booms with your boat. This will only spread the oil and damage the booms or possibly your vessel's running gear.

    * If there is oil in your marina, refrain from running engines or other devices that have seawater intakes such as air conditioners or refrigerators.

    * Hauling out your boat will prevent damage, but as of press time it was not clear if these costs will be reimbursed by British Petroleum (BP). Due to the potentially catastrophic nature of this problem, if you choose to have your boat professionally hauled out to avoid contamination, 50% of the cost, up to $1000, will be reimbursed under the "Hurricane Preparation" feature in the "General Conditions" section of your policy.

    * If the spill is sighted coming toward your marina or already there, call the BP Community Information Hotline at 866-448-5816 to make a report.

    * If your boat comes in contact with the oil, please call the BoatUS claims department. We are open 24/7 to assist you.

You are in our thoughts at BoatUS and we hope for the best possible outcome in this situation.

 

 

[s/v Faith]

Gulf oil spill swiftly balloons, could move east

VENICE, La. ? A sense of doom settled over the American coastline from Louisiana to Florida on Saturday as a massive oil slick spewing from a ruptured well kept growing, and experts warned that an uncontrolled gusher could create a nightmare scenario if the Gulf Stream carries it toward the Atlantic.......

[tomwatt]

For all those with boats down on the Gulf, my heart goes out to you. My best wishes for a safe haulout (or whatever is best for your boat) and a swift return to normalcy. Hopefully this will not overwhelm the responders as they work to get the leak under control and clean up the mess.
I do fear for the safety and livelihood of the souls working out there.
And of course, I hope no one's boat suffers any injury from this.

[Jim_ME]

One of my old friends, who moved to Louisiana and works as a helicopter pilot in support of the oil industry (and previously MedEvac) called on Friday and we talked about the situation there. He spoke of the reality of the tragedy sinking in...the vehicles in the parking lot of those who didn't come back from the rig.

[s/v Faith]

One of my old friends, who moved to Louisiana and works as a helicopter pilot in support of the oil industry (and previously MedEvac) called on Friday and we talked about the situation there. He spoke of the reality of the tragedy sinking in...the vehicles in the parking lot of those who didn't come back from the rig.

Jim,

  Absolutely.  The families of these 11 men are concerned with far more then marks on their hull or dead fish. 

  Some (elsewhere) have implied that this is not a big deal and will 'all be forgotten someday'.... it is a sad fact that I do not believe that this is true this time...   especially not by those who have already been victims.

  Other oil 'disasters' are tanker spills, where a finite (albeit large) quantity of oil was released.  Even the Exxon Valdez  with it's massive 250,000 barrel spill may well be overshadowed by this one.

  The Deep Water Horizon drilling rig explosion may have been pumping as much as 25,000 barrels of oil a day for the last 12 days... if so already more then the Exxon Valdez.  The attempts to stem the flow are expected to take 90 days at a minimum... How much oil is going to be released?  A hundred million gallons is one of the current estimates...  what ever it turns out to be it is not unrealistic to expect this to cause severe damage to a huge portion of the coastal ecosystems from Louisiana east to who knows how far north?

  Time will tell....

[Jim_ME]

Certainly the environmental, wildlife, and economic aspects are also very important, "catastrophic", as many are calling it. I meant only to add to what others had written.

I too was following the current news stories that were focusing on the failing efforts to contain the spill. The story of the workers who had lost their lives, tragic as it was, was mostly settled as a story and the attention of the media and the public had moved on to the ongoing issues. I had heard the news story of these 11 workers, and as perhaps for many, there is an abstract nature to it...they are anonymous to us. So, it was a surprise to hear from my friend that they were from the same base of operations, and the way he experienced it through the cars remaining in the parking lot. I got the impression that his thoughts were about the random nature of it, that this could have happened to any of them.

It is also especially tragic to see that area that is still recovering from Katrina, and struggling with this recession, to now get hit by this.

The article that you reference on the Exxon Valdez accident states "Almost 20 years after the spill, a team of scientists at the University of North Carolina found that the effects are lasting far longer than expected. The team estimates some shoreline Arctic habitats may take up to 30 years to recover."

No doubt there will be long-term effects. Having this go on for another 90 days (which I also just read) is unthinkable. I hope that this is just a worst-case scenario and that they will find a way to shut that well off soon and limit the scope of the disaster.

[Jim_ME]

For those who may have missed it, there was an interesting story on this subject (and the events leading up to it) on 60 Minutes last night. Here is a written version...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/05/16/60minutes/main6490197.shtml

[wallo9]

I was attracted to sailfar because of a little boys dream, it reminded me of the dreams of my childhood. Their was a river that ran through our city I spent a lot of time playing on it's banks and sitting beside it.our City was known for it's Textiles and coal mines hence the river ran pink, red, green and blue along it's bank a tar mark a foot wide ran along the bank the sewers dumped the dredge of our population into the water. I would sit on the bank thinking how great it would be if I could swim in the rivers currents or build a raft like Huckelberry Fin and float along to new adventures, but I couldn't go in the water, so I would sit their and dream of times of bygone days when the Mohawks lived on it's banks and built their canoes from the large birch trees and fished for trout and the women washed in the clean waters. After reading the sixty min. Is our environment going to become so alien that our children only sit in their rooms and watch nature on a computer screen and listen to canned birds singing from the speakers. May all blessing go out to those who lost their life in this tragedy and to  their family's that they were trying to support. Wallo9

[Bubba the Pirate]

Nicely said Wallo9, I get a little melodramatic [in private, so far] when I start thinking how long I've had this dream and how hard I've been working toward it for the last couple years and now that I'm getting close, what will there be left to see?   

The Gulf was going to be a major cruising ground for me.  I have friends from Louisiana around the Keys to Melbourne and even New Jersey and Boston, that are waiting for me to arrive in the next few years.  Can I get to the Rio Dulce or the San Blas without dragging some of the pollution with me?  What a mess!  I also send my sympathies to the affected families.  I think all our families will eventually feel the effects. 

It is depressing that the pristine world that Moitessier or Jones or [fill the blank with your favorite bluewater hero(s)] is no longer available.  I wonder if it is even possible to find an atoll somewhere and not find a water bottle or a hamburger wrapper? 

OK, so its no longer in private . . . . :oP

[Jim_ME]

It is indeed important to remember the families of the lost oil rig workers, whose story has been largely overshadowed by that of the spill. I heard a report on one of the workers (which included his name and made it more personal/real) awhile back on NPR. Here is a transcript...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126630824

The recent reports about the oil now coming ashore in the coastal marshes--affecting wildlife,  traditional fishing, and way of life there--are tragic, and ongoing. With the reports of huge underwater oil plumes, and that they are getting into currents that may spread them to the Keys and beyond... The range, scale, and duration of this mess is stunning.

One of the shocking things about the 60 Minutes story and interview was the way that the backup safety devices (battery and controls for the blowout preventer valve and its rubber seal) had been compromised a month before the explosion, but not repaired. And then, according to the worker interviewed, to have BP putting so much additional pressure on the rig owner and operators, and to override the standard procedure of leaving the clay slurry in the pipe (which seals off the methane gas from escaping) when the concrete plugs are poured.

I recall a story that I heard about how on one of the auto assembly lines where each worker had access to a master switch and could (should, when there was a problem) shut down the entire assembly line. This quickly got a lot of serious focus onto fixing that problem.   

Perhaps one lesson is that when you have redundant backup systems, when they need repair, it is very important to get that done ASAP, even to halt operations until it is done, and to give the workers (of an oil rig or a coal mine) the ability to do this when their safety is at serious risk, despite the economic pressures.

This led to thoughts about how it also applies to boats, and how the Keep It Simple S principles of simpler gear and equipment means that it is easier to inspect, maintain, and repair, so that a viable Plan B is maintained.

In one sense, it is reassuring that it often takes multiple failures to cause a catastrophic situation. It's going to cause me to take more seriously backup measures, such as those wooden plugs next to the thru-hulls (as someone mentioned in another thread not too long ago), even though I may never need them, or know anyone that did. Make sure that the manual bilge pump is still working before encountering a problem with the powered one, and other contingency plans and equipment.

The defense made that the "blow-out preventer valves have always worked in the past" did not take into consideration that most previous wells are in much shallower depths than this,  and would allow more options to stop any leak. One recalls how the Titanic was called unsinkable and had only half the lifeboats that it needed, and sped through the night to set a crossing record, despite reports of icebergs. The need to be the biggest, the most extravagant, the fastest...

Surely, one of the benefits of the modest/simple boating approach is to resist this kind of misplaced priorities, overconfidence in equipment, and hubris.

[Tim]

The defense made that the "blow-out preventer valves have always worked in the past" did not take into consideration that most previous wells are in much shallower depths than this,  and would allow more options to stop any leak. One recalls how the Titanic was called unsinkable  and had only half the lifeboats that it needed, and sped through the night to set a crossing record, despite reports of icebergs. The need to be the biggest, the most extravagant, the fastest...

Clearly an undue amount of risk was built into deep well drilling up until now. I hope the followup remains strong to rectify this. What also comes out is the arrogance of the industry and how regulation has been so compromised by it.

[s/v Faith]

After several weeks of coming ashore in fits and starts the oil is here.

  The paper is calling it "It's hard to say goodbye"...

Pensacola has long been known for sugar sand white beaches, they are likely going to be stained for some time.

Before:


and;



And now;

[CapnK]

Wow...   :'(  :'(  :'(

I guess that they'll have to scrape/skim up the top layer of sand, and haul it out of there? And then clean that up - prolly burn it - before they then bury it in a landfill...?

SNAFU.  ::)

[Frank]

Sad.  Sickening pictures.

[s/v Monomoy]

The good thing is that the workers seem to get it cleaned up pretty quick.  The media was using images near the Pensacola Fishing Pier on Pensacola Beach as their example of how bad it is.  However, we took a drive over there about an hour ago and there was hardly any evidence that oil had even been there aside from all of the worker activity going on.  I believe that if the oil well can be contained, then the workers do have the ability to at least get the shores cleaned up quickly.  The sea life is another story though.

[tomwatt]

Too bad they can't work that into some kind of paving solution... after all, asphalt is just tar plus coarse sand... seems a shame to see those beautiful beaches that I loved so much as a little boy (family vacations to the redneck riviera every summer) with all that goop on them.

[s/v Faith]

June 23, 2010 | 11:51 am William Allen Kruse, 55, a charter boat captain recently hired by BP as a vessel of opportunity out of Gulf Shores, Ala., died Wednesday morning before 7:30 a.m. of a gunshot to the head, likely self-inflicted, authorities said.

"He had been quite despondent about the oil crisis," said Stan Vinson, coroner for Baldwin County, which includes Gulf Shores.

Kruse, who lived with his family in nearby Foley, Ala., reported to work Wednesday morning as usual at the Gulf Shores Marina on Fort Morgan Road in Gulf Shores, Vinson said. He met up with his two deckhands at his boat, The Rookie. One of the deckhands later told Vinson that Kruse seemed his usual self, sending them to fetch ice while he pulled the boat around to the gas pumps.

As the deckhands walked off to get ice, they heard what sounded like a firecracker, Vinson said. They turned around but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. So they proceeded to gather the ice and wait for Kruse at the pumps. "He never showed," Vinson said.



After waiting a while, the deckhands returned to the boat, which was moored where they had left it, Vinson said. They went aboard and found Kruse at the captain's bridge above the wheelhouse, Vinson said. He had been shot in the head. A Glock handgun was later recovered from the scene, and investigators do not suspect foul play, Vinson said.

Vinson said Kruse was in good health, did not suffer from any mental illness and was not taking psychotropic medications.

But he said it's not surprising the oil spill had weighed heavily on his mind, as it has on many local fishermen no longer able to support themselves with deep-sea sport fishing trips for marlin and the like, Vinson said.

"All the waters are closed. There's no charter business anymore. You go out on some of the beaches now, with the oil, you can't even get in the water," Vinson said. "It's really crippled the tourism and fishing industry here."

Vinson's office was to perform an autopsy Wednesday, and the Gulf Shores Police Department is still investigating. Det. Justin Clopton did not return calls.

Kruse's family was notified by Wednesday afternoon, Vinson said, and his deckhands were sent home for the day.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/06/gulf-oil-spill-boat-captain-despondent-over-spill-commits-suicide.html

[Captain Smollett]

I saw this on the news last night and was very saddened by it.  Wow.

My first comment out loud though was "I wonder how much of the media play of the 'disaster' influenced his thinking."  Just a thought I had...not trying to open a political can of worms.

Also, not mentioned in the summary posted, but something I think is important:  BP has offered to pay for the funeral AND to give/continue whatever payments he would would have coming to him.  Maybe just PR on their part, but I think it *IS* important to find the good in these things where they exist.  At least in this horrible personal tragedy, the family won't have to worry about the unexpected finance of paying for his memorial services.

The whole thing -  :'(