Oil Spill Preparations at NAS Pensacola - 6/5/10

Trout Point



With the wind now coming out of the southwest and reports of tar balls on Pensacola Beach I spent the morning checking out what was being done to protect the shoreline aboard NAS Pensacola. I started out at Trout Point on the west end of the base and made my eastward toward the Bayou Grande Marina where I have my boat. You can see in the photo that there's a boom in place here. BUT!



Trout Point

The booms made it around the point and a couple of hundred yards toward the east but well short of Sherman Cove. There is still a lot of unprotected shoreline left to be taken care of on this end of the base.

Sherman Cove Marina

Sherman Cove Marina, the power boat marina, was closed to all but work crews on Friday. Right now, they have a setup a channel with booms blocking off the east and western ends of the cove.

Barrancas Beach is Still Open

I walked the beach and saw no evidence of any oil anywhere. There were several families spread out all along the beach. But the beach wasn't crowded.

Enjoying it While They Can


With the boom boat crews working in the background, some folks were taking advantage of the great weather, enjoying the beach and the water while it's still clean and open.

Boom Crews on the Beach

Looking west down the beach you can see the booms that are already in place.

Paying Out More Boom

Crews on the shore help to pay out more booms as the boat crews link them together. The crews appear to be linking up the booms as they move toward the east. If you look close you can see the Ensign flying on the boat on the right. The wind was blowing in from the southwest - NOT GOOD!

Next Stop, Bayou Grande to see if they have closed it off yet.

Bayou Grande Marina

When I got to the marina it was still open. They hadn't blocked off the channel into the marina yet. I spoke to one of the the staff members. They had no idea how much longer the marina will remain open. It's a day-by-day situation. So, if you've got a boat in the water at BG marina, how much longer you'll be able to get in or out is anybodies guess.