Report from Alabama Gulf Coast 6/21/10

[trof]

Drove down to the beach today.
Checked it out at a couple of locations in Gulf Shores and three in Orange Beach.
No oil mousse.
Could see nothing offshore or in the surf.
A few small tarballs scattered here and there at the tide line.
Some weed, not much.
Not many folks out.

You could probably book a condo or motel room at about half price down here now.
I'm just sayin'.

[Subdivisions]

1. Thanks for the report, trof. Heard earlier today that the

winds are keeping the oil offshore - for now.

[trof]

3. It's a crapshoot, sorta. To vacation here now.

If you're here for the beaches, you probably won't be terribly disappointed.
We're using BeachComber machines that 'rake' the beaches nightly.
They separate the sand from the trash, spread the sand back down, and collect the trash and haul it away.
Today there was no oil smell.
There usually isn't unless they're flaring it out at 50-60 miles offshore and there's a strong southwest wind.
I've only smelled oil once since this started.

[PacerLJ35]

2. Flew over the oil spill on Sunday...

A narrow band of oil was as far east as Pensacola, but still about 100+ miles offshore. Ships with booms were already out there from what I could tell...but we were at 33,000 feet so it made it hard to tell.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Even if they PAID me to stay there, I still would not want to

swim or even breath the air with all the dispersant crap in it.
We are having a glorious long afternoon of thunderstorms up here about 90 miles from the beach,
and I found myself grateful that the wind/rain is coming from the NE, instead of the south.

[trof]

5. Well dixie, I guess that ain't gonna happen.

If they paid me to be there, I might move down.
;-)

[trashcanistanista]

6. Same here, but Florida.

I spent a week in Destin, got back last night. The beach was clean and clear. We saw dolphins and sting rays and little fish from the beach and caught tons of crabs each night. We had green algae on and off. We ate seafood every day. My little nephew found a shell with a little smear of oil on it once but that was it, no tarballs. They had a lot of cancellations but folks were still comming as we were checking out. There is some oil boom out in the bay but it looked clean.

[trashcanistanista]

7. For the record.

I would move there in a heartbeat if I could find a job and affordable housing. I love the GOM. Alabama, too.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Affordable housing we got.

Jobs?
Unemployment was not TOO bad until the rig blew.

Living close to the Gulf can get expensive after a hurricane or 2. ( High insurance, cost of rebuilding).

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. nice first hand report. kick

[SammyWinstonJack]

10. K&R