Cruise 2010

In a radical departure from what we had been doing in years previous we decided to go back to Pensacola.  We launched from Pensacola Shipyard where we stored the trailer and headed over to Perdido Key before turning east to Fort Walton Beach.  Later we cruised west to the state line and anchored for a night.  It was getting late in April when we headed back across the Big Lagoon and saw numerous work boats deploying booms to protect some of the more sensitive areas from oil from the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon.  Boats were being hauled out and people were preparing for oil on Pensacola beach when we left, but we were home for a couple of weeks before the first tar balls washed ashore.  I was so preoccupied with the news from this event and then moving to a different house, that I didn't have time to update this website.  Hopefully 2011 will be different, where I plan to update the site as I go. To view an online nautical chart of this area click here.

marina
One of many marinas lining the shore along Bayo Chico.
Dream Catcher
I climbed up the top of the spoil island and took a picture of Okbayou while at anchor.  Dream Catcher is to the right sailing by.
 anchorage
The anchorage here at Perdido Key is very popular with the locals.
Blue Angels
A side benefit of anchoring near Perdido Key is the air show on Tuesday morning, courtesy of the
Blue Angels.  It was cloudy that day and they practiced anyway.  Wednesday was a clear blue sky
kind of day and they showed up again to practice.
 sign
point
Wreck on North East corner of Perdido Key just West of the Pensacola Bay Entrance.
lighthouse
The lighthouse doesn't exactly line up with Pensacola Bay entrance like it did when it was built.  The
Bay entrance is constantly moving west.  That is why Fort Pickens is intact and Fort McRee is gone.
pass
This picture was taken from our boat anchored just North of Ft. Mcree
and West of the Pensacola Pass.  The vessel is heading South into the Gulf
on Thursday April 29th.  Don't know if it was involved in oil cleanup or not.
 boom
Several containment booms like this one were deployed
around the Big Lagoon to keep the oil out of the more
fragile areas.

Links to US Government agencies and News Media





 cypress
Buoy Tender Cypress which has been in Pensacola for a few
months and its sister ship Oak which was homeported in Charleston
SC will be deployed to skim oil near the well site.