Good Sunday morning to you!

Wasn't it great to hear the rumble of thunder yesterday evening?!  Just the impending promise of clouds and the chance of some cooling rain made me almost as giddy as a school girl.  Of course if you were out fishing, or swimming, or trying to enjoy a picnic, sorry about the rain.

A couple of notes:
From the Florida Fish and Wildlife:
Florida is reopening Gulf waters off Escambia County for the harvesting of saltwater fish.
The 23-mile stretch was closed June 14 to fishing, but the restriction never affected clams, oysters or mussels.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approved the reopening after lab tests proved local fish safe and oil-free. The sampling and analysis were overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

The change, announced late Friday, was scheduled to take effect just after midnight Saturday morning.
The reopened area spans from the Alabama state line to the Pensacola Beach water tower, up to nine nautical miles from the shoreline.

Shrimp and crab harvesting is still not allowed in the area, pending additional tests.

From BP:
Operation Static Kill has been delayed from today until possible Tuesday.  It turns out the temporary cap that was placed on the well head just before TD Bonnie left behind some debris that needs to be removed in order to have a more successful shot at cementing and mudding this well off.

From ME:
I'm going to start cutting back the blog, JUST a little bit.  I will add news or information as it comes up, or as it is necessary.  So don't STOP coming here.  I just added up all the hours I've done with SURF in the past 23 days, and it hit 92 hours !  That on top of my other obligations is bordering on insane. BUT now that SURF is well, up and running, all I need to do is hit the beach a few times and post on the blog.  PLUS, since you are all mostly veteran SURFers now, you've got the gist of it.  But I will continue to entertain you with goofball antics, anecdotes, and photos, as well as bore you to death with news highlights, weather, and local events ! HA!

All you newbies run over to the firehouse and sign up for some shifts, all you old hats too for that matter !


OH something I found out this week.  If you call your favorite sunscreen company and tell them you are working on the beach with the oil crisis as a volunteer, they are HAPPY to send you GREAT coupons for sunscreen.  Just FYI.  I figure every dollar helps, right?!  OH and save those receipts for tax season if you itemize your volunteer miles, time, and expenses!!!