GW's, Yamahas, Generators and Oil filled water...

[sel1005]

I live on the northern Gulf Coast and have been watching the tragedy unfold with the oil well explosion, hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil that are now moving toward us, and unfortunately no quick fix in sight.

I will not voice my personal opinions in this post, but rather just ask for advice as to safety this summer with all this stuff in the water. The forecast ranges from horrible to terrible for the next few months, no end to the leak and damage in sight.

My GW is just coming out of her annual service, and we were planning an active fishing and cruising year. I have never tried to boat in conditions that are forecast for us; has anyone else?

I can not imagine what oil, whether a slick or the huge thick masses of crude that you see on TV, would do if you drove thru them. I would find it difficult to believe that my Yamahas would handle the oil well; I know the hull would be a totally nasty mess, but has anyone ever been in conditions like those forecast for the northern gulf the next couple of months, any experiences as to what is possible vs just keep the boat in the lift all year?

All the boats working to stop the oil are still running, but of course they are large inboard boats with special maintenance crews.

This is truly a case of I don't know what I don't know....

 

[richie rich]

SEL, I think most boaters are in the same "boat" as you are....when is the last time you heard of a major oil spill in or near the US...maybe Exxon Valdez?? It's a rare, but unfortunate occurance. If it were me, I'd stay out of the oil filled water altogether...both for fishing purposes and mechanical ones....if it hits your shoreline, there's really not much you can do.

 

[sel1005]

That's what everyone here is thinking, but man oh man....

Grouper season just started Apr 1, snapper and scallop are set to start in July. Guess this year, maybe next, will be one of those spend your weekends on the boat polishing and running the engines with the hoses years....

I, as well as all my friends, are just totally amazed / disappointed in the federal governments response. Instead of stopping the leak, the president is giving speaches telling how he is going to hold some corporation accountable. Who gives a flip?

Stop the freaking leak, bring in the navy, other oil companies, but stop the leak and quit posing for the cameras

 

[Doc Stressor]

Maybe the Navy should nuke the rig. :roll:

The problem is that only the oil companies and their subcontractors have the infrastructure and technology to work on a leak 5000 ft down.

All the Feds can do is to help with containment and try to hold BP and whoever else responsible.

From the info available so far, this was a tragic accident. A "bump" of gas occurred just as they were finishing disconnecting from the well head.

If all of the government resources were available at the time of the blow out it wouldn't have made any difference.

All we can do is to hope and pray at this point.

 

[richie rich]

Doc's right...stuff like this is best left up tp the pro's...the Gov't doesn't know squat about snuffing out an oil rig,,,,they hired big time contractors in Desert Shield/Storm because that was the only way to stop the plume of oil fields on fire....forget the Pres,,,,got nothing to do with it and can't help crap at this point...the engineers at BP gotta do it

So much for "drill baby drill"........need wind and solar...not this stuff

 

[Tuna Man]

I am just guessing here but I suspect the oil is "only" sitting on the surface. I have not read much on the subject, but have seen oil slicks many times (small scale) and the oil typically only is about 1/8" thick at worst. With crude maybe it is 1/2" thick I assume.

I suspect the larger boats (ships) take their raw water three to ten feet below the surface. Being the water intakes are so low in the water column, I think they are pretty safe on these ships.

With regard to your boat (all outboards), your water pickups are much closer to the surface. I would guess a few inches below the surface when running on plane. I think it would be almost inevitable that you would pick up some oil while running. Could cause engine problems I guess.

I would also worry about the generator, thru hulls (caulk), hoses, bottom paint, etc. Not sure how it would effect these things, not sure you want to find out.