Hey Harmsway, you missed a good time last night at Hammaknocker, but I totally understand being tired after being on the water all day. Eric Durrance and his Tobacco Road Band were great, as was Rick Otto and his band. There was a good crowd as well, i.e. not too rowdy, but not to mellow. However, what really made the evening was throwing down on some ribs and cold beer.
Well, we are three days in on the cap being put in place and the pressure keeps holding, that is great news. As much as I like the cap holding and no oil coming out, I really want to see them get the lines and ships in place to start siphoning the oil off. I will feel better about them “capturing” the oil instead of “containing” the oil. Due to the explosion, you have to wonder if that well casing will stay intact. I haven’t heard anything to indicate otherwise. If we can siphon the oil off and keep the relief wells moving forward, we’ll be in a very good position. If we can continue to have good weather over the next two weeks, I remain optimistic that we can have the relief wells in place by the end of July.
I have heard that the USCG has advised that they will not use the "A Whale" skimmer due to it being too big and bulky to be productive. You may recall in one of my earlier posts I stated that I was advised that it wasn't productive and that they even extended the trial to try and tweak the skimmer to make it work better. It just wasn't the right tool for the job out there and from what I have read and been advised, it doesn't appear that it will be the right tool for oil spills out on open waterways. What I find ironic is the fact that the press and others were all over this ship, making it out to be the savior needed, when it was untested and unproven. However, now that it has failed, it’s not making the headlines that it was making before. Before we close the chapter on “A Whale”, I’d like to state once again, the EPA did not hold this ship up from being used. In fact, I would challenge the press to find a legitimate document that showed the EPA held this ship up from being used. There was a lot of “speculation” and “twisting” of regulatory language by the press and others concerning open dumping laws, etc. that indicated the EPA was not going to allow the ship to be used. However, as I posted earlier on, the Federal On Scene Coordinator (USCG) has the authority to allow skimmers to “decant” their oily water at sea if needed. Furthermore, the EPA encouraged the testing of this skimmer and has been a proponent of seeking alternative technologies to fight this oil spill. Like I have stated before, the press has done a great job of focusing on negative angles related to this oil spill and often times by-passes any positive attributes.
Alright, it’s off to Church. Remember, the only way to ensure the oil will not keep flowing is for the relief wells to be successful (hopefully within a couple of weeks) and all you really have to do on Earth is get to Heaven.
Everything that I had been earlier advised (as well as today's call) indicates that the cap should work and that the pressure issues regarding the casing should be o.k. That being said, there are some unknown variables that could effect the project, but the sentiment is that this should greatly reduce the leak. The next 48 hours will be the real test. Let's hope the outcome is as positive as I have heard it should be..... 
Too bad you're so tired from all that fishing you did in Lanark/Carrabelle today." If I'ld known you were tooling around in there, I would have definitely stopped in long enough to buy you a 
