FROM BOOM TO BOOM: City to deploy oil containment plan after ‘great weekend' (WEDNESDAY UPDATE with PHOTOS and MAP)

This is the latest oil spill update from the city of Destin.

(From Okaloosa County Emergency Management Officials)

An oil sheen is now reported to be 9.5 miles off shore of Pensacola.  Pensacola is about 50 miles to our west.

Current forecast indicate NO oil in the Destin/Okaloosa area through Saturday.  HOWEVER, please keep in mind that trajectory forecasts change daily. 

TO SEE NOAA'S LATEST TRAJECTORY MAP, CLICK HERE.

(From the City of Destin)

While the booms are in place, East Pass will NOT be closed to marine traffic, unless absolutely necessary.

Here's a NOAA flyer on hurricanes & oil spills.

Fishing areas have been closed in the Gulf, but areas right off Destin are still open.  Click here to view the Fishery Closure map.

Click here to read the Local Action Plan showing the configuration for the placement of the booms for East Pass.   The purpose of these types of booms is to divert oil to a collection area where it can be skimmed.  

Here's the latest from The Log.

After a busy and bustling Memorial Day weekend, Destin is preparing to bring out the boom as the giant oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico creeps eastward.

Thousands of tourists filled beaches, malls and charter boats on mostly sunny days that saw scattered showers and thunderstorms.

“It was a great weekend. I have talked to several hotel and resort companies and all of them were at about 80 percent occupancy,” Destin Chamber of Commerce President Shane Moody said. “Another three or four of them were at 90 percent of better — I think this was a really good kickoff to the summer.”

While area businesses and city officials were unsteady in their initial predictions, Memorial Day weekend proved to be a success as tourists made last minute trips, setting aside the threat of oil and yet another failed attempt by BP to stop the gushing well in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Until they get the well capped, we have to be worried about it,” Moody said about the upcoming weekend. “We are doing what we can to get the word out, but I think the key is to maintain the positive note that everything is business as usual right now.”

To see Wednesday's 72 hour trajectory map, click here.

To see the latest photos from ground zero, click here.

To see the latest cleanup photos from Dauphin Island, click here.

Despite the “not so flattering” reports from national media outlets, Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort owner Tom Becnel said he “is very optimistic for the summer.”

“The weekend went extremely well,” Becnel said Tuesday morning. “We were quite pleased with the results and we were well over projections for the month in terms of occupancy and revenue.”

Gov. Charlie Crist and his wife even vacationed in Sandestin. While touting the area’s pristine beaches, he also doled out funds from BP to tourism officials battling the fear factor.

While the good news from Memorial Day is a relief to locals’ ears, city and county officials are preparing to deploy boom as the current trajectory map from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows the “line of uncertainty” closing in on the coastline of Florida.

In his latest oil sill forecast, Weather Underground Founder Jeff Masters writes that “persistent southwesterly winds will likely bring oil very close to the Florida Panhandle by next weekend.”

H2O, which is subcontracted to implement the booming plan through Okaloosa County, will begin deploying 6,ooo-feet of Chevron boom in East Pass “in the next day or so,” according to City Manager Greg Kisela.

While the boom will be put in place, the pass will not be closed unless absolutely necessary.

“As it was set out in the Local Action Plan,” Kisela said, “we will deploy the booms 72 hours before any potential impact.”

In addition to the booms already staged in East Pass, Kisela said another 36,000 linear-feet of “secondary” boom will be delivered Wednesday, and “will be tentatively stored at the Public Works building until needed.” They will be used for the booming of Marler Bayou, Joe’s Bayou and Indian Bayou, if needed.

All of the talk of oil and “doom and gloom” over the past few weeks couldn’t put a damper on the opening of red snapper season down on the docks as Capt. Mike Parker, of the Silver King, came in Tuesday morning with a bountiful catch of the area’s signature fish.

When asked about the threat of oil over the upcoming weekend, Parker said he “prays it doesn’t happen.”

“It’s troubling to know that the greatest red snapper fishing we have ever had can be halted due to oil,” he told the Log while hanging his catch. “Everybody that can needs to hop on a charter and go right now.”

A COLLECTION OF COVERAGE

Oil path getting closer to Northwest Florida (LIVE FEED, PHOTOS and TRAJECTORY MAP)

OPEN SEASON ON SNAPPER: ‘We caught monsters’ — and they’re red (PHOTOS)

Crist doles out millions of BP dollars: South Walton TDC requests $2.7 million (PHOTOS and LATEST OIL SPILL FORECAST)

LETTER: We're still coming!

Mysteries of the deep grow with oil loose in the Gulf