Maritime Reporter, November 2005

<BODY> <div> November 2005 Gulf Coast Resources Guide 39 was already underway and the object now was to avert a national crisis. The waterways of the region, the rivers and canals and ports, are the principal routes of domestic petroleum and seafood inbound, grain and coal outbound. The place to start, for national agencies, was the national well-being -- local regions' needs were also high on the agenda, but they would be next. While many ports were damaged — or nearly obliterated, in the case of some between Belle Chasse and Venice — the main maritime arteries were in fairly good shape. The Intracoastal Canal and the Mississippi were relatively clear of wrecks and debris, and could quickly be opened to daylight navigation. Along most of the routes, the main task was to re-establish aids to navigation and get transit back to 24 x 7. "That we should have by the end of this week," said the Coast Guard's Master Chief David Coffman by Sept. 17. "We had to wait for searches and researches to be completed," with NOAA and the Army Corps ascertaining where, per- haps, even a trailerable 55-footer might not wish to go. Besides maritime wrecks, there could be trees in the water, and pieces of bridges, and sometimes Gulf of Mexico Resources Guidebook MARITIME REPORTER AND ENGINEERINGNEWS k Together Heading down Route 90 in the direction of Grand Isle, in Boutte, we stopped on a whim, with a sense of futility, at a motel to inquire. Incredibly, they had a vacancy. Forty- five a night, including fridge, microwave, and local phone service. We found someone's sweat shirt and Speed Stick in a drawer, and a bowl with a can of beef hash in the microwave. So what? It was a para- dise. In fact, almost a miracle A lot of jack-up boats endured Katrina intact, in jacked-up position — but not all. (Photo: Don Sutherland.) Creole Jane on the bulkhead of the Industrial Canal, at Bollinger Gulf Repair, where she apparently (no one saw) came in sideways from the left on the storm surge, and poked her stern into the shop behind as she was laid to rest. (Photo: Don Sutherland.) Bewildered and afraid, somebody's hungry dog had been tied for unknown reasons to the car. Port Sulphur fire chief Charles Bondi fed her a MRE, and bottled water from the bag. She especially enjoyed the short- bread. (Photo: Don Sutherland). MR NOVEMBER 2005 #5 (33-40).qxd 10/28/2005 9:37 AM Page 39 </div> <span id="lblContents"></span> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.digitalwavepublishing.com/" title="Digital Magazine">Digital Wave Publishing</a> </BODY>