WKRG reports federal agencies are trying to stop the open loop LNG from killing millions of fish.

CATV sources say the Governor of Alabama has already decided to let it proceed based on his own state science data.

The Mobile Chamber developed Dauphin Island as a well planned community on par with the vision that built Fairhope. During the 1970’s the Isle Dauphine Club and Golf Course was an architectural beauty and economic success that was the focus of the island community. It inspired growth that made the island prosperous for everyone. When that generation of citizens passed away the next generation of leaders led to a strange group of infighters that set the town against the property owners against the park and beach board. Thier failure has left the club in disgrace, the community and economy in ruin, and the natural environment an embarrassment of failure. Few coastal communities look like Dauphin Island in disrepair. The club, on the list of historic places in America, is a leaking eyesore of failure. And with this disgrace has come the collapse of the entire community existence. This was not an easy task. The leaders have now for 30 years (since the new bridge in 1979) destroyed and kept in ruin the entire community. The pinnacle of stupidity was when the Dauphin Island Property Owners Association turned down David Bronner and the RSA investment fund, the same fund that built the RSA Tower, built Magnolia Grove and the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the Alabama Cruise Terminal and the Carnival Cruise industry, protected the Grand Hotel and has invested in Mobile like no investor in the 300 year history of our county. It is a small story that Dauphin Island was ruined by a small handful of petty indecision makers. But it is a large story that such a crime began and continues for over 3 decades.

Governor James’ son Pat 72 acre residential spot now has a planned marketing partnership with Bill Dance as a lunch pad store for outfitting bass fishing in the Mobile Delta as part of an attempt to sell 300 weekender cabins for over $300,000 each with a dry boat storage. Today Gustav continued what has been a month of complaints about red clay run off into the once clear Bay Minette Creek, now brown, and growing less grasses for bass vegetation and habitat. The Fuller Estate property was the last they piece sold first to Corte then to James on their once 1,000 acres on Hwy 225 near Blakeley State Park that today is Spanish Fort Estates. James brother is running for Governor and also developed the Foley Beach Express toll bridge. Barber dairy magnate owns the Wolf Bay Bridge site east of the Foley Beach Express and The Warf. The Barber property has 1,000 acres and a large sportfishing yacht marina to be connected to Orange Beach by a similar bridge that lands at Doc’s Oyster Bar.

Saturday is the big celebrity opening including alligator on the restaurant menu!

Dauphin Island’s recent purchase of 2 businesses on Aloe Bay is the beginning of what the own hopes will be a waterfront community commercial district. One the Patronas Seafood house the plan says Mayor Collier is to have a working waterfront for residents and tourists to enjoy. Similar successes are in Destin, at Orange beach The Warf, and planned in Gulf Shores for snapper boats, Mobile as a waterfront park overlooking the ships, Bayou la Batre as a fishing Village, like Apalachacola Florida. Spanish Fort the Causeway has one in the works also.

60 miles south of Dauphin Island is where snapper sea turtles blue marlin and tuna thrive and that is where the open loop system where hot waters are dumped that kill fish–mosy systems are closed loop but industry historically always comes to Alabama to find the cheaper more damaging alternatives… another important story by Ben Raines in today’s al.com and Press Register (photo)

Taxidermy of 100 or more black bear bob cat alligator marlin and fresh water tanks and salt water and a restaurant greet folks 6,000 and 8,000 per two recent days as trainers from Bass Pro corporate get the store or museum or show place ready for the VIP opening. A real asset to the Eastern Shore and Alabama, the nearest are in Destin and Birmingham and New Orleans. The next store opens in Richmond near Williamsburg. This is a must see stop for those even unfamiliar with outdoor recreation fishing hunting. Yes there are camoflague Bibles for sale!

The old Walker marina got blown away and bought for millions by the city, but to build a destination for the struggling charter industry is a great idea and a great story in todays Press Register. Speaking of the newspaper, don’t miss Bill Finch on bamboo and in the Baldwin section Drexel Gilbert former tv anchor teaches in Spanish Fort Providence Methodist and the new Meyer tennis center in Gulf Shores opens!

Orange Beach yacht broker says it is true. Have you ever wanted to wake up in your condo in the middle of nowhere but crystal blue water and look down and see marlin jumping off your front porch? Plans are said to be permited to build the first Gulf City 50 miles from Dauphin Island and 40 miles from Perdido Pass at a secret place off the 100 fathom curve where it bends like an “elbow”. The condo on an oil rig city will have an indoor marina for yachts to moor safe at sea. Will Jules Verne be cooking breakfast?

(will solar boats be next?)

Again our black water cold creek streams are showing high mercury levels in bass. These streams like Bay Minette Creek are clear and clean but the toxic mercury is there unseen–according to EPA.

Spanish Fort man played with Wilt Chamberlin. When asked who was better Michael Jordan or Wilt he says Wilt was the better athlete. But he says it is hard to compare generations when so much has changed, like comparing Tiger to Ben Hogan. The rules change and the talent changes like apples and oranges. He says the change the NBA missed was raising the basket from 10 foot to 12 foot to reduce the dunk mania.

The Spanish Fort condos on Shell Bank at the Causeway were stopped after the developers cut down 12 oak trees despite saying they would not in the commission meeting agreement. Their attorney had a list of lame excuses about disease, but the truth is these developers have been unprofessional since they began and the city has foolishly permitted so many buildings they ruin the community. Both made mistakes that are unforgivable and the community is the one that suffers the loss. Even neighbors were ignored and now sadly, the neighbors were right, again, all along. Sounds just like the fake promises made by Cypress Pojnt developers and accepted by the Baldwin County planning commission, again ignoring the neighbors. This is representation by smoke and mirrors. This is why some developers and politicians give a bad name to the good ones doing honest work.

This Press Register story turned out to be the story of the deep sea fishing rodeo!

Another hot summer weekend on Dauphin Island for the Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo, the oldest and largest in the nation, was a great success despite $5.20 diesel fuel per gallon for the inboards. Slick seas and monster tarpon make this a great event for fans and fishers alike! Science and conservation practices are a big part, with the Sea Lab doing DNA testing on 60 spieces for the FDA to monitor restaurant fish substitution fraud. Marlin have been removed from the event (pictured is last years tag and release).

Thursday the tarpon fishermen check the tides and currents and bait as the Friday morning cannon blast nears. The first event after the DIYAT is the Thursday evening Liar Contest where the biggest fishing tail or tale wins!

Back in the days when the Sand Island Light had a house, a boat landing dock and access, we would secretly visit on rare occasions when sea conditions allowed. We inspected for trash, vandalism and damage as unofficials gaurdians when the magic prism lens was still in place. The famous lighthouse off Dauphin Island was and remains a treasure of maritime history and engineering. It marked a sweeping current and shoal channel at the mouth of Mobile Bay known for Dr. Brown’s secret monster bull redfish spot, miles of sand island sanctuary that included a real ship wreck, giant sand and tiger sharks, and damn the torpedos full steam ahead. Every fishing family has a story of jumping sailfish and tarpon off the rocks, goats on the rocks or the memory of the light when it shone in the night. We still have the Formwalt lighthouse painting. Today Capt. Hal Pierce and Jim Hall and Thompson Engineering are trying to save it. But one day our visit became a story of survival at sea.

Three of use wound up the amazing wrought iron spiral staircase inside the cool airconditioned feeling brick cocoon. Bricks stacked tiny in the hundreds of thousands. Bricks like inlaid marble square designs in Government Street mansions. Confederate bricks and wrought iron rusty spiral stairs miles up toward the light, the sparkling jewel, the prisim, the sky, the sun.

The breathtaking view and wind is next to spiritual, the rush of a fast beating heart from the exhausting climb, the sun burn, the excitement, the secret… Tiny below was our small boat, anchored off the rocks where we swam in. As soon as we looked down our tiny boat began skipping its anchors over the rocks on the bottom as the rapid swift outgoing current sent the boat out to sea!

Like the teenage kids we were we went screaming down the spiral, like down a spiraling drain, down the stairs, before the boat vanished and we were trapped. Stay here! we bravely told the girl in the bathing suit, as we dove in the water to swin after the boat with the current and easily within reach of our experienced fit swimmer bodies. In the two boys dove, with nothing but our bathing suits.  We started swimming and quickly were catching up with the boat, until the anchor caught bottom again. Suddenly, 5 seconds later, we were swept wide past the boat, looked at each other, and whispered, oh shit. I looked back at the boat, now anchored, leaving us behind, as we were swept out to sea. Stay here, I’ll swim back to the boat, the star athlete of the two said and he bolted toward the boat. Swimming like on a treadmill against the current, after 10 seconds he looked up, further from the boat despite the effort. He stopped and in seconds was back on the rushing train track, with me, out to sea. Further back was the girl, tan and still, holding just our last three beers, still in the plastic 6 pack. What do I do she screamed! Just stay there we motioned. No sense in you drowning too.

We now call the story bouy swimming, sort of an unofficial title and joke at how stupid young brave men can be. We were headed due South out into the vast Gulf of Mexico. The ship channel bouys became distant one by one. We surveyed the horizon 360 degrees and on the summer weekday late afternoon there were no boats. Zero. No gas wells. No life jackets. Nothing. How do you spell tread water. How long can you three beers down, tread water?

We were good swimmers so treading water 15 minutes was no problem. Our highschool math began to kick in with clarity that far surpassed our grades. The current was the vortex headed this way with us, the lighthouse became a cigar on the horizon. The clock and miles were ticking a consistent beat that matched our swift heart beat. We were leaving and losing fast. Time was not on our science. Math, geometry, algebra was not on our side. Nor was science, biology, or chemistry. All we could do was point at the next bouy near us and start swimming. After less than 60 seconds, our direction or vortex toward the bouy against the vortex against the current at an angle defeated us, the bouy was behing us, fast as in a blink. We had missed that instant course calculation by a mile. I should have paid attention in class.

So we got together and dreaded water to save our last bit of strength. We had a calm frank short discussion. F**k. What the f**k are we going to do now. The last bouy off in the distant was a half mile away. We looked again 360 degrees, swimming straight up in the air briefly like trick porpise rasing our head to see above the waves. No boats. No nothing. A lighthouse now the size of a used pencil, a sea bouy, called farewell bouy by the merchant ship captains, the size of a toy, and a sun, a golden ball, thinking of setting into the water. Ok the mind calculates with clear, calm and quick precision, our last hope is to swim away from the last bouy in a direction that may land us on a collion course with the future patch of the current. One vortex, the sea moving south 2.5 miles per hour. Two very sober boys swimming at 3 miles per hour away from the bouy but in line where their course, at an angle against the sea current vortex, could somehow collide the two vortex courses in a rae moment of getting the math right. We agreed, the athlete took off, with the little brother following behind.

After swimming for several minutes fatigue began to set in. The sun began to bounce unsteady back and forth a top the horizon like a bouncing ball. The surreal bobbing ball like our two bobbing heads was not comforting. Were we dreaming? I looked after my brother and he is swimming out to sea, alone, lost, ahead of me, but in ther wrong direction. I saw in the newspaper a tiny article on page 3 metro “two boys drown in gulf”, we couldnt even rate a big headline. Stop, I awoke and yelled to him, you are going the wrong way. He looked back, a little confused, and very concerned. We were facing death, up close and personal.

(to be continued)

The DIYAT is this weekend and the Rodeo kicks off its 51st year with the Liar Contest Thursday next week. Last years winner Tom Delchamps remains jailed in Metro jail on the Causeway after lying in the Liar Contest saying he was Tom Delchamps. Will he be able to break out in time for this years contest? Stay tuned.