Pensacola has no storage warehouses at shipside, but there are five warehouses located a short distance back of the piers.

Anchorages. Good anchorage can be found in all parts of the bay except southward of the naval station. The usual anchorage is off the city of Pensacola where the holding ground is good and vessels can ride out any gale. Vessels should not anchor within the cable areas crossing the entrance to the south and west of the Naval Air Station; these are shown on the chart.

Pilots and pilotage.-Pilotage is compulsory for vessels in foreign trade and for other vessels, except when having on board a pilot licensed by the United States Steamboat Inspection Service. For pleasure craft and Government-owned vessels (except Shipping Board steamers), the taking of a pilot is optional with the master of the vessel. Pilotage is also optional for vessels drawing 6 feet of water or less, if such vessels have a coastwise license. For further particulars see extracts from the laws of Florida relating to pilotage on page 8.

The pilotage charges are as follows:

Vessels with less than 6 feet draft_

6 feet and under 10 feet__

10 feet and under 14 feet

14 feet and under 20 feet-.

20 feet and over..

Per foot of draft.

Approximately half rates apply for loading bunker coal or coming to drydock under competitive bids.

Pilots can always be had by making signals outside the bar or by radio or telegram. The pilots have a lookout station about 1 mile east of Pensacola Lighthouse and use a small tugboat to meet vessels outside of Caucus Cut Entrance Lighted Whistle Buoy 1 A. The entrance channels are well lighted and vessels are taken in at night. Towboats can always be found at Pensacola for towing over the bar or up any of the bays.

The harbor master assigns anchorage and berths and enforces the rules and regulations of the port. Harbor master fees include a charge of $25 for moving in and out of berth and $10 for moving from dock to dock.

Quarantine.-Vessels subject to quarantine inspection are boarded in the stream off Pensacola. Fumigation is performed at Pensacola. Customs and Immigration. The offices of both the customs and immigration services are located in the Customhouse at Palafox and Government Streets.

Supplies.—An unlimited supply of fresh water, suitable for drinking or for boiler use, is available at all the piers and water can be delivered to vessels in the stream. There are oil-bunkering facilities with a capacity of 750 barrels per hour, and each of the railroad coaling tipples has a capacity of 600 tons per hour. Provisions and ship-chandlery supplies (in limited quantities) can be obtained.

Repairs. There is a 6,000-ton floating drydock at Pensacola of the following general dimensions: 380 feet over keel blocks, 74 feet between wings, and 20 feet (6.1 m) of water over the blocks. There are facilities for making all kinds of repairs to hull and machinery of steel and wooden vessels. The largest marine railway has a capacity of 100 tons and can haul out vessels up to 85 feet long, and 9-feet

(19) PENSACOLA BAY, DIRECTIONS

179

draft (712 feet forward). There are limited wrecking and salvage facilities.

Storm warnings (day and night) are displayed from the American National Bank Building in Pensacola, where they can be seen from the harbor and also from a 250-foot tower at the Navy Yard. Day signals are also displayed on Santa Rosa Island at Pensacola Bay

entrance.

Hospital. A relief station and contract hospital of the United States Public Health Service is located at Pensacola. The nearest marine hospital is at Mobile.

Small Boat Facilities. The principal berths for small boats are at the smaller wharves between the railroad piers, particularly between Baylen and Palafox Streets. There is good storm anchorage for depths up to 10 feet (3.0 m) in Bayou Chico and for depths up to 4 feet (1.2 m) in the bayou to the westward of the south end of the bay bridge. Gasoline is delivered by tank wagons on the wharves. There are good facilities for repairing and hauling out small boats. Communications.-Pensacola is a seaport terminal of both the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co. and the Frisco Lines. Two main State highways run to the eastward and one each to the north and to the west. There is coastwise steamer connection with New Orleans, Mobile, Panama City, and Apalachicola and small-boat communication with Santa Rosa Sound and Choctawhatchee Bay points. There are regular sailings to the Atlantic coast and to European, Mediterranean, and South American ports.

There is a United States Navy radio station at the Naval Air Station; the call letters are NAS. There are two United States Navy airports and one municipal airport.

A meteorological table for Pensacola is given in the Appendix. The Port Series, volume No. 3 (Part 2) gives further detailed information regarding the port of Pensacola. See page 4.

A Coast Guard Station is located on the south side of Santa Rosa Island, 21⁄2 miles eastward of the entrance to Pensacola Bay.

Tides. Daily predictions of the times and heights of high and low water are given in the Tide Tables, Atlantic Ocean. Northerly winds sometimes lower the water surface 12 feet and abnormal southerly winds raise it the same amount.

Currents. The currents have considerable velocity on the bar at the entrance. In Caucus Cut, for 2 hours at the strongest of the ebb, the normal current has a velocity of 2 to 21⁄2 knots, setting southwestward diagonally across the channel. The flood has less velocity and sets northeastward. Elsewhere the currents follow the general direction of the channel. The flood has greater velocity following a norther than at other times.

Winds. Northers occur occasionally during the winter. They have little effect on the shipping at anchor in the harbor, except to lower the water.

Fog. From January to April there is considerable hazy or misty weather; usually southerly winds bring it in and northerly winds clear it away.

DIRECTIONS, PENSACOLA BAY

Vessels approaching Pensacola Bay by day and not sure of their position can easily tell by the appearance of the land, when about 4

miles off, whether they are eastward or westward of the entrance. Eastward for a distance of 40 miles Santa Rosa Island presents a white sand beach and low, white sand hills with scattered clumps of trees and bushes; back of this, on the mainland, are thick woods. Westward of the entrance, for a distance of 40 miles, the shore is low and thickly wooded nearly to the water, showing no breaks and very few hillocks. The lead, too, will indicate whether a vessel is east or west of the entrance, the 10-fathom (18.3 m) curve approaching the coast very much more closely eastward than it does westward of the entrance. Depths of 10 fathoms (18.3 m) or less, 3 miles or more from the beach, indicate that a vessel is off the entrance or westward of it.

At night or in thick weather it is well for a vessel not sure of her position to keep in at least 12 fathoms (22 m) until the lighthouse is sighted or the position is otherwise determined.

Courses and Distances for approaching Caucus Cut Entrance Lighted Whistle Buoy 1A are given on page 60 and also under Coastwise Courses (Position No. 12).

The following Courses and Distances lead into Pensacola Bay from Caucus Cut Entrance Lighted Whistle Buoy 1A: The Inland Rules apply.

Perdido Bay is an irregular shaped body of water of from 7 to 12 feet (2.1 to 3.7 m) depth, connected by Bay La Launch with Wolf Bay, a narrow tributary extending westward. Perdido Bay and Perdido River, entering the bay from northward, form part of the boundary between the States of Florida and Alabama. A fixed highway bridge crosses the bay at Cummings Point; it has 40 feet horizontal clearance and 13 feet (4.0 m) vertical clearance at mean low water. The Intracoastal Waterway between Pensacola Bay and Mobile Bay crosses the southern end of Perdido Bay; Lights 59 and 6 along this inside route are located off the north point of Ono Island and off Ross Point, respectively.

Perdido Bay is connected with the Gulf by a narrow inlet 112 miles westward of Pensacola Bay entrance and 281⁄2 miles eastward of Mobile Bay entrance. At a distance of 1 mile from the shore the entrance is not easily distinguished, and there are no marks which a stranger would recognize. In 1935 there was a depth of about 7 feet (2.1 m) through this inlet and through Bayou St. John into Perdido Bay. This channel is narrow and subject to change and should only be attempted with local knowledge. Old River cannot be entered from this inlet or from Bayou St. John.

21. INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY, PENSACOLA BAY TO MOBILE BAY

(Charts 1265 and 1266)

This inside route provides safe passage through protected waters from Pensacola Bay to Mobile Bay. It extends through Big Lagoon, Perdido Bay, Bay La Launch, Wolf Bay, Portage Creek, Bon Secours River, and Bon Secours Bay. It is partly through natural waterways, which have been improved where necessary by dredging

and partly through connecting canals. The project dimensions are 9 feet (2.7 m) deep by 100 feet wide and in January 1936 there was a controlling depth of 9 feet (2.7 m) through the waterway with depths of 13 feet (4.0 m) into Big Lagoon at the east end and 10 feet (3.0 m) into Oyster Bay at the west end. Three pontoon swing bridges across the canals on highways leading to Pensacola Beach, Orange Beach, and Gulf Shores, respectively. These bridges have a minimum clearance of 94 feet.

The distance is 40 miles from the Pensacola Bay entrance to the waterway to Mobile Channel Light 8 on the Mobile Bay Channel. The approximate water distance between the cities of Pensacola and Mobile via this waterway is 72 miles.

Directions, Intracoastal Waterway, Pensacola Bay to Mobile Bay.The eastern entrance to this section of the Intracoastal Waterway is through a dredged cut from Pensacola Bay into Big Lagoon, marked along the south side by a light at either end of the cut and by four intermediate day beacons. Pass 50-60 yards north of the beacons. Through Big Lagoon, favor the north shore as there are extensive shoals reaching off the south shore. Pass about 300 yards south of Trout Point on the north shore and continue about the same course to near the west end of the lagoon. In the western portion of the lagoon, 1.1 miles east of Light 13, there are two submerged pilings, generally marked by a small black buoy which should be passed to the northward.

Light 13.-Round 100-200 yards to north and west, keeping 300– 400 yards offshore.

Bn. 2.-Pass 50-150 yards east of.

Bns. 15-33 (15, 27 and 29 lighted).-Pass 30-50 yards north of. For maximum draft, watch the water as the channel is narrow. There is shoal water near the channel between Bns. 31 and 33.

Bns. 33 to 35.-A canal section; canal crossed by a pontoon swing highway bridge near the eastern end.

Bns. 35 to 49 (41 and 49 lighted).-Pass 35-50 yards north of. There is shoal water on south side of channel just west of Bn. 37. Light 4-Pass 35-50 yards south of.

Bns. 51 to 59 (51, 57, and 59 lighted).-Pass 35-50 yards north of. From Light 59 to Light 6, the channel passes through the entrance to Perdido Bay. Shoals extend to the south and west from Inerarity Point and to the north and east from Mill Point. Although there is a depth of 9 to 10 feet (2.7 to 3.0 m) between these beacons, the best water favors the shore opposite the shoals.

Light 6.-Pass 35 to 50 yards to southwest. Continue along north shore to next point to westward (about 1/3 mile) and then gradually round to southward. There is shoal ground on the south side of the channel opposite Light 6.

Light 8-Round at about 50 yards and keep about 200 yards off Hatchet Point.

Light 61.-Round at 100 to 200 yards.

Light 10.-Round at 100 to 200 yards, keeping about 400 yards off Sapling Point.

Bns. 63 to 89 (63 lighted) mark the channel across the south end of Wolf Bay and into Portage Creek and the canal to Oyster Bay. Pass 35 to 50 yards north of these beacons. There is shoal ground just east of Bn. 79 on the south side of the channel.