Breathing Buoy ?

Dan Tribe said:
Is that where we get the word "diaphonous" from?.
Because it causes heavy breathing and moaning?
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both derived from the Greek ...
dia (through) phone (sound) -> diaphone
dia (through) phanous (to show) -> diaphanous

(edit: assumed that diaphonous was a misspelling of diaphanous)
 
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In the Firth of Forth, the Herwit buoy used to be a whistle buoy (breathing), and the Blae buoy had a bell.
 
LONG_KEELER said:
Impressive. Probably copied from Didgeridoo and Swiss Horn technology.

Playing a local tune would help to know where you are.
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I was looking for the diaphone Patent out of interest. Description of the invention of the diaphone as an organ pipe for the Wurlitzer organ and subsequent adaptation to provide fog horn technology.
 
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Hydrozoan said:
Moaning - or groaning:

'... and the heaving groaner
Rounded homewards, and the seagull:
And under the oppression of the silent fog
The tolling bell ...'
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Wasn't familiar with T.S. Elliot's 'The Dry Salvages'. Thankyou.

A "mournful cadence..." THE WHISTLING BUOY, from Los Angeles Herald, Volume 39, Number 5, 16 October 1892.

A whistling buoy on youtube
 
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tillergirl said:
I remember a programme that included a lighthouse (Lizard?) that had a pair of Diaphones and a quite vast amount of kit to create the air. On a lightship I wonder if the crew could generate and store compressed air. Must have. Many of the Lightship sites coincide with tide diamonds so I guess the crew had the task of monitoring and plotting the tide. Summat to do in their 'lockdown'!
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Well the standard story is that lightships had no engines. While it's true that they had no propulsion engine, the norm for a lightship in the 20th century was four diesels. The two smaller ones driving generators to supply the light and a few creature comforts for the crew and the larger ones driving compressors to supply the fog signal (either horn or diaphone). Two in each case as service and standby, so service could continue through both breakdown and routine maintenance.

As is normal, the compressors do supply an air receiver, but I doubt that could have kept the horn running for more than an hour or so in case of failure of both compressors, but it would have been enough to allow pre start checks and running up the standby unit in case of failure of the service machine.

When LV87 first arrived at Suffolk Yacht Harbour, all 4 machines were still in the engine room along with all their auxiliaries. These were removed for scrap, freeing up the vast space which is now the HPYC function room, down below. That gives some idea of the size of machinery required to power fog signals.

Peter.
 
I remember hearing the groaning sound, probably in the late 80s . My preferred route then was Edinburgh Channel, so I guess it was either Edinburgh No1 or the Outer Tongue. Thinking about it, was probably a cardinal mark, but can't be sure.

My return to sailing in 2002 was to navigate a friend down to Ramsgate from Burnham. I was completely baffled when I could not see any of the Edinburgh marks, and panicked accordingly for a minute or two. The buoys were seen later in the passage, as we tied up in Ramsgate. They had all just been pulled by TH and were on the wall at Ramsgate Outer Harbour.
 
tillergirl said:
Which has reminded me before sat nav(!) and lit buoys (!), Phil and I were bringing TG back into the Blackwater (oh and before a Volvo engine) in the pitch black moonless night. The Decca proximity alarm went off saying we were with 0.5nm of the Bench Head (when they were a BIG buoy) .... and it had no light. I stood at the bow looking for the buoy... never saw it. And then avoding the first anchored ship was tricky as well. I wonder if I still have the Decca in the shed. Oh the memories.... Nuffin else to do here today except memories.
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Aah I remember the Decca. It once reported us doing 47 knots in our 29 footer :)
 
FullCircle said:
I remember hearing the groaning sound, probably in the late 80s . My preferred route then was Edinburgh Channel, so I guess it was either Edinburgh No1 or the Outer Tongue. Thinking about it, was probably a cardinal mark, but can't be sure.

My return to sailing in 2002 was to navigate a friend down to Ramsgate from Burnham. I was completely baffled when I could not see any of the Edinburgh marks, and panicked accordingly for a minute or two. The buoys were seen later in the passage, as we tied up in Ramsgate. They had all just been pulled by TH and were on the wall at Ramsgate Outer Harbour.
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We had a similar experience in the Swale - couldn't find the Ham Gat buoy and subsequently found it on the foredeck of a Trinity House vessel being taken away !
 
I remember a delivery trip form Poole to The Medway---rounding the Foreland we eventually spotted the buoy we needed through the binoculars. Course set to the buoy and after a while we realised that out heading was changing. Further inspection with binoculars showed that the buoy was on a long tow line behind a Trinity House vessel !!!!
 
At least a couple of the big cardinal buoys off Orford/Aldeburgh have wave powered horns in them. Mournful is definitely the word.
 
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