Should we be alarmed? Proposed removal 350 navigational buoys USA North East.

[obmij]

If the powers that be decided to get rid of leading lines and lights I would be pretty upset, but general buoyage - whatevers.

Anyone relying entirely on buoyage without a secondary source of information is likely to come to a sticky, sandy or rocky end. I know of several ports, some pretty major, where lateral marks give an 'indication' of where the channel might be and I personally know of several vessels which have gone aground relying on said buoyage. Not such a big deal if you're going slowly and have plenty of reading material to pass the time, but nevertheless an inconvenience.

There are also harbours where the buoyage can be actively misleading, whether through the action of the elements or general neglect. Someone above mentioned Caernarfon bar. If you are inbound and relying on buoyage there after a storm then you could find yourself in a world of pain. Other ports leave buoys off station for years and rely on local NTM's as a cheap get out. No need for the expense of a buoy handling tug or workboat when you can push out an email every week.

Then there is the fact that buoyage is quite hard, very hard in fact..and in a confrontation could cause considerable damage. This is not a small risk when so many buoys are unlit (or lit and underwater - not as uncommon as you might imagine in areas with strong tides)

On balance, I'm not sure that buoyage is actually a positive anymore. 50 years ago the benefits would probably have outweighed the negatives - but today, with electronic charts, easy to use radar and AIS plus all of the traditional navigational techniques still at our disposal we can pretty much get anywhere we want to without much bother - and without worrying whether that buoy is way off station or not..

 

[jamie N]

A) What % of buoys actually lead vessels onto rocks or to going aground? I believe that this was quite a common practice back in the day with wreckers.
B) What % of buoys actually lead vessels into a safe passage and prevent them from going aground when other forms of navigational aids have failed?
C) Trinity House & Northern Lighthouse Board.
I think that C is good at stopping A, by ensuring B works.

 

[TSB240]

If the powers that be decided to get rid of leading lines and lights I would be pretty upset, but general buoyage - whatevers.

Anyone relying entirely on buoyage without a secondary source of information is likely to come to a sticky, sandy or rocky end. I know of several ports, some pretty major, where lateral marks give an 'indication' of where the channel might be and I personally know of several vessels which have gone aground relying on said buoyage. Not such a big deal if you're going slowly and have plenty of reading material to pass the time, but nevertheless an inconvenience.

There are also harbours where the buoyage can be actively misleading, whether through the action of the elements or general neglect. Someone above mentioned Caernarfon bar. If you are inbound and relying on buoyage there after a storm then you could find yourself in a world of pain. Other ports leave buoys off station for years and rely on local NTM's as a cheap get out. No need for the expense of a buoy handling tug or workboat when you can push out an email every week.

Then there is the fact that buoyage is quite hard, very hard in fact..and in a confrontation could cause considerable damage. This is not a small risk when so many buoys are unlit (or lit and underwater - not as uncommon as you might imagine in areas with strong tides)

On balance, I'm not sure that buoyage is actually a positive anymore. 50 years ago the benefits would probably have outweighed the negatives - but today, with electronic charts, easy to use radar and AIS plus all of the traditional navigational techniques still at our disposal we can pretty much get anywhere we want to without much bother - and without worrying whether that buoy is way off station or not..

My locality has been mentioned twice in this thread as illustration.

Locals have been a actively helping Caernarfon Harbour Trust to improve navigation of this challenging entry to the Menai.

After many strong storms the bar route can often be poorly marked with many individual marks either missing, not on station, or slightly out of position.

For navigators they have added two visible Perch marks. One replaces the Mussel bank buoy and another marks the wreck of the Grampian Castle just on the North side of the main channel.

These are solid marks attached to solid foundations that have not moved for many years. This now gives three fixed identifiable marks on the entry that directly corrrelate to charts and chartplotters and have lights that can be seen at night.

The use of small (undersized imo?) Marker bouys and associated lights makes entry at night very diffuicult especially in swell.

In addition to the new perches, two white washed towers on Llandwyn Island and two large windmills at Caernarfon Airport provide superb landmarks that have allowed locals to use lay lines for a number of years in good weather and near high tide without recourse to echosounders or even charplotters!

CHT is responsible for all marks on the Menai except the safewater marks laid by Trinity House at the entrance to the Strait.
In general they record marks reported off station or unlit by ntms on their website.

Using electronic aids to navigation has been part of the discussion on here and with CHT.
I think it would be logical to use them for missing or offstation navigational aids not provided by Trinity House.