The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-01-05
SPAR BUOVS
Resculng These Stray sticks"
Is Peraous Work.
sIGNBoARDs or CHANNELS,


How These Marlners' Guides Are An.
shersd and How They Scmssimaa
Break Away and Are Hunted Down
BY shs Lighthouse Service rsndsrs
when the winter gales begin % blow.
the tenders of the lighthouse service
turn their stems toward northern seas
to hunt stray spar buoys. of ail the
work or the coast patrol this, perhaps.
Ii the most exposed to danger Pulling
these ''slgnboards" ont Of the sea Or
putting them over side Ia like 'yank.
ing sptles with ton derrick on .
heaving platform
Although passengers In the boats
that ply the waters of New York haFs
Dor, Long Island sound and other wa
tarwaya along the coast see many
spar buoys they give them little
thought. With the man at the wheel
1t Is different. Color. shape and sixe
give him volumes Of information, and
be looks upon the spar buoy as an In
valuable guide.
In the government inventories they
are listed as sticks" although they
are sometimes sixty feet long, They
are anchored In the bed OF river or
harbor channel, their "up ends" paint
ed In such a way as to indicate to the
observer the formation Of the bottom.
On the margin Of government charts
explanatory notes tell one that vessels
approaching harbor from the sea
should leave red buoys with even
numbers on the right and black, with
odd numbers ON the left side OF chan.
nels. Black and white striped buoys,
the stripes running perpendicularly,
mean an obstruction in the channel,
with room to get by on either side,
II balls or cages ornament the up
ends IL means a turning point, the
color and number Indicating the course
These sticks are put down with heavy
iron anchors and sometimes great
stone weights. one would suppose that
so tixed they never could set away, but
they do. and 1t Is a job to fnd them
Ice does break their cables and some
times crush the sticks; storms pull
them loose, and ships In the fog OF
darkness foul them and tear them from
their hold on the bottom. Not lnfre.
fquentiy ships use them as moorings
although this Ii forbidden.
There are Instances where the an
chors Of spar buoy have been secure
enough to hold against Ice pressure anc
In narrow channel cause dangerous
lam. But such cases are few, fol
when this happens the weight OF thu
ice usually becomes 30 great as to forc'
the buoy under, and the pack slides on
If the ice pack gets under the buoy
30 as TO lift II there Is only one result
the parting Of the cable. Then on
starts the spar upon journey mayo'
Of thousands Of miles, perhaps Of only
one or two. 1t may fetch up on tht
nearest shore, and 1t may drift to th'
coast OF Europe or into the southern
seas On the Irish coast today Is oni
which Travelled there In SIX weeks from
New York harbor It was presented
to the British government by the Unit
ed States and now floats of the coas
on which 1t stopped after its long At
lsntic journey.
II It IS a long chase to find the stray
buoys ii is even more difficult task t
recover the anchors left behind BY thu
fugitive spars. Tenders that sail ou
Of the harbOr have a derrick and tackle
rigged In front Of the pilot house, will
donkey engine to lift and pull The
location Of every buoy is marked OF
ths charts to degree, so 1t Is not din
cult to And the desired position. Th'
serious business Is dragging for thi
anchor and after graphing with It 3
hoist it aboard ship. Here the DONKEY
engine comes into play. Another haz
ard is to pull a spar buoy aboard. II
sea happens to be running the captain
Of the tender has to use extreme care
Should big roller get under him ant
suddenly tighten the lifting chaini
either they would give way or thi
weight would come up too fast, tht
crew in either case being placed II
| Jeopardy Of their lives.
But the risk these men run IL all Ii
the days work. To them a job in
seaway on a lee shore ia regarded al
no more monotonous task than repaint
ing row Of buoys on and.-New Yori
Post.