The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1909-01-02
FUGITIVE SPAR BUOYS
Rescuing These Stray Sticks
Is PeriIous Work.

Is T6TUOUS WUtNs
SiGNBOARDS OF CHANNELS.
Now Those Marinsrs' Guides Are An.
ehorsd and How 1hsy Sometimes
Break Away and Are huntsd Down
BY the Lighthouse Ssrvies Tenders.
When the winter gales begin to blow.
the tenders Of the lighthouse service
turn their stems toward northern seas
to hunt stray spar buoys. OF all the
work of the coast patrol this. perhaps,
is the most exposed to danger. Pulling
these "signboards" out Of the sea or
putting them over side is like '.yank-
ing spiles with a ton derrick on .
heaving platform.
Although passengers in the boats
that ply the waters Of New York bar
Dor, Long Island sound and other wa
terways along tho coast see many
spar buoys, they give them little
thought. With the man at the wheel
it is different. Color. shape and size
give him volumes Of Information, and
he looks upon the spar buoy ~ 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 q river or
harbor channel, their ''up ends paint
ed In such way rs to indicate to the
observer the formation Of the bottom.
On the margin OF government charts
explanatory notes tell one that vessels
approaching q 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" 1t means q 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 fixed they never could set away. but
they do, and It is a job to md them.
Ice foes break their cables and some
times crush the sticks: storms pull
them loose, and ships in the fog or
darkness foul them and tear them from
their hold on the bottom. Not infre-
Quently ships use them as moorings,
although this Il forbidden.
There are instances where the an
chors of spar buoy have been secure
enough to hold against ice pressure and
in a narrow channel cause dangerous
jam. But such cases are few, for
when this happens the weight Of the
ice usually becomes SO great as to force
the buoy under, and the pack slides on.
If the ice pack gets under the buoy
SO as to lift 1t there il only one result
the parting of the cable. Then OF
starts the spar upon a journey maybe
Of thousands Of miles. perhaps Of only
one or two. 1t may fetch mp on the
nearest shore. and it may drift to the
coast Of Europe or into the southern
seas. On the Irish coast today Is one
which Travelled there In six weeks from
New York harbor. 1t was presented
to the British government by the Unit
ed States and now floats OF the coast
on which 1t stopped after its long At
lantic journey.
If it is a long chase to ind the stray
buoys IL is even a more dimcult task to
recover the anchors left behind by the
fugitive spars. Tenders that sail out
Of the harbor have derrick and tackle
rfgged in front Of the pilot house, with
donkey engine to lift and pull. The
location Of every buoy II marked on
the charts to a degree. 80 1t Is not dim
cult to find the desired position. The
serious business is dragging for the
anchor and after graphing with 1t to
hoist It aboard ship. Here the donkey
engine comes into play. Another haz-
ard Is to pull a spar buoy aboard II q
sea happens to be running the captain
Of the tender has to use extreme care.
Should big roller get under him and
suddenly TIGHTEN the Hrting chains
either thev would give wav or the
weieht would come up too fast. the
crew In either case being placed IN
jeopardy OF their lives.
But the risk these men run b an In
the days work To them q Job IN q
oAway on a lee shore - regarded ~
no more monotonous task than repaint-
ing q row Of buoys ON land-New Yegk
Post.
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