The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1913-02-28
WRESTLING BU0YS
They Are Simple In Principle and
Certain In Operation.
pLAY1HINes OF THE WAVES.
The Rise and Fall Of the Water Give
Birth to Their Penetrating Shrieks.
Placing and Removing Them Are
Tasks Frausht With Deadly Peril.

Sea travellers up and down our coast
lines often hear a strange, weird sound
| to port or starboard, q sort OF COM
pound of moan and shrek, at once soft
| and i%nsistent, subdued and penetrating.
| It is the call of the whistling buoy to
the man at the helm. warning him Of
shoal or dangerous place.
These whistling buoys, which are
enormous masses of iron, often weigh
ing several tons, are as simple in prin-
| ciple as they are certain in operation.
The buoy proper consists OF a huge
pear shaped bulb, little end up, on top
| Of which is q powerful whistle, pro-
| tected from accidental blow or collision
by a framework Of iron bars, and an
air intake. Below and projecting far
down into the water is an open tube OF
metal. The whole thing is secured In
position with an anchor and a chain.
which last is long enough for the depth
Of the water In which the buoy Is
! placed to permit the free movement OF
| the mass up and down.
When a wave lifts the buoy up in the
| air the water in the tube, acting as a
| piston. sucks in air through the intake.
1t is confined in the bulb of the buoy
by a simple valve which prevents Its
egress through the intake. When the
uwnweS drop the buoy in the trough OF
the waves the water in the tube
presses up on the confined air and COM
rr~..s II. 1t finds exit through the
.....s:.... viii, II thus sounds its warning
e,
Mi.'i .r -lpiIoSed that. having no
.r...n ,H.! Il valve, such buoys,
,:i 81. ,.l:ion. could he left there
.. 49,, 50 period Of time. But
80. - .!ngc ways with her
.,t... ii r"rn If the necessity of
.,:.s, j.. .....,.. Of the buoy to pro-
"a =. ~ "a. "riiun of sea water was
.a.,n"in ii would still be necessary
..t i u.!iriI Oh these signals and
E. ;..;. tiu.n up and replace them
s'.; rlrn. for the big tube project
| it:u s.,3un into The water is Il great at
"a; ian to b~nruacles'an seaweed, and
no, infre,Iuently these marine growths
SO interfere with the action of the buoy
as to keep it silent in ordinary weather
and to dim its voice in bad weather.
1t her becomes necessary to work"
Il new whistler In position, which is a
regular part of the duty Of a lighthouse
tender or buoy tender. of which YES
sells there are many in the service.
When a buoy is to be worked" the
tender repairs to a yard or station and
by means of her crane lifts On deck the
freshly painted and thoroughly repair
ed new buoy which is to replace that
one which is either silent or which has
served its allotted time and Is now due
for replacement.
There is nothing difficult about this.
1t is getting the enormously large and
unwieldy mass of iron overheard and
taking on board the n which is In
the water which causes the difficulty.
The very waves which are necessary
to the successful operation Of the buoy
make it hard to manage at the end of n
crane on board q comparatively small
vessel.
When a buoy tender goes to work"
a whistler she clears her deck Of every
thing else but the buoy. which Is Sc
cured with checks and chains against
the roll of the vessel. The old buoy Is
approached cautiously, within u couple
Of hundred feet, and the new buoy is
allowed to slide overheard rather than
picked up and placed in the water. the
crew guiding it by guy ropes, while the
powerful crane lifts just enough to per
NIT the buoy to move. With the vessel
slowly rolling from side to side on the
slow seas of even a quiet day-the good
days are purposely picked for this
work-the mass Of freshly painted iron
with its long tube presents %potentiali-
ties for evil which must be closely
watched. Let the buoy but get clear
Of the deck and the fall tackle get
TANNED and there would come into be-
ing a three ton pendulum with IN iron
fail thirty-six feet long capable Of
smashing the boat to bits and certainly
Of sweeping broken boned mel about
the deck with no more effort than II
they 80 many dies.
But, IL getting the new buoy over,
board is dangerous work, hauling the
old one in ls more 70. The buoy Is first
secured by good seamanship. managing
the steam vessel. with a rope through
the iron cage at its top. Working
from this, ropes, chains and springs"
or heavy cables are brought into play
and the whole very cautiously lifted
and secured as 1t comes yer the side.
1t 10 allowed to swing free not at all,
ave perhaps for an instant, just as it
is laid dat on the deck, and then. ap-
parently in the very face of death. a
dozen men spring at the mass, ready
10 swing with the waves and to de.
molish them and thrust huge billets
II wood underneath its sides to hold
It long enough for lashings to make It
secure. The boat being Delayed to the
anchor chain then cautiously backs
away to raise the anchor. and there 10
a general scampering away from the
cable while this II being done, al
should It break It would be like hav.
Ing a couple Of canno balls come
tearing along the deck.
However, 80 skillful r these ham