Beached Buoys
by Kieran O'Higgins
Granuaile chases buoys on beaches and rocks.
Granuaile chases buoys on beaches and rocks.
The day to day routine of lighthouse tender work is
occasionally livened up when news of a buoy adrift reaches the
Granuaile. Such occurrences are not unusual, especially in winter
when buoys are most likely to break their moorings during the
ferocious gales that hit our coasts. Other buoys break adrift in
United States or Canadian waters and are driven across the Atlantic
to fetch up on a European shore.
TC52 was one such buoy. It came across the Atlantic and floated up the River Shannon in a westerly gale, on a flood tide. This buoy was found drifting off Scattery Island and, ironically, was now a danger to navigation. It was taken in tow by the pilot boat and landed at our buoy yard at Tarbert. It turned out to be a Canadian buoy which had broken adrift from the Pollock Shoal, near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. It has recently been returned by ship!
Last December we were notified by the Coastguard that a buoy was driven ashore at Ballyhoran Beach, Co. Down, in an easterly storm force 10. Through our Attendant, Des Rogers, and his brother Gabriel, we established that it was the Bar Pladdy Buoy, usually anchored off the entrance to Strangford Lough. The buoy had been hurtled up the beach in the onshore gales and when the tide ebbed it had been left high and dry, about 300 metres from the water's edge, well settled in the sand under a gravel cliff.
As one of our smaller buoys, it weighed in at about 5.5 tonnes. Access to the beach was difficult and removing it by road looked like being a long and awkward job. Instead, the Granuaile sent a party ashore and with the help of Des Rogers and a local farmer, the buoy was pushed down the beach by tractor when the tide was fully ebbed. The Granuaile's boat came in at the next high water and towed the now floating buoy to deeper water where it was recovered by the ship.
The West Tinker buoy broke adrift from its moorings near Plymouth and ended up high on the rocks close to Hook Head Lighthouse. This was a difficult buoy to recover because it was wedged in the rocks. Offshore rock in the vicinity could endanger the Granuaile if she approached too close. Calm weather was required.
A party was landed ashore to check that the buoy was not holed. With the able assistance of Aidan Foley, the Coningbeg's Attendant Master, a mooring rope was passed directly from the ship and made fast to the buoy. The rocks were greased, the ship took the tension, the polypropylene rope stretched, and the buoy shot through the air and landed in the water. It was recovered on board and landed at the Lighthouse Depot, where its owners were glad to collect it.
All in a year in the life of a Lighthouse Tender!
TC52 was one such buoy. It came across the Atlantic and floated up the River Shannon in a westerly gale, on a flood tide. This buoy was found drifting off Scattery Island and, ironically, was now a danger to navigation. It was taken in tow by the pilot boat and landed at our buoy yard at Tarbert. It turned out to be a Canadian buoy which had broken adrift from the Pollock Shoal, near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. It has recently been returned by ship!
Last December we were notified by the Coastguard that a buoy was driven ashore at Ballyhoran Beach, Co. Down, in an easterly storm force 10. Through our Attendant, Des Rogers, and his brother Gabriel, we established that it was the Bar Pladdy Buoy, usually anchored off the entrance to Strangford Lough. The buoy had been hurtled up the beach in the onshore gales and when the tide ebbed it had been left high and dry, about 300 metres from the water's edge, well settled in the sand under a gravel cliff.
As one of our smaller buoys, it weighed in at about 5.5 tonnes. Access to the beach was difficult and removing it by road looked like being a long and awkward job. Instead, the Granuaile sent a party ashore and with the help of Des Rogers and a local farmer, the buoy was pushed down the beach by tractor when the tide was fully ebbed. The Granuaile's boat came in at the next high water and towed the now floating buoy to deeper water where it was recovered by the ship.
The West Tinker buoy broke adrift from its moorings near Plymouth and ended up high on the rocks close to Hook Head Lighthouse. This was a difficult buoy to recover because it was wedged in the rocks. Offshore rock in the vicinity could endanger the Granuaile if she approached too close. Calm weather was required.
A party was landed ashore to check that the buoy was not holed. With the able assistance of Aidan Foley, the Coningbeg's Attendant Master, a mooring rope was passed directly from the ship and made fast to the buoy. The rocks were greased, the ship took the tension, the polypropylene rope stretched, and the buoy shot through the air and landed in the water. It was recovered on board and landed at the Lighthouse Depot, where its owners were glad to collect it.
All in a year in the life of a Lighthouse Tender!