Plymouth harbormaster Chad Hunter, sitting at a table with an atlas of nautical charts spread out in front of him, is worried.
That’s because the Coast Guard is considering removing two large Plymouth buoys, raising concerns about safety.
One of the buoys warns mariners to stay away from Mary Ann Rocks, off Manomet Point. It’s been the site of many wrecks over the centuries, including the passenger liner SS Robert E. Lee, which ran aground in 1928.
“These rocks extend quite a way into [Cape Cod] bay, so [if] you’re far enough offshore, you would think you’re OK with passage,” said Hunter. “But the Mary Ann Rocks really stick out and are really pretty far offshore.”
Hunter called the buoy critical to mariners’ safe passage. It helps to keep them offshore far enough to avoid grounding out or hitting rocks.
Even with the buoy there, this is a hazardous spot,” he said. “Boats hit rocks. We’ve had people injured. We’ve had boats sink.”
The other buoy being considered for elimination is at the entrance to Plymouth Harbor. It’s known as Plymouth Entrance Channel Buoy Number 1. That buoy is off Gurnet Point and Saquish and guides mariners into the long channel that leads into the harbor keeping them away from the rocky Gurnet Point on one side and the shoals of Brown’s Bank on the other.
“It’s almost like a guard rail system,” Hunter said of the buoys that mark the channel, starting with Number 1.
The Coast Guard has its reasons for the possible changes. One has to do with technology. The country’s system of physical navigation aids – such as buoys, lights, and beacons- was developed over centuries. But beginning in the 1990s, mariners started using GPS and other electronic systems to find their way.
“People are navigating differently than they used to,” said Matthew Stuck, chief of waterways safety and aids to navigation planning for the first Coast Guard District, based in Boston. In addition, he said, some ports that once were busy are not anymore, and new ports and launching facilities have opened.
Stuck said the Coast Guard has been searching for ways to modernize its system of physical aids to navigation. He said the Coast Guard has been looking at the 4,700 buoys in the first district, from Canada to New Jersey, over the last eight years. The district, home to many of the nation’s first ports, including Plymouth, has more buoys than the two adjoining districts, Great Lakes and Middle Atlantic, combined.
Out of those 4,700 buoys, 1,700 or so are coastal buoys – including Mary Ann Rock Buoy and Plymouth Entrance Channel Buoy Number One – and must be tended by the big Coast Guard buoy tenders. Coast Guard cutters Marcus Hanna, based in South Portland, Maine, and Ida Lewis, based in Newport, Rhode Island, tend to the Plymouth buoys, Stuck said. While tending coastal buoys is their primary task, they also perform vital services that include search and rescue, ice breaking, and security.
Stuck said the Coast Guard has identified 358 buoys that could be eliminated.
Hunter isn’t convinced. He said the Plymouth buoys remain indispensable, despite the technological advancements.
“What if your electronics go down?” he said.
But the buoys’ elimination is not a done deal. The Coast Guard said it is seeking comment from mariners before rendering a decision.
“We’re looking for very specific public comment about those aids, how those aids are being used by each vessel operator, by each vessel master, by each recreational boat operator,” Stuck said.
A map of the buoys’ locations can be found here.
Mariners can submit comments until June 13 by email at D01-SMB-DPWPublicComments@uscg.mil. They’re asked to include the size and type of their vessel, how they use the buoys to navigate, and the distance at which they start looking for and using them.
Once the June 13 deadline has passed, Stuck said, the Coast Guard will probably make changes to its list and solicit more comments. By early fall, he expects the Coast Guard to issue a final list for further comments.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.