Coast Guard to retrieve two buoys

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Kukui, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in Honolulu, is retrieving two buoys used to predict weather patterns in Hawai'i.

Buoy 51002, owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and anchored 215 nautical miles south-southwest of Hilo, broke free of its mooring in late April, according to Petty Officer 2nd Class Erica Taylor, a Coast Guard spokeswoman.

Buoy 51001, anchored 170 nautical miles west-northwest of Kaua'i, is not properly transmitting signals and will be brought back to Honolulu for repairs.

The two are among four buoys operated by NOAA and used by the National Weather Service in analyzing weather systems. The buoys collect information on wave and sea height, air and sea temperature, barometric pressure and wind speed and direction.

The data are beamed via satellite to the Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. Throughout the year, the weather service uses the information to help forecast maritime conditions. During Hawai'i's hurricane season, from June 1 to Nov. 30, the buoys provide part of the information used to forecast incoming storms.

Delores Clark, a spokeswoman for NOAA, said tropical weather conditions cause the buoys to malfunction, break free or require servicing on a fairly regular basis. In recent years, at least one of the buoys has needed attention annually.

The buoys are bright yellow, 19 feet long and shaped like boats. They are filled with batteries and have a complex of solar panels, wind detectors and antennas on top.

Pictures of buoys 51001 thru 51004 and information about the data they collect can be found on the NOAA's National Data Buoy Center at www.ndbc.noaa.gov. NOAA's main Web site is www.noaa.gov.

Information about the Coast Guard and the Kukui can be found at www.uscg.mil.

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.