{"id":36062,"date":"2019-05-05T17:26:01","date_gmt":"2019-05-05T17:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/05\/coast-guard-cutter-hollyhock-sets-buoy-tending-record\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:29:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:29:48","slug":"coast-guard-cutter-hollyhock-sets-buoy-tending-record","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/05\/coast-guard-cutter-hollyhock-sets-buoy-tending-record\/","title":{"rendered":"Coast Guard cutter Hollyhock sets buoy-tending record"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

PORT HURON, Mich. \u2014 Shortly after 8 a.m. recently, the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Hollyhock<\/a> and her crew, surrounded by fishing boats under an overcast sky, pulled away from the Algonac pier, embarking on a buoy-tending mission that would set a record for the ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The schedule included working 17 buoys, which would break the ship’s previous record of 14. Work included pulling winter buoys, or marks, and replacing them with summer buoys and placing summer buoys where other winter marks had previously been removed, The Times Herald reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To help facilitate some of the work, the Hollyhock\u2019s Aids To Navigation, or ATON <\/a>boat, was deployed with several crew members to handle some of the smaller buoy work that wouldn\u2019t require it be removed from the water, such as installing or removing a light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Winter buoys are designed to be able to float under the ice and to withstand the pressure, while summer buoys are light and easier to see, which facilitates more commerce overnight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Nick Monacelli<\/a>, the ship\u2019s captain, it will take about two months to replace the about-150 buoys from Lake Huron to Lake Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coast Guard Chief Boatswain Mate Jeffrey Rogers, right, watches as crew members move a buoy off the deck of the cutter Hollyhock on April 25. From his position on the forward deck, BMC Rogers watches to ensure the crew is operating safely while working with the bridge to obtain permission to move buoys and stones. (Brian Wells\/The Times Herald via AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Waterways are designated in tiers depending on how critical they are for shipping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The St. Clair River is part of a tier-1 waterway, which is the most important. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having the buoys in the water makes the waterway easier to navigate, which requires less pilots on each vessel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When we have all the buoys back in, because it’s so much easier to navigate with all of the aids helping you go through the waterway, they can actually decrease the number of pilots required on the vessels, meaning they can essentially double the amount of traffic going through the waterway,” Monacelli said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the buoys the crew was meant to swap had disappeared during the winter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A large grapple was dropped into the water to attempt to find the chain connecting the winter buoy to the stone at the bottom of the river.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The crew hoped to be able to find it to avoid setting a new one directly on top of it, which could cause other problems. <\/p>\n\n\n\t