What if We Hit One of These

[barnakiel]

ODAS and the likes.

What odds of hitting one? What potential damage?

I think, to our boat, that would be it.

This one apparently not too well maintained by local authorities:


b.
picture attribution: Una boya de gran tamaño encalla en la playa de La Laja - La Provincia - Diario de Las Palmas

[David M]

Most weather buoys positions are plotted, at least in the US.

[Bash]

I think those ODAS buoys are actually moored.

Usually.

[bobconnie]

must have been to small of concrete blocks ?? LOL BnC

[cat man do]

One tiny spec on a vast ocean, what are the odd's?
And you do keep watch dont you?

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

This one apparently not too well maintained by local authorities:

I think that's the key!

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

Six years ago as we went by it, the weather buoy off the Oregon coast was very brightly lighted and showed a radar signature of a small ship. The wife, who was on watch at the time, couldn't figure out why it wasn't moving on the radar plot so she woke me up to check it out. We didn't need to make any evasive maneuvers and missed it by several miles, fortunately, because it was a big sucker and would have ruined our whole night had we hit it.

[cal40john]

Also off Oregon decades ago daytime saw something on the horizon, kept an eye on it. Autopilot steering. Passed within 50 yards of the offshore buoy. Had to look at the chart and there it was. I had figured that there was no way I would ever get close enough to see one. Navigating by celestial sun plots.

John

[bvimatelot]

Originally Posted by David M

Most weather buoys positions are plotted, at least in the US.

Yes....but..... ODAS buoy South and west of Bermuda was about 5 miles south of its charted position last month when I passed close to it and an uncharted one (at least I couldn't find it on the 4 separate charts I examined) is about 100 miles North of Roatan (well, it was 3 weeks ago).

Tony

[osirissail]

There are three sets of ATLAS buoys in the Pacific right on the line from the Galapagos to the Marquesas. Cruisers have reported rather startling encounters with these many tons of steel on dark nights in the middle of nowhere.

In the case of the Pacific their positions and many, many more positions of hazards are contained in the Pinniped's Waypoints list which is traded amongst Pacific cruisers and available on-line.

[Hud3]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

ODAS and the likes.

What odds of hitting one? What potential damage?...

A catamaran in the Caribbean 1500 (either 2004 or '05) ran into a NOAA data buoy at night off the coast of North Carolina. The bow of one hull was damaged, but the watertight bulkhead held. Another rally boat stood by them until daylight. They were able to get back to Hampton for repairs with no difficulty We came close enough to the same buoy to see it, also in the dark. They're lit, but I suppose if you're looking for ships' lights and not thinking about a weather buoy, you could miss it.

[mrohr]

Originally Posted by cat man do

One tiny spec on a vast ocean, what are the odd's?
And you do keep watch dont you?

Beg to differ regarding the odds of hitting one;just check out the dents on most bouys from numerous collisions in busy harbors, and these are on station and well charted.
Hit one myself in heavy fog and rain,my fault ,but I was single handing.

Lotsa crap floating out there, especially nearshore areas, I think we have a thread here somewhere with some scary stories.

One of several reasons why I'm not keen on night sailing.

[feelsgood]

Last year alone there were over 4,000 containers lost at sea in storms. your chances of hitting one of these is alot higher than one of those bouys. We hit a container in the bay of biscay in 2005 with oue CW 32 at around 9 knotts and survived with only suerficial damage to the bow ( 3hrs to repair from the dinghy) But as another person says keep an eye out. Unfortunatly the containers float about 2 feet under the surface and cant be seen.

[The Boat Galley]

The boat that Hud3 talked about was a friend of ours. The only reason that they were able to get back to shore safely was because their boat had a watertight bulkhead -- Leopard cat. He wrote an article or two on the experience but I'm not where I have copies . . .

[Intentional Drifter]

One of the best ways not to hit one is to not use them as a waypoint on the chartplotter! A few years ago one of the yard guys where we were hauled out told us of a fellow who was taking his just-picked-up brand-new Lagoon 500 on his first sail. He picked it up in Victoria, BC and was on the way to Seattle. He sets a waypoint on the big flashing yellow for the VTS traffic separation zone just north of Pt Wilson. Good old Otto Pilot brought him right to it! A few moments of inattention and thoughtlessness. Split open the starboard hull on his brand-new million-dollar-baby. Fortunately, he did manage to get it in OK, but it sure cost him some coin and some considerable embarrassment, too, I imagine.

ID