NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. — A red navigational buoy that recently ran aground in New Smyrna Beach began its journey earlier this year when it washed away from Hilton Head Island, South Carolina area during Hurricane Dorian, the U.S. Coast Guard said Monday.
- U.S. Coast Guard retrieved navigational buoy
- City of New Smyrna Beach asked to help
- 13,000-pound buoy attracting beachgoers
The Coast Guard said Saturday that the 13,000-pound buoy broke free from waters near Charleston, South Carolina, in 2017. On Monday, it clarified to say that it first broke free in 2017 but was found and put back.
It went missing from Port Royal Sound, South Carolina, sometime after Hurricane Dorian in September and turned up in New Smyrna Beach last week.
“The Coast Guard Sector Jacksonville Waterways Division is currently speaking with the city of New Smyrna to bring the buoy closer to shore so that it won’t wash away,” Public Affairs Specialist 2nd Class Ryan Dickinson said in an email Saturday.
“They are also working with Coast Guard Sector Charleston on picking it back up and bringing it back to the Charleston area,” Jacksonville, Florida-based Dickinson added.
It began attracting onlookers on New Smyrna Beach on Friday. A curious beachgoer snapped photos and sent them to Spectrum News.
Joanne Reilly and her husband have lived in New Smyrna Beach for more than a decade and decided to come out to 15th Avenue and see the buoy for themselves Monday morning and take a picture in front of it.
"I just think it is an interesting piece, and I am really curious as to what is going to happen to it from here. Will it go back to South Carolina or North Carolina, wherever it came from, or will it go into retirement somewhere?" she wondered.
The Coast Guard says the buoy will eventually be taken back to the Charleston area, where crews will determine whether it can still be used. There's no timetable for when that will happen.
Buoys are usually chained to a large piece of concrete that sits on the ocean floor. To keep it from being a maritime hazard, the Coast Guard has removed the light so it won't confuse ships.
On Thursday, January 2, the buoy was removed from the beach. Crews worked for more than an hour to haul it off.
You can report beached buoys to the U.S. Coast Guard at this website.
CLARIFICATION: This article was amended Monday afternoon, December 30, 2019, to reflect new information provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, which said the buoy originally broke free from waters off South Carolina in 2017 but was put back. It broke free a second time sometime after Hurricane Dorian, the Coast Guard said.