weather buoys
23 August 2011 | Off the coast of NC
Tina
After making the transit from Gulfport, MS around Florida back to North Carolina we picked up two weather buoys and three scientists at the port in Wilmington, NC. As we left Wilmington yesterday we were chased down the river by a heavy rain storm. A waterspout even followed us for 5-10 minutes but luckily never caught us. Picture to follow.
The plan is to deploy 2 buoys and recover 2 buoys today. We have already successfully completed half of that task. In the foreground of the above image is the buoy we recovered this morning just off the coast of Wrightsville Beach, NC. It had been out collecting data for one year.
The buoy that we will deploy at the next station is in place on the fantail. The railroad tires used as an anchor can be seen between the two buoys in the background.
Each buoy has weather sensors attached to the top and a CTD below the waterline.
We are keeping a close eye on Hurricane Irene.
Weather: mostly sunny, 81 degrees, winds 15-20 knots, seas 4-5 feet