The Whistling Buoy at Neah Bay Sinks
A storm-battered navigation hazard slips beneath the waves as coastal mariners report heavy gale damage.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Capt. John Roberts, of the steamer Farallon, from San Francisco, reports the sinking of the whistling buoy off Waaddah Island, close to Neah Bay, on Saturday morning. When the steamer passed the buoy, it was less than a foot out of water and gradually sinking. The damage was caused by the northwest gale of last Thursday and Friday.
“When the steamer passed the buoy it was less than a foot out of water and gradually sinking.”
Navigation in the rugged Strait of Juan de Fuca has always been a treacherous endeavor. While modern GPS and digital charting have replaced the need for whistling buoys to guide ships past the reefs of Waaddah Island, the intensity of Pacific Northwest storms remains a constant challenge for modern maritime logistics.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.