Buoy repair will
put surf report
offline tomorrow

The Coast Guard will bring out
a spare to replace the one that
has sustained weathering

---

By Leila Fujimori
lfujimori@starbulletin.com

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is advising boaters and surfers that the National Weather Service's northwest buoy will be replaced and will not provide data for six hours tomorrow.

Weather Buoy 51001, located 190 miles northwest of Kauai, is one of four buoys that provide Hawaii with surf heights.

The buoy will be brought in to have its hull refurbished and to repair its light, which warns approaching vessels.

A spare buoy kept in Honolulu will be brought out by the Coast Guard to replace the current one that has undergone weathering.

The northwest buoy is particularly important during wintertime for high surf conditions.

"We can refine surf heights after receiving data to within a foot or two, depending on how surf is," said Jim Weyman, meteorologist in charge of NOAA's Honolulu Forecast Office.

The $200,000 buoys, equipped with solar panels, batteries, wind masts, backup communication systems and location devices, are anchored to the ocean bottom.

They provide precise information about waves and allow the National Weather Service to make forecasts of surf heights.

Although NOAA uses other methods, the buoys provide more precise data on wind speed and direction, sea surface temperature, air temperature, sea level pressure, wave height and wave energy.

The remaining three buoys, located south of the islands, provide information on tropical storms or hurricanes.

A few years ago, the northwest buoy had its solar panels and masts stolen. After being replaced, the buoy was vandalized again, Weyman said.

But after media coverage of its importance to the marine community and the public, the vandalism stopped, he said.