Buoy Repair, Douglas Channel, BC

On Christmas Day 1985, in British Columbia, off Hilton Point, the Douglas Channel weather buoy broke down. The trouble was an electronic failure in the buoy's "payload''. The buoy was receiving its weather data but not transmitting it to the Terrace weather office. The repair crew couldn't get out to the buoy on schedule because of bad weather but on the second attempt, acting superintendent, David Watson, of Environment Canada's Marine Data Unit, together with two private sector experts, set sail for the buoy in two to three feet of water chop. Crawling onto the buoy's platform, the three repairmen had to work under teeter-totter conditions - pleasant enough in a children's playground but distracting when you have to do something more than just hang on. They conducted a day long series of tests. The unit worked fine except when transmitting. It then automatically shut down. It was decided to take the unit ashore for repairs. The next day, in much calmer water, they returned the buoy with a replacement unit. The defective unit had worked well for eight months before breaking down. It was still under warranty. The replacement unit was actually intended for a new buoy for another B.C. station, part of a project to improve marine weather forecasting across Canada. Similar buoys are to be floated on the Great Lakes. According to Watson, Environment Canada is delegating much of this work to private industry. When repaired, the unit will be put through intensive testing, in view of the fact that such units are to be installed on future buoys. Mr. Watson estimates that each unit is worth $40,000 to $50,000.

At any rate, the Douglas Channel buoy is now back in full operation and Terrace weather office is happy.

Buoy Repair, Douglas Channel, BC - 1986