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Press Release
Date: October 30, 2008
Contact: D13 Public Affairs

Coast Guard reviewing need for Mukilteo Lighthouse



SEATTLE — The Coast Guard is conducting a study regarding the navigational necessity of the Mukilteo Lighthouse in Mukilteo, Wash.

The study is focused on determining the need for an active federal or private aid to navigation in the lighthouse based on waterborne commerce, marine casualty information, port/harbor resources, emergency response plans, routine and emergency communication capabilities and future development projects.

The Coast Guard is soliciting local mariners for their comments and input.

The lighthouse's beacon is a historic Fresnel lens which is currently owned and operated by the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard would like to operate the lighthouse as a privately maintained aid to navigation by permit to a public or private entity.

Any mariner who desires to comment about or participate in a survey of the Mukilteo Lighthouse as a federal aid to navigation should contact Lt. Pat Marshall at (206) 220-7278 or email to patrick.a.marshall@uscg.mil.

Press Release

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Press Release
Date: November 5, 2008
Contact: D14 Public Affairs

Hawaii-based U.S. Coast Guard crewmembers to conduct
aids to navigation work in American Samoa

   

ABOARD THE USCGC WALNUT - The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Walnut  is scheduled to begin routine maintenance to aids to navigation in American Samoa Tuesday.

The Walnut's crew will work on the islands of Ta'u and Ofu Tuesday and will provide annual maintenance to fixed and floating aids in the port of Pago Pago and the island of Tutuila for the remainder of the week.



Several navigation aids require the crew to hike up steep grades and through thick jungle to access the sites. The Walnut, a 225-foot sea-going buoy tender homeported in Honolulu, uses shore parties, small boats and a dive team in addition to the cutter's buoy deck to service aids. Crewmembers repair and position aids to ensure safe navigation for all vessels in American Samoa.

After departing Pago Pago, the Walnut will return to Honolulu with a member of the National Data Buoy Center (NDBC). The Walnut's crew will assist the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the NDBC collect weather data. Coast Guard cutter crews help to predict weather, tides and currents by assisting in the deployment and maintenance of NOAA and NDBC buoys.

Press Release

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Feature Release
Date: November 20, 2008
Contact: D14 Public Affairs

U.S. Coast Guard units in Hawaii save energy to save lives
Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson,  U.S. Coast Guard

     
(L)  U.S. Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer David Garrett (left) and Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Guevara (right), stationed at Aids to Navigation Team, Honolulu, install a new light-emitting diode (LED), which replaced the traditional lantern at Merry's Point in Pearl Harbor.  (M)  U.S. Coast Guard (left to right) Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Guevara, Senior Chief Petty Officer David Garrett and Seaman Jason Lindbom, stationed at Aids to Navigation Team, Honolulu, hold a light-emitting diode (LED) at Diamond Head Lighthouse.  The LEDs will eventually replace traditional lantern lights on fixed aids to navigation.  (R)  Seaman Jason Lindbom (left) and Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Guevara (right), stationed at Aids to Navigation Team, Honolulu, attach a light-emitting diode (LED) to a line at Pearl Harbor.  

HONOLULU, HAWAII - A growing concern in the United States is the impact of rising energy prices on households and the economy. Gas prices have reached record highs. It seems that everything from toothpicks to televisions has become too expensive.

The U.S. Coast Guard takes pride in its ability to save people and the environment, so why not help save energy costs for taxpayers?

The Fourteenth Coast Guard District, which encompasses 12.2 million square miles and has its headquarters in Honolulu, is joining the overall Coast Guard initiative to "go green."

Fourteenth District crews are tasked to develop, establish, operate, and maintain 443 aids to navigation. The aids to navigation system helps recreational and commercial mariners determine position, enjoy safe passage on the water and avoid obstructions.

The system is vigilantly maintained by crews on three 225-foot Seagoing Buoy Tenders, located in Honolulu and Guam, a team from Aids to Navigation Team (ANT), Honolulu, and personnel with the district's waterways management branch.

"The world is constantly changing, and the Coast Guard is doing its best to help protect the marine environment, recycle and use less energy," said Senior Chief Petty Officer David Garrett, the officer in charge of ANT, Honolulu.

The Coast Guard has long utilized solar technology to provide mariners with safe and reliable waterways. In June 2007, The U.S. Coast Guard Maritime-Range Aids to Navigation Strategic Plan was released and set a course for implementing various technologies that would provide the best service for mariners while ensuring the best return for the taxpayer. One of the main requirements of the plan was to introduce and require certain lighted aids to use a light-emitting diode (LED), about the size of a wall clock, instead of the longstanding traditional lanterns.
 
"The traditional lanterns are made, for the most part, of fiberglass, metal, revolving parts and plastic. The LED, in contrast, is made of metal and a hard plastic, with no revolving parts, which makes the light more durable," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Guevara, a boatswain's mate at ANT, Honolulu.

The U.S. Coast Guard has begun using energy saving light-emitting
diodes (LED) in aids to navigation for mariners. (Left to right)
Seaman Jason Lindbom, Petty Officer 3rd Class Brian Guevara
and Senior Chief Petty Officer David Garrett prepare to install
one at the Diamond Head Lighthouse.

The conversion of commercially-powered aids to navigation to an LED solution has the potential to reduce monthly utility costs by approximately $1,200 per light as well as save time and labor, said Garrett.

Every dollar saved helps when the overall cost to taxpayers for servicing these aids is realized. For example, it costs roughly $4,500 per hour for a buoy tender to go out to sea to service an aid, which does not take into account member benefits and fuel, among other costs.

"We often send a team out by boat or vehicle to replace a single lamp on a traditional lantern," said Petty Officer 1st Class Kate Bogle, a marine information specialist at the district's prevention division.

The cost of the bulbs is yet another factor. The traditional lantern bulbs usually last one or two years; however, the LED lights can last 10 years, said Bogle.

"The LEDs, which operate on solar power, will help eliminate the reliance on shore power and will also reduce unnecessary and dangerous trips to secluded lights," said Bogle.

Garrett said the time saved by not having to make unnecessary trips will allow buoy tender crewmembers to devote more time to other important work, including protecting the environment, search and rescue and law enforcement.

The process of changing over to LEDs has already begun. On May 28, 2008, Maui's McGregor Light was the first light in Hawaii to receive an LED. Merry's Point Light at Pearl Harbor was the first to convert from lantern to LED Sept. 11, 2008.

The third light on the list to swap over to LED is the backup light at Diamond Head Lighthouse. The historic landmark is a major point of contact for many vessels that transport in and out of Honolulu Harbor.

"I take great pride in ensuring that these lights function properly. Saving taxpayers' dollars makes me even happier," said Guevara.

Thousands of recreational and fishing vessels, cargo and cruise ships transit through the district's ports and waterways. The Coast Guard helps to ensure the maritime transportation system flows smoothly and effectively - without breaking the bank.

Feature Release

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Decaying lighthouses seen as historic treasures
By GARRY MITCHELL Associated Press Writer
Posted: 11/23/2008

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. — The Sand Island Lighthouse, a lonely sentinel from a faded era of shipping commerce in the Gulf of Mexico, has survived more than a century of hurricanes and violent waves, but its future is precarious.

Like others built in the Gulf and Atlantic after the Civil War, the 126-foot circular tower whose light once guided sailors at the entrance to Mobile Bay is now in need of costly repairs.


A longitudinal crack is shown in Sand Island Lighthouse (above left) in a Monday, July 21, 2008 photo, at the mouth of Mobile Bay south of Dauphin Island, Alabama. A barge and crane leave Sand Island Lighthouse (above right) after starting repairs to the base of the lighthouse at the mouth of Mobile Bay. (AP Photo/Press-Register, Mike Kittrell)

Constructed in 1873, it sits atop a man-made mound of granite stones jutting above Gulf waters—Sand Island literally has been washed away from it.

It is cracked and decaying and erosion remains a threat, but it is regarded by preservationists as a historic treasure. Three miles out from Dauphin Island, it is envisioned as a potential tourist attraction, like many others around the country. Engineers marvel at its design.

The Sand Island Lighthouse is a "testament to 19th Century engineering and construction," which allows the tower to sway a little in stormy winds, said masonry expert Michael Davidson of the Mississippi Stone Guild in Eupora, Miss.

"It has not only survived the Katrina of this century, but Katrinas of the last centuries," Davidson said. "Had they used modern materials and methods it would not be standing."

Others around the Gulf and Atlantic were not so lucky. Louisiana's small Chandeleur Island Lighthouse was toppled by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Searchers found no trace of it after the storm.

The New Canal Lighthouse on Lake Pontchartrain, which had stood since 1890, was also demolished by Katrina. It is scheduled for reconstruction in 2009 as a museum. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation salvaged material from the original two-story structure to use.

In South Carolina, efforts are being made to save the Morris Island Lighthouse on Charleston Harbor. In August, workers completed a temporary dam around its foundation to hold back water as repairs continue. The lighthouse was built in 1876 and taken out of service in 1962.

Such projects underline America's love of lighthouses and the historic significance of those that remain on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, where hundreds once served as vital navigation aids before the Civil War.

Unlike the Sand Island tower, most of the roughly 600 surviving lighthouses around the country—including those on the Great Lakes and the Pacific coast—are not abandoned and many enjoy throngs of tourists, said National Park Service chief maritime historian Kevin Foster. The lighthouse at Cape Hatteras on the North Carolina coast, one of the most popular, drew some 130,000 visitors last year. (In 1999, the Cape Hatteras lighthouse was moved roughly half a mile back from the edge of the Atlantic to save it from erosion.)

"Most of them have been adaptively reused and are in use," said Foster.

After the Coast Guard, the next single biggest owner of lighthouses is the National Park Service, Foster said.

During the Civil War, Confederate troops destroyed some of the towers or took out the light to keep them out of Union hands. The lighthouse on Sand Island, which served a Gulf route protected by Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, was among them, blown up by explosives in 1861.

Rebuilt in 1873, it remained in service until deactivated by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1933, and slowly began to deteriorate.

Jack Granade, a Mobile engineer who has worked on a plan to save the lighthouse, said it's cracked down two sides, but the foundation appears intact. Twenty-eight feet in diameter at its base, its brick walls are six feet thick near the foundation.

A long-term lighthouse restoration could cost millions of dollars, but Granade said the first step is to stabilize the tower and prevent further decay.

Davidson, the masonry expert, compared its condition to a cracked teacup. He said it can be repaired by pumping in lime grout mortar to seal the cracks. Engineers also propose installing 16 tension rings in the tower. "If nothing is done, it will fall in time," said Davidson, who specializes in historical monuments.

Foster of the Park Service said he's surprised the Sand Island tower has lasted this long without some care.

"It's alongside a channel that gets maintenance dredging and will require long-term attention. It's not one you can fix once and forget about," Foster said.

The town of Dauphin Island took ownership of the lighthouse from the federal government in 2003 in hopes of saving it and eventually turning it into a tourist attraction. FEMA provided some $720,000 in repair funds after Hurricane Ivan damaged some of the brickwork in 2004.

But lack of funds for the long-term restoration remains a challenge. Lighthouse supporters are putting together fundraising plans, including the sale of sponsorships.

Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier said improvements could include a beach area and docking for boats. Water surrounding the lighthouse is about 20 feet deep.

"We'll be looking at doing some work to shore up the tower itself," he said.

Eight flights of spiral iron stairs provide access from the ground floor to the watch room where the light was once located. The light was removed and remains stored at nearby Fort Morgan.

"You could see it for 28 miles on a clear night," said Granade.

Original Article

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Press Release
Date: November 29, 2008
Contact: D9 Public Affairs

CGC Alder retreives NOAA buoys
before Lake Superior freeze over



PORTAGE, Mich. - Seaman Craig Senczyszyn gripes a National Oceanographic
and Atmospheric Administration buoy to the deck of the U.S. Coast Guard
Cutter Alder, a 225-foot buoy tender based in Duluth, Minn., is particitating
in Operation Fall Retrieve in western Lake Superior. Fall Retrieve, the largest
domestic buoy operation in the U.S., takes more than 1,250 buoys out of
service during the winter months due to decreased vessel traffic and to minimize
damage from the ice and inclement weather. Fall Retrieve began in October
2008 and is scheduled to be completed on December 28, 2008.

Press Release

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Photo Release
Date: December 4, 2008
Contact: D11 Public Affairs

New Type Of Vessel Detection Buoy Unveiled

   


SAN PEDRO, CA. — In the photos above crew members from the CGC Aspen prepare to bring aboard a new buoy prototype
called a Spar buoy that will detect surface vessels in the water.  A new tool to be used in securing the nation's seaports.   

   

This new vessel detecting spar buoy is lowered to the deck of the CGC Aspen and secured on deck. 
(Coast Guard Photos by PA3 Christina L. Bozeman)

Photo Release

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Pigeon Point lighthouse restoration gets boost
Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, December 8, 2008


Pigeon Point lighthouse, one of the West Coast's tallest, needs at least $5 million in repairs.  Park Ranger Paul Keel points out the wear and tear of Pigeon Point Lighthouse.

SAN FRANCISCO - For more than a century, Pigeon Point lighthouse was a symbol of safety, warmth and security for mariners along the San Mateo County coast.

That is, until the top rim rusted off and tumbled 115 feet to the ground. Followed by a two-foot chunk of bricks. Then another chunk.

The U.S. Coast Guard closed the venerable lighthouse in 2001 after pieces of the exterior started chipping off, suggesting the whole structure might topple unless it underwent thorough renovation.

Those renovation plans got a jump start this fall with a $54,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express. The national program was launched in 2006 and came with a $5 million, five-year commitment to preserve environmental, historical and cultural treasures. The program gave $1 million to help 13 dilapidated landmarks in the Bay Area.

The $54,000 Pigeon Point received went toward a dozen new wooden windows to keep moisture from seeping inside and further damaging the interior.

"That lighthouse has a lot of issues, but there are certain things you just can't let go. Windows are one of them," said Anthony Veerkamp, senior program officer with the National Trust's western office. "There's a long way to go, but preservationists have learned to be optimistic. We'll get there."

Pigeon Point, built in 1871 and one of the tallest and most architecturally impressive lighthouses on the West Coast, needs about $5 million to $7 million in repairs, ranging from fresh paint to new ironwork, according to the state Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees the lighthouse.

But the expense and hassle are well worth it because the lighthouse is such a draw for tourism and provides a vital link to the state's past, said Paul Keel, the park department's supervising ranger for the San Mateo County coast.

"It's so much a part of the heritage of California," he said. "People love hearing about it and learning about it, the protection it provided and the history. It's a real symbol of California's past."

Even though the lighthouse has been closed for eight years, about 100,000 people annually visit the site, many spending the night at the adjacent youth hostel. The number of lighthouse visitors has doubled in the past 10 years or so, Keel said.

The California State Parks Foundation has already raised about $400,000 toward the lighthouse renovation work.

"It's a very architecturally and historically significant structure," said Cecille Caterson, program manager of the parks foundation. "It reminds us of the different people who've come to California and made the state what it is. These things should not be forgotten."

Unlike most lighthouses in California, which tend to be squat buildings perched on bluffs, Pigeon Point is a towering beacon rising from a flat abutment just above the sea level. Designed by French architect Phineas F. Marston, Pigeon Point more closely resembles lighthouses found on the East Coast, with its ornate ironwork and elegant tower. In fact, its 8,000-pound Fresnel lens was moved from its original home at the Cape Hatteras lighthouse in North Carolina.

The U.S. Lighthouse Service built the Pigeon Point lighthouse when California ship traffic started increasing after the Gold Rush. The treacherous currents, tides, fog and hidden rocks along the San Mateo County coast had sent dozens of ships to their demise, including the Carrier Pigeon, which crashed and sank in 1853 and gave the point its name.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which absorbed the Lighthouse Service in the 1930s, automated the light and fog signal about 30 years ago. The last lighthouse keepers left in the 1970s, and, like lighthouses throughout California, Pigeon Point gradually slid into disrepair.

The Coast Guard still operates a light atop the tower, but the old Fresnel light and the lighthouse itself are no longer in use because they're considered safety hazards. The state parks department hopes that when the renovations are complete, Pigeon Point will serve as a museum, tourist attraction and window to California's past.

"People come from all over the world to see this, even though it's such a small, out-of-the-way place," said Jeff Perry, who manages the Pigeon Point youth hostel, one of the busiest in the United States. "They come for the nature, the history, the beauty. For me, it's like a microcosm of the world."

Original Article

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Walter Fanning
Keeper Of East Brother Island lighthouse
Carolyn Jones, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, December 12, 2008

Point Richmond, CA - Walter Fanning, the third generation of his family to work at Bay Area lighthouses and a key member of the group that restored the facility on East Brother Island, died Dec. 5 at a Moraga convalescent home. He was 99.


Walter Fanning, Keeper and restorer of East Brother Island Lighthouse

Mr. Fanning was born in 1909 in the lighthouse keepers' quarters on Yerba Buena Island, where his immigrant Danish grandparents served as lighthouse keepers. His mother, who lived with her parents at the lighthouse, met his father there while he was serving as a lighthouse radio operator for the U.S. Coast Guard.

After his grandparents were transferred to the East Brother Island lighthouse, Mr. Fanning spent much of his childhood there, fishing for rock cod off the dock, skating around the cistern and blowing the old diaphone foghorn.

"East Brother and Yerba Buena islands were the loves of his life," said his daughter, Susan Montague of Oakland. "He loved the history of them. They were very dear to his heart." When he was in his 70s, Mr. Fanning became lighthouse keeper at the East Brother Island facility.

Mr. Fanning graduated from UC Berkeley in 1934 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and joined the Navy. While in the service, he met Jane Dempsey in Hawaii and the couple married in 1938. They settled in Oakland's Crocker Highlands neighborhood, where he lived for the next 68 years.

For years, Mr. Fanning operated the Oakland Machine Works, which opened in 1953 and still makes parts for ships, rockets, bridges and other military and government projects.

After he retired, Mr. Fanning devoted much of his time to lighthouses, including the East Brother Island lighthouse, which had fallen into disrepair after the Coast Guard automated the foghorn and light in the 1970s. When he became its keeper in the '80s, he helped restore it, devoting countless hours restoring the ornate Victorian woodwork, fixing the old foghorn and doing other chores. He also served on the nonprofit board that now runs the lighthouse.

"He was a mainstay of the whole restoration process," said Richmond City Councilman Tom Butt, who serves as the East Brother board president. "He was a sweet, humble guy, but he couldn't stand people who wouldn't jump in and do whatever needed to be done. Because that's the way he always did things."

Mr. Fanning also helped restore the Coast Guard lightship Relief, now anchored at Jack London Square in Oakland, and served as an officer with the U.S. Lighthouse Society.

In addition to Montague, Mr. Fanning is survived by his daughter Nancy Fanning and numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, all of Oakland.

A memorial service will be held Jan. 24 at 2 p.m. at Lakeside Temple of Practical Christianity, 144 Athol Ave., Oakland.

Original Article

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Press Release
Date: December 16, 2008
Contact: D11 Public Affairs

Humboldt Bay Buoy Nine to
be removed from Big Lagoon


(Stock Image) Western White Snowy Plover

McKinleyville, Calif. — The Coast Guard has arranged for the removal of Humboldt Bay Buoy Nine from the Big Lagoon Spit by a commercial heavy-lift helicopter on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2008.

The buoy was reported adrift January 30, 2008 and discovered on Big Lagoon beach on February 3, having drifted about 20 nautical miles.  The buoy is about 17 feet long, seven feet in diameter and weighs about eight tons.   

The Coast Guard delayed the recovery of the buoy until now to limit the possible disruption of the Western Snowy Plover and California Brown Pelican that are known to live in the area.

Press Release

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Photo Release
Date: December 15, 2008
Contact: D9 Public Affairs

Cutter Mackinaw On Annual Buoy Run

   

ABOARD THE USCGC MACKINAW - The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is on its fall buoy run replacing lighted aids with winter marker buoys before winter ice-in.  Members of deckforce onboard Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw left above secure aids to navigation on the buoy deck after removing them from the Chicago Lakefront, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008.

   

BMC Jeff Arnold left above gives hand signals to the crane operator during buoy operations.  Members of deck force above middle onboard Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw stand clear as the buoy is being raised onto the buoy deck.  Seaman Bruce Cobb above right attaches his safety line as he climbs on the buoy to secure it on Mackinaw's buoy deck.  (U.S. Coast Guard Photos/Petty Officer 3rd Class George L. Degener)   

Photo Release

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Who needs GPS? Barnegat Lighthouse
to shine again after 82 years
By LEE PROCIDA Staff Writer
December 30, 2008



At 5 p.m. on New Year's Day the Barnegat Lighthouse will shine again for the first time in 82 years on the 150th anniversary of its construction.
A non-profit group raised $35,000 to buy a new light and replace the glass around it. The improvements will make it Coast Guard-certified navigational light, calibrated to have a distinct flash that lets ships know it's Barnegat Lighthouse.

Lighthouses are technically obsolete now that most mariners use GPS (a navigational system involving satellites and computers that determines their latitude and longitude) but they can still serve as a back-up, and some enthusiasts think it's still better to have a visual beacon.

The lighthouse is located in Barnegat Lighthouse State Park on the northern tip of Long Beach Island, in the borough of Barnegat Light.

Original Article

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Press Release
Date: December 31, 2008
Contact: D11 Public Affairs

Coast Guard attempts to locate
missing San Francisco Sea Buoy


Cutter Aspen prepares to get underway at Yerba Buena Island

SAN FRANCISCO — At approximately 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Coast Guard received a report from the San Francisco Bar Pilots that the San Francisco Approach Lighted Whistle Buoy SF, commonly known as the "Sea Buoy", was missing.

The Coast Guard has issued a Safety Marine Information Broadcast concerning the missing buoy to ask boaters to keep a sharp lookout.  The Sea Buoy is a large red and white aid to navigation used to mark the offshore approach to San Francisco Bay.  It is 32 feet in height, 9 feet in diameter, and weighs 26 tons.  The buoy is also equipped with a radar beacon, commonly referred to as a "RACON", that is no longer transmitting.  Unlike channel buoys that warn transiting mariners of a channel's boundaries, a "sea buoy" indicates to mariners that there are unobstructed waters on all sides.  The buoy's station is approximately twelve nautical miles west of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Anyone with information concerning the buoy is requested to contact the Coast Guard at 415-399-3547.

The Coast Guard Cutter ASPEN, a 225-foot buoy tender homeported in San Francisco, is currently in the process of setting a replacement buoy and will then continue an ongoing search for the missing buoy.  The buoy's absence has not impacted maritime traffic within the San Francisco Bay approach area.

An investigation is ongoing to determine whether the buoy was struck by a passing vessel.  Although one vessel passed through the area immediately prior to the time the buoy was reported missing, there is no visible evidence that this particular vessel struck the buoy.  The Coast Guard immediately dispatched units to the buoy's station following the initial report and found no sign of debris or pollution. 

If adrift, this large buoy poses a serious hazard to navigation, especially in periods of reduced visibility.  Mariners are reminded to keep a watchful eye in the area and report any information to the Coast Guard.

Press Release

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Press Release
Date: January 2, 2009
Contact: D11 Public Affairs

Coast Guard Cutter ASPEN
recovers missing sea buoy


Crewmembers on the Coast Guard Cutter Aspen lower the San
Francisco Approach Buoy on the deck of the cutter after
retrieving it from the bottom of the water. The buoy was
reported missing on December 30 after an outbound ship
reportedly struck it.

SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco Approach Lighted Whistle Buoy SF, commonly known as the "Sea Buoy" was recovered by the Coast Guard Cutter ASPEN.

The buoy was found on the sea floor in its assigned position, still attached to its mooring.  The buoy was lifted onto the deck of the ASPEN, and will be brought back to San Francisco for repairs.  A replacement buoy has been set in place and is watching properly.

A Coast Guard investigation on how this incident occurred pends. 

Press Release

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Photo Release
Date: January 3, 2009
Contact: D9 Public Affairs

Cutter Mackinaw Buoy Operations
Are Fueled By A Gourmet Chef

   
Video Of Dec 2-4 Buoy Ops



GREEN BAY, WIS. — Petty Officer 2nd Class Eddie Fuchs, a Food Service Specialist onboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw, prepares gravy and slices a pot roast for the crew, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. Fuchs is an award-winning chef who recently competed as part of a U.S. Army team at the World Culinary Olympics, held in Germany. (U.S. Coast Guard photos/Petty Officer 3rd Class George L. Degener)

Photo Release

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Ron

Thanks for the vido of Buoy ops I really miss that work brought back lots of memorys and it is one of the few times I can say the new Guard way is better than the old.