The
2014 annual maintenance of the Crews Buoy was completed this October by CCMI
staff members Jon Clamp, Laura Wright and Lowell Forbes along with
remote assistance from NOAA tech Mike Jankulak and field assistance from
C-ARMS principal Jon Fajans.
The buoy was released from its
mooring and towed to Salt Rock Dock on October 14 where it was lifted out onto
our truck with the help of CB Power and Light. Once at the station the
buoy was lifted off the truck and set down for maintenance. This
included a thorough power washing and fresh bottom paint for the float
ring. New zincs were attached as needed along with zip ties as well. The
CTD was replaced after some programming issues were updated remotely by
Mike Jankulak and was then launched and tested by Jon Fajans in Little
Cayman (October 24 at 17:03 UTC). Our Bics were cleaned and left in place for another season due
to their reliability. These will be replaced in 2015 or if and when
needed during the coming year. A new RM Young Temp/RH sensor was also
attached as this had failed earlier in the year (June 6). Jon Fajans completed an
instrument test and all was pronounced operational.
Finally the buoy was given a pressure
test on the battery and electronics housing and given the green light
for redeployment. We launched the buoy on October 29 in a fresh Easterly breeze and
had to manage the re-attachment of the buoy in less than optimal
conditions however no problems were encountered. We were also glad to
have the help on this leg by CCMI long time volunteer Greg Locher.
Although NOAA is receiving the data stream, CCMI has not received any data updates since redeployment. We are currently working to resolve this issue.
Please view the video clip of the removal and still photos of the redeployment.
