Inside The Coast Guard's Dirtiest Job | PopMech
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- Опубликовано: 14 дек 2008
- Buoys guide ships into port--but who maintains these crucial floating beacons? Popular Mechanics spent a night and two days on a Coast Guard boat off the coast of New York watching a young crew labor to keep our maritime infrastructure afloat.
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Наука
"One unlucky soul must enter the air tube and clean it from within"
I was that unlucky soul back in 2012. Second worst part of the job, second only to standing watch and studying for quals up til wee hours of the morning, catching about six minutes of sleep before having to wake up for work.
Contrariwise, the best parts were the crew, the food, the fact that you're usually only out for a week or two at most, and the "morale fund" - Some parts of decommissioned buoys could be sold for scrap, and that money would be used by the crew to get hammered.
Fun times indeed!! Never made it to a black hull.
I was that unlucky boot too lol
@Chris Smith Not enough, generally speaking; they're on the DOD pay scale so it depends on rank, time in service, etc.
How are the lights on the buoy powered? I mean if it is designed to last for 2-3 years their must be some kind of motion magneto generator, am i right?
@@MaxStevenson-ih5ji Wasn't there a solar panel on top?
"The crew does not look back..." How dramatic...
Hahaha that’s what I was thinkin
Having worked the bridge on one of those ships I can guarantee the crew looks back, right left and in every other direction. Most Buoy's mark a shipping channel, and fixing one is like fixing a road sign on an active freeway. You really want to know what traffic is bearing down on you.
All that was needed was “As the salted sea air splashes on there sun baked skin the crew does not look back.”
@@TexMex421 100 tons or so wouldn't hurt too bad would it haha
@@silentwishs All it needs is “As the salted sea air splashes on there sun baked skin, the whales spout water into a rainbow as the dolphins dance the crew does not look back.”
the other side of coast guard you rarely see. to all buoy tenders crews out there you have my respect.
My father was a lifer in the U.S.C.G. He pretty much did it all. His home movies from onboard Coast Guard cutters are jaw-dropping. From ice-breaking to Korea and Vietnam to crashing through enormous waves and rescues in horrible weather. The sea was in his veins.
He was buried at sea out of Boston harbor in 2003 on board the cutter Pendant. A fitting end to his love of country and the deep oceans.
Peace.
Flash Retro I’m sure he’d rather be called a career coastie as a lifer is a “lazy ignorant fuck expecting retirement” as my Senior Chief used to say.
Much respect, Semper Paratus!
OMG - buoys are so fricken creepy!!! Something floating above tons of chain and a massive block anchoring it to the bottom. I could not get in the water near a buoy, just the thought of that massive chain hanging there all the way to the bottom - its just creepy!!
Glad I'm not the only one
I thought i was the only one that felt like that 😭
Submechanophobia!
That’s so true
Weirdos
one of the best and worst jobs in the guard.still you somehow never forget the smell of buoy critters for as long as you live.somehow death is not as bas a smell as that
I thought bird shit would be the worst for them
@@tumadoireacht Nah the sun and salt water bakes that off. Barely has a smell.
I was in training with several Coast Guardsmen and had heard about these tenders and the air tube it’s nice to finally see it in action.
I enjoyed working ATON. First unit out of boot camp in 1976, first unit out of OCS in 1987. Things have changed over the years, but it still looks fun.
I was a cook for seven years uscg. Did tours on two buoy tenders. Papaw and Madrona, now decommissioned and are reefs I believe. Watching this video brings back a lot of memories, thanks for posting.
1959 was when as an apprentice I was the dude that cleaned out the bouy the sea peters were nasty My motivation for going to Radioman school Yes
Brutal
Mad respect!!
Awww, poor rookie :(
They only showed a few steps to the evolution. One of the more dangerous jobs in the CG, heavy weights, tension on the cross decks wires, tension on chain as sinker is retrieved...lots of moving parts and a good crew can make it seem effortless. Yes, I’ve been on many buoy tenders and you can’t daydream during these evolutions.
Cool.
Learned something.
Thanks
Can't wait to enlist
On board the CGC WHITE SUMAC (WLM 540), Key West, FL from 63-64, 2 yrs. Did all lighthouses and buoys from Miami to Fort Jefferson plus delivered water to Fort Jefferson.
I did this work in Holland.
Fun to see how you guys do it! We only had 4 guys on deck, and washed everything with high pressure. Also we never heated & hammered the shackle. We just inserted a pin, then heated & bent it. Made it much easier to remove the shackle later on. Also meant that we could reuse the shackle.
the U.S. government doesn't care about saving money
Exact wat ik dacht....erg veel man aan dek en een nogal erg omslachtige manier van werken. Ik ken dit van de Scheepvaartdienst.....wat een luxe zeg, al die gasten die ernaar staan te kijken....
spent 3 years on black hulls, largest was a 10x56 ocean buoy with a 10 ton rock and 60 shots of chain, that was in alaska in the 80s on an old 180 cgc sedge wlb 402, dam i miss that boat
Always wanted to know about this.. cool
I really enjoy carrying out relights, good weather or bad, the gopro footage is excellent 👌
i love hearing a buoy's whistle makes you feel like dust
This might be the dirtiest, but definitely not the worst. That, in my opinion, goes to the ice breakers. Weeks at sea in freezing cold weather, hearing the metal hull almost endlessly crush through ice, is not my idea of a luxury cruise. Hell, it's almost enough to drive you crazy.
That Is a BIG BUOY! Getting that thing on and off the deck is the dangerous part, compared to cleaning it, from watching this. Can't they wear something over their mouth and nose so they won't be overcome by the smell when they go up the hole? I know they had better have safety goggles on and rubber gloves.
I would have liked to have been in the USCG, though Thyroid medication and flat-feet kept me out of the 4 Branches of the military. Air Force was my other choice that I wanted to go to.
I appreciate the USCG and what they do on the Water and In the Air and the Shores :)
Real grunt work, that.
wait i didn't know they make a sound as the waves increase in size. crazy
am i the only one who has a fear of bouys
Submechanophobia.
What creeps me out about buoys is that I don't know what's underneath. A buoy is a sign of a hazard under the water, but you don't know what the hazard is, or how far beneath the surface it is. It could be rocks, could be a sunken ship, could be anything. It might be 50 feet below the surface, 10 feet below, 2 feet below, etc... You never know for sure where the hazard is.
@@simonburkeisable Yeah. Although I was referring mainly to the "danger" buoys. The ones that mark hazards in the water. Getting too close to a buoy can mean bye bye ship (whatever you're in).
NO
Taekwondo Time it’s indicating danger because ships go like 1/4th underwater, and if a shipwreck or a large rock is underwater, you’re ship will get stuck or sink.
I swear it’s preannouced “boy”
at least he said gunnel and not gun whale
It is, by most normal English speakers...
You are quite correct, but it's a common way of saying that word by Americans (and no other English speakers)....
No nonsense coast guard work! Go coasties!
My first Cutter was a 180' Black Hull : USCGC Sasafrass
My second Cutter was a 225' Black Hull and I am a Plank Owner : USCGC Walnut.
1997 - 2003 SN/FN/DC3- DC2
@Gareththedrummer its boo-ee in the midwest
0:25 THRILLER!!!
I hav always wanted to climb on board a buoy
God Bless 🙏🏽🙏🏽
THE BOOOOEY 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
EPIC.
@xxa455xx thankyou. what about the grunt and get dirty jobs is that just "spare" crewmen who are not on watch?
intresting
I just like how the bouy is several tons worth of metal and there's just those two dudes 'kinda sorta' holding onto the rope like their 300+ pound combined weight will do anything to influence several tons of steel.
what about climbing aboard a buoy during a storm with really high waves?!
I find the wave whistle is quite amusing for some reason (I'm sure amusement fades QUICK in real life)
2020 been crazy huh
@sashmuscle so true so true
Where was the part about chasing the seals and sea lions off the buoy? IME they're usually all over these.
Except for critical parts like the horn air intakes and corroded chain links, I'm surprised they bother with scraping off the slime and barnacles. More will be right back within a couple months.
How about the part where you're killing marine life by tossing the used batteries in the water.
If I’m not mistaken, there’s a solar panel above the light. It would need batteries to store the electricity for night so wouldn’t they need to check those and what type of batteries do they use?
They might of skipped showing it
me too.
I miss working on the water and the coast, It was the best even in the cold. worked on a dredging barge. 80 hour weeks and I fucking miss it.
what is it, just being so close to nature and on the sea that has a mystifying allure?
cool
Is it just me, or is that replacement chain much thinner than the original? Was it the growth that made it look that big?
Buoy's are the guardians of the sea with out them boats are sunk. on a Dirty Jobs episode called Buoy Cleaner Mike (Mr. Dirty) Row went with the Coast Guard and knocked barnacles off the Buoys in San Francisco Bay.
I wonder if those right-angled panels in the buoy are designed to be radar corner reflectors?
Yes, because they want the buoys to be invisible to radar.
I think the WLM-540 was a good cutter.
Forget about to brazil your going into the buoye
So do they not replace any chain or anchor below a certain point?
The portion of the chain that rides up and down (chafes) against the bottom, ie: sand/rock, wears the most and is replaced as needed. I served on 3 180's during my 20 year career. Hazardous work with no hazardous pay.
Mike Rowe "Been there done that"
Was aboard Woodrush WLB-407 Sitka Alaska Rose of the fleet E2-E4
Don Petrey me too, 90-92
Christopher Bradley o damn I was there from 97-2000
I never knew that they were so large.
In the US navy they shout "hooyah", in the coastguard it's, "booyah" / "buoyah" (southern dialect)
57° water is trunkable. 🤙
served on the SUNDEW WLB 404 Duluth Mn..Ice Breaker hee haw Keewanaw
I overhauled the Sundew in The Chicago Shipyard in 1968
They could design a catamaran barge with a tapered gap between the hulls to funnel and collect the buoys against a vertical tilting bed.
The bed would be mounted in the center of the boat so the buoys could be strapped down and then tilted down onto the deck, where they could then be serviced.
A set of fork lift style arms could be mounted to the bed to help stabilize the buoys before they are locked down.
Sounds perverse.
@@matthewrinehart2367
👍True😂LOL!👍
Once me and some people I met at the beach decided to swim out to the log boom that kept boats away from the beach. So we get out there and there are these big steel balls that are chained to the bottom of the lake and I hate anything sticking up from below the water so I was holding on to the log boom for dear life not to mention the seaweed sticking up a few yards away. No way in hell am I doing that again.
how tall are thises buoys and how much do they weigh
Depends on what the buoys puspose is, smaller ones made of foam and are only about 3ft in diameter and maybe 4 ft tall are only about 135lbs. 6ft diameter x 26ft tall is the biggest ive seen/worked.
Was another lucky individual who had to "shoot the tube". Nothing like buoy critters going down your shirt and pants!
ใช้เวลานานหลายปี
@sashmuscle exactly and they still complain
Coast Guard Personal : we are doing the dirtiest job
Government Officials : hold my beer
Government Officials: I'll give you something to cry about, How'd you like to go to Iraq!
Yea I can approve it because I was there 👍🏻
@xxa455xx no i ment what mos rating are they?
BT. Bouy Tech.
How do I get a job doing this?
Is that saying really 35 ft long or is it 35 feet tall? If so that is a huge buoy. Hopefully I spelled that right.
Kann mann ha sonar inni disse og så prate med ubåter under vann?
If I get the gist of your inquiry, The Coast Guard has the best sonar vessels in the water, It's just not public knowledge.
If thats as bad as it gets, they're gonna be alright. I was expecting something much nastier.
“While the other deckhand leans over the deck and puts his torso between the ship and buoy” = reaching out with a hook from way back on the ship
Mock all you want. That shit could smash you like a bug. It's not like standing on land.
try doing this on a 49 foot boat. i do every week.
I just watched Jaws last night on Netflix and suddenly this shows up in my YT feed the next morning. I swear they're just trolling us now.
. . . beware the cookies, oh, and in this case, the cockles !!!, Cheers.
Just some sea men hard at work
He's right about one thing, cleaning that air tube is a shitty job - been there, done that.
why are these things scary to me..?
Air whistle, eh? And here I thought that buoys still used bells in this day and age.
They do still use bells. There are/were three types of sound devices on buoys. Bell, whistle and horn. The horn was electrically driven from the battery racks. The others were actuated by the motion of the waves. Which was used where depended on it's location in the channel and how near it is to another buoy with the same type of sound device. I served 3 tours on 180 tenders during my 20 year career. I had no problem working that job. I retired in 1982 so there are a lot of changes in that field.
god im on a bouy tender rn and we go underway to work on bouys soon they’re gonna make me crawl up the hole
Rip
Fresh seafood!
18,000lb concrete block?
@badgerattoadhall buoy deck supervisor
Can't make rate? Go Bosun's Mate
'Booey' 🤔
ขั้นตอน
Wish the coast guard would fix some of the buoys on Lake Erie 🤦🏼♂️😂
I was on the Ironwood in Alaska. The ice carries buoys off course. I'm sure those crews work hard to keep those buoys on site. If you think you can do better sign up and prove it.
Lmao relax son. Not talking crap about the job they do, respect the hell out of them.
man id hate to be that rookie.
@screwballz2 dang...thats pretty boring
I wouldn't mind being that rookie.
Same!!
What would happen if they forgot there was someone in it and they put it in the water lol. Will they hear him and stop and all he die lol
I always thought these things were like 3 ft tall lol
lol
what coast guard ratings are these guys?
Some BMs, a few non rates. possibly an MK in the mix.
Badger at Toad Hall E2-E4 seamen and a boatswain mate. Smaller bouy tenders use the whole crew on deck. On a 180’ you wouldn’t get an MK on the bouy deck unless he was just watching
@@christopherbradley4885 Watching or smoking a cigarette. Of course you forgot the DC, no one in their right mind would let a non-rate (Deck Ape) handle a torch!
@@matthewrinehart2367 you are correct I forgot the DC but in fairness we had a few deck apes that used the torches often, DC only got involved when they couldn’t get the job done.
104 people were those unlucky souls
Welcome to another episode of: why is this in my recommending
You say 'boo-ey' I say 'boy'
That horn sound is creepy.
Not creepier than your Profile picture.. :-S
lol
Idk doesn't really seem that bad. I pull up debris and stuff from underwater all the time for my job and clean underneath docks which sucks. I'd rather do this since it's dry
if it was just doing deck work itd be fine but when youre staying up all night for watch and then doing this, it sucks
What effect do those air horns have on wild life?
It makes the whales horney! The Navy sonar blasts their ear drums and they beach themselves. Don't like it join PETA and save the world!
High risk and must be high salary
Same pay as any E-2, E-3 in all the branches of the service. -Former US Coast Guard served on USCGC Sorrel wlb-296 from 91 to 93. I went the engineering route so never dealt with the bouys directly but sure got pissed when they took to long doing what they needed to do and kept us out longer than we should have.
good food
Ha! Dont make me laugh. "Good pay" 20k a year with free food
HAAAHAHAHAHA!!!! you're funny
P A 90-92 on the Woodrush in Sitka, also a snipe!
Wait is this how bouy is pronounced in US English? It's literally just pronounced 'boy' in the U.K.
Episode 251 of why the fuck is this in my recommended.