Nauti Buoy, KuGompo City’s ocean oracle, broke free again.
The R850,000 240kg wave and weather live broadcaster is studied by oceanators from multiple interests and supplies our port crucial oceanographic intel determining port entry and departure decisions for massive ro-ro vehicle carriers and other shipping.
But at “0200” on Sunday, the buoy gave its highly designed moorings and handler, Met engineer Sarel Haasbroek, the slip. The sea was massive — a cut-off low storm inland and huge polar storm to the south sent waves piling on top of each other coming out of the south east.
The wave energy was of the magnitude that pounded hulls to “dangerous” limits, said John Barry, a professional skipper for Southern Cross Cruises at Latimer’s wharf.
“The port was closed on Monday,” said Barry, who recently served as the acting pilot boat operator for Portnet.
Haasbroek, living in Cape Town where he runs a shoal of wave-directional meteorological buoys off all main SA ports for the CSIR’s Stellenbosch offices, jumped to attention. From Sunday to Tuesday he tracked the buoy on high frequency then satellite signal.
“At 5pm on Sunday I could not see it. No GPS. Waves were hammering it.”
“By 11pm, five hours later, “ it started to transmit”.
But the satellite showed the buoy had hooked into the Agulhas current.
Time was passing, signal was breaking up.
Barry suggested to Haasbroek that André de Koning’s On Point charters in the Kowie riverport get out and bring the buoy in.
At first light Nauti Buoy was sited, clipped and towed with skill across the Kowie sandbar to the marina and loaded onto a bakkie bound for repairs in KuGompo’s port.
Haasbroek meanwhile has sourced and set up a smaller buoy which was being couriered east and would be at work soon — in time for the next storm later this week. — Off Track
