Port Huron Times Herald
Spring Restore, an annual U.S. Coast Guard operation where the winter buoys are swapped with their summertime counterparts, is drawing to a close.
Kyle Sutschek, executive officer aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Hollyhock, said the buoy season has been going well for the ship and its crew.
Throughout the spring, Hollyhock s crew has been completing work on lakes and waterways throughout the Midwest. This week, the ship and its crew will end the season by completing work near Ashtabula, Ohio, Erie, Pennsylvania and Buffalo, New York.
Why are the buoys swapped?
When the locks in the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway system reopen for the year, the buoy tending season begins. It is around this time of year that the lakes and waterways will see a large increase in commercial and recreational traffic, Sutschek said.