We must save Santa Cruz’s iconic Mile Buoy 

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“… now at 2 a.m. the fog has fallen, and the great roaring whistle calls up the distant answering notes all around us. Shall we, or shall we not find the buoy?”

— Robert Louis Stevenson, “Memoir of Fleming Jenkin,” 1896

Walton Lighthouse, Mark Abbott Memorial Lighthouse and Mile Buoy. 

These are iconic fixtures that remind us of our unique status as a community at the edge of Monterey Bay, a place that hosts the Santa Cruz Harbor, a port of refuge for those who transit the sea.

But they also have a practical purpose. These landmarks also help protect the safety of oceangoing vessels and their crews and passengers, and are tools for their navigation.

Mile Buoy has, according to the late Santa Cruz Harbor historian Ed Larson, stood in its place 1 mile south of the municipal wharf since 1900. Sometimes at night, residents can hear its low, bellowing sound. Boaters have used Mile Buoy for safe passage since the creation of the Santa Cruz Harbor in 1964. 

But those days are coming to an end, unless you and others make your voices heard.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s Feb. 28 Notice to Mariners contains a passage with a proposal to remove the buoy and replace it with a virtual pin on a map. 

Rep. Jimmy Panetta is working to keep it, and the Santa Cruz City Council is slated to take action this Tuesday and the county board of supervisors in the coming weeks. But the U.S. Coast Guard also needs to hear from the public. It needs to know we care about our buoy, the role it plays in our community and that a point on a map won’t serve our needs. 

Why not? 

For one, many oceangoing vessels don’t have GPS, or don’t have other electronic devices that can access maps.

Mile Buoy aids the many rental boats without GPS, a map or radio and piloted by people who are operating a vessel for the first time. Kayakers are closer to the water than boaters are and might not be able to see other navigational aids at a distance, so the buoy provides another available fixed point.

The buoy denotes a safe path to port. Boaters steer toward it first before heading for the harbor.

Sitting atop more than 60 feet of water, it’s a “safe water” mark and it has the official red and white vertical stripes to prove it. At night it can also be seen because of its flashing light.

The buoy is visible from shore, providing a reference point for emergency responders and others reporting distressed vessels, such as paddlers. A person can’t “dead reckon,” or calculate position, or otherwise sight something using a buoy that exists only as a point on an electronic map.

O’Neill Sea Odyssey, the free, oceangoing science program for mostly lower-income-serving elementary schools, uses the buoy as part of its curriculum to teach mathematics using the ancient art of navigation. Also, the UC Santa Cruz and Santa Cruz Yacht Club sailing programs rely on the buoy to define where students sail.

And in recent years, as storms and large swells increase with climate change, the buoy has remained a sentinel. Mile Buoy also has history. It’s part of our landscape.

It has faced threats before – and the voices of citizens prevailed, and we can do it again.

Just over 10  years ago, the U.S. Coast Guard had a similar replacement plan in mind for the buoy. But the community – including kayakers and boaters and community members – complained and then-Rep. Sam Farr pushed to keep it. The Coast Guard then agreed to table the discussion – until now. The pause is apparently set to expire. 

That’s why we need public support.

The increasing intensity of storms will continue. This will make Mile Buoy, with its ability to guide mariners with its red and white coloring and the sound that it creates which increases with the intensity of wave action, even more crucial. 

The low, bellowing whistle you can sometimes hear at night is enjoyable to many, the sound of home. It provides comfort in calm seas, and in stormy times.

That’s why it’s important to keep Mile Buoy. To help, the public can call 510-437-2983 or submit letters here by April 3.

In good times and bad, we often look for our north star to guide us. Mile Buoy is one, guiding ocean goers safely to our harbor, and home. We can’t let it disappear.