Other aids to navigation include floating buoys and beacons.

That will play into our analysis of where, when and what we provide for the users.” “That’s why we do the cyclical reviews, we look at traffic patterns and the size of the vessels, the number of vessels that are transiting certain areas. “We continually strive to ensure that the aids to navigation meet the needs of our mariners and promote safe and efficient movement of the vessels,” she said. Evans said they would also be looking at other navigational aids on the coast. “The sound patterns to vary with the different horns, but they typically use low frequency so the sound will travel further,” she said.įoghorns - of which there are three in the area: Cape Mudge, Chatham Point and Pulteney Point near Port McNeill - are only part of the ongoing review.

Evans said that fog can even reflect sound backwards, so lower frequencies are preferred. The sound of fog horns have to meet certain parameters to cut through the fog that surrounds the island. “We have heard that some people would like us to go back to the old horns, but unfortunately that’s not a feasible option for us.” They’re set for when visibility is less than two nautical miles, and they automatically go off,” said Glenna Evans, regional superintendent for the aids to navigation and waterways program. Technology is such that we went and moved to the electronic horn. “The old diaphone air horn had that low noise. However, as part of their five-year cyclical review of navigational aids up and down the coast they want to hear from locals for their opinions on the matter. The Coast Guard switched to a cheaper electronic horn in the late 1990s. The main reason is that the classic fog horn sound actually requires a machine the size of a building. 'It would be chaos.The Canadian Coast Guard wants feedback on the Cape Mudge foghorn, but won’t be going back to the classic long low sound of the old days. Can you imagine if every single land-based buoy or navigational aid had a fog signal?' Willoz-Egnor said, laughing. “They just don’t need fog signals as much. Steamboat companies also operated sirens and bells at Willoughby Spit Ferry Light in Norfolk and Old Point Comfort wharf in Hampton. The Craney Island Light rang a bell from 1820 to 1934. The Old Point Comfort Light at Fort Monroe in Hampton had a bell that rang every 10 seconds around that time. The current light list and navigational charts don’t include the privately-owned lighthouse as having one, though.Īs of 1966, the Thimble Shoals Light, located about 3.25 miles southeast of Buckroe, had a horn that blasted every 20 seconds. Willoz-Engor found sources that suggested that the Newport News Middle Ground Light, located next to the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, had a seasonal fog signal that made one stroke ever 15 seconds at one point. There used to be more, though thanks to improvements in navigational technology like GPS they’re not as necessary. It has a siren that makes a five-second blast every 15 seconds when visibility is poor. Pier IX Terminal, the coal terminal located in downtown Newport News, is over nine miles away.

Fog horn sound