Virginia Saltwater Fishing

The Coast Guard urged residents and mariners to stay off the water Sunday and Monday after Hurricane Irene and to refrain from swimming at local beaches and in tidal rivers.

Tropical storm-force winds and heavy rainfall may have resulted in strong currents, marine debris and hazards to navigation.

Additionally, Coast Guard small boat station crews have returned from the inland staging areas where they deployed to during Hurricane Irene, but some are still surveying their assets. As a result, they will have reduced search and rescue capabilities until their resources are re-established.

Likewise, some Coast Guard aircraft have returned to Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., and are conducting damage assessment overflights. Their search and rescue capabilities may also be diminished.

Hurricane Irene caused considerable disruptions in Virginia. According to the National Weather Service, portions of Virginia received  as much as 16 inches of rain in some spots.

NOAA’s National Weather Service has completed the testing phase for a new 1000-watt NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards transmitter, increasing service to areas that had limited or no coverage along the Virginia and Lower Maryland Eastern Shores. Now life-saving watch and warning services will be available to recreational and commercial mariners navigating the Atlantic coastal waters in this area.

This transmitter will serve Accomack and Northampton Counties in Virginia, including the cities of Wachapreague and Chincoteague. It will also serve Somerset and Worcester Counties in Maryland, including Pocomoke City and the Atlantic coastal waters between Ocean City, Md., and Oyster, Va. The transmitter will broadcast on a frequency of 162.525 MHz, usually Channel 6 on most NOAA Weather Radio receivers.

“NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards is vitally important for both recreational and commercial boaters navigating the Atlantic coastal waters,” said William Sammler, warning coordination meteorologist at the forecast office in Wakefield, Va. “Weather can change quickly and now everyone will be able to keep tuned to the latest forecasts and watches and warnings ? and take appropriate action.”

The new transmitter is located in Mappsville, Va., on a tower owned by Accomack County. Funding for the transmitter was secured by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management using a $59,900 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Utilities Service, and $16,640 from the Department of Homeland Security’s Emergency Management Performance Grant. USDA has awarded 99 grants from its Weather Radio Transmitter Grant Program to extend the coverage of NOAA Weather Radio into rural America.

source: National Weather Service

Crews at the Coast Guard Long Range Aids to Navigation stations, including the six Alaska-based stations, turned off their domestic signal across the nation at 11 a.m. Monday, February 8, 2010.

The shutdown of the signal concludes the broadcast of the U.S. domestic signal. Stations Attu and Shoal Cove, which are bound by bi-lateral agreements with Russia and Canada, will continue to broadcast their international signals until later this year. All the stations will continue to be maintained and manned as the closure of the facilities proceeds over the coming months. Decommissioning dates have yet to be set and plans for the dismantlement of the stations are in development.

Loran-C was originally developed to provide radio-navigation service for U.S. coastal waters and was later expanded to include complete coverage of the continental U.S. as well as most of Alaska. Twenty-four U.S. Loran-C stations work in partnership with Canadian and Russian

stations to provide coverage in Canadian waters and the Bering Sea. The system provided better than 0.25 nautical mile absolute accuracy for within the published areas and provided navigation, location, and timing services for both civil and military air, land and marine users. It was approved as an en route supplemental air navigation system for both Instrument Flight Rule and Visual Flight Rule operations.

The Loran-C system served the 48 continental states, their coastal areas, parts of Alaska and neighboring countries for 67 years, 8 months and 24 days.

source: USCG press release

The Coast Guard Captain of the Port of Hampton Roads advises all local mariners and vessel operators that scheduled repairs to the Gilmerton Lift Bridge fendering system will result in restricted operation October 2 through 12.

The repairs will replace the temporary fenders that have been in place since the tug Steve McAllister allided with the bridge Aug. 13, damaging the west-side fendering system.

The repairs will replace the temporary fendering system which has been in place since the allision.

During the restricted operating times, the drawbridge will open once every two hours, on the hour, which will allow recreational and passenger vessels to pass.

The drawbridge will be opened upon request at any time by piloted vessels, but will require a two-hour advance notification to the drawbridge operator, who can be reached at (757) 545-1512.

Restricted operations are scheduled to occur:

* 8 p.m. Oct. 2 through 5 a.m. Oct. 5
* Oct. 5 through Oct. 8 from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night.
* Oct. 9, 2009 from 8 p.m. through 5 a.m. Oct. 12.

“The replacement is imperative to the support structure of the bridge,” said Lt. Tiffany Duffy, chief of waterways management at Sector Hampton Roads. “Should a vessel allide with the supports, they could cause significant damage to the stability of the bridge.”

source: USCG press release