Oh, buoy! Coast Guard to tow popular, washed-up buoy at Wells Beach back out to sea

WELLS, Maine — For almost two weeks now, a buoy has been lodged into the sands of Wells Beach like a commanding piece of pop art. Next week, it is slated to leave the shore behind and return to sea.

Estimated at around 8,000 pounds, the buoy washed ashore earlier this month when the most recent storm to hit the Seacoast whipped up the ocean, unchained it, and sent it adrift, according to Wells Harbor Master Michael Yorke.

“It took a while for it to drift in,” Yorke said on April 18.

Yorke said he learned about the buoy when someone called him and alerted him that it had washed up near the jetty on the Atlantic Avenue side of the beach. Yorke said the buoy, a navigational tool marking the entrance to Wells Harbor, usually floats between half and three-quarters of a mile beyond the jetties.

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The buoy belongs to the United States Coast Guard, which is scheduled to tow it back out to sea with a 175-foot buoy tender this Monday, April 22, according to Yorke.

Yorke said he urges the public not to gather near the buoy on the beach when the Coast Guard comes to take it away. He said there will be police at the scene to ensure safety.

“We just don’t want crowds down there when they come to take it,” he said. “It can be a dangerous operation.”

The buoy, a large, red, and white structure resting at a tilt, has attracted crowds in recent days. Pictures of people posing next to the imposing object have been a staple on the Wells-themed community pages on Facebook.

The buoy also has served as a sight gag, as some people on social media have posted pictures of it with assorted images photoshopped into the shot. One individual, for example, posted a picture of the buoy and inserted into the shot the comical, famous image of Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, seated and bundled up in winter clothing, including those mittens, on Inauguration Day in 2021.

Leah St. Onge of Wells took her two sons, Arlo and Levi, to see the buoy on April 18. With local students on vacation this week, the two boys were not the only youngsters at the scene late that morning.

“We had to come see it,” St. Onge said. “It’s bigger than I thought it was going to be. It’s huge.”

On April 18, a few people reached between the buoy’s bars and rang its bell, which produced loud, echoing gongs. Indeed, while the buoy is technically called a safe water buoy, its nickname is “the bell buoy,” Yorke said.

Others stood next to the buoy and posed for pictures. The bottom part of the buoy, painted black, had signatures and other writings on it.

Yorke said he was surprised to see the buoy become an attraction and had words of caution for those who visit the washed-up structure between now and when it is returned to sea this Monday.

“The best advice that I can give is to keep away from it,” he said. “Take your pictures but keep away. I’d rather that people don’t climb on it.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Oh, buoy! Coast Guard to tow washed-up buoy at Wells Beach back to sea