Flotilla 10-05 in District 5SR
NOAA has been most informative this past year and is determined to help people with improved weather forecasting. To this end they have made considerable data available to various organizations. In an effort to better communicate this data I have created this page and added various links that should be helpful to boaters. This page contains those links for your use.
One of the major concerns boaters and forecasters have is the destruction of the Frying Pan Tower. This tower has been condemned, as most of you know, and the recording instrumentation is not being kept up to date. The tower is scheduled for destruction in early fall and will be replaced with a 3 meter buoy. The new buoy will be located approximately 1 mile SE of the current tower and should be in operation in August 2003. This new buoy will be able to record wave height as will as other data making the forecasting more real. When the tower is removed it will be dropped where it is and become an artificial reef for fishing. When in place you will be able to access data thru the national buoy data center listed below. The buoy will be number41013.
A buoy has been placed at Diamond Shoals. This buoy is number 41025 and is a 3 meter buoy also. This tower is also slated for removal as soon as possible. This tower will be dismantled and removed. It cannot be dropped where it is because it would cause a problem with commercial fishing boats. The buoy replacement depends on the cost of the removal of Frying Pan Shoals Tower.
Weather, Tides, Charts and Buoy Web Sites:
Other marine sites in the area Southport Wilmington National Weather Service - Marine Forecasts - US locator National Weather Service - Marine Forecast - SE NC National Weather Service - Coastal Water Forecast
Tide and current predictor - all locations Fort Caswell Holden Beach Lockwood Folly Inlet Shallotte Inlet Southport Wilmington Tide Tables
Charts and other information
Chart No. 1 (Downloadable) Coast Pilot Notice to Mariners (NTM) Local Notices to Mariners (LNM) (District 5) Current Light Lists Light List Summary of Corrections
Buoy information
National Data Buoy CenterDial a Buoy 228-688-1958
These are only a few of the sites available. As we find more that will be helpful to boaters in our region we will add them to the page.