Harbormaster, Boaters Oppose Coast Guard Plan To Pull Navigational Buoys From Nantucket Waters

Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey and island boaters are raising concerns about a U.S. Coast Guard plan to discontinue hundreds of navigational buoys in the northeast, including several in the waters surrounding the island.

The Coast Guard maintains more than 5,600 aids to navigation, but in an effort to "advance a modern approach," 350 in the northeast have been targeted to be discontinued. Among those are several navigational buoys around the island, including the NB buoy outside of the Nantucket Harbor channel, the Cross Rip Shoal buoy, the Tuckernuck Shoal buoy #3, the Muskeget Channel buoy, and the Point Rip buoy #11 at Great Point. 

"The current buoy constellation predates global navigation satellite systems, electronic navigation charts and electronic charting systems (ECS), which are widely used by today’s mariners," the Coast Guard stated in its announcement of the proposed changes. "This long-term effort is designed to determine the most sustainable navigational risk reduction tools to support and complement mariners, ECS and smartphone navigation apps that are more widely available and affordable. Regardless of technological advances, a robust physical aids to navigation network will always complement electronic systems."

But Lucey said the Nantucket Harbormaster's office will be submitting a formal objection to the Coast Guard regarding six buoys around Nantucket that are among those targeted for discontinuance.

"I’m going to request that they don’t discontinue any of them," Lucey told the Current. "I think each of them has significant value to the boaters in and around Nantucket. We get such a wide range of boaters and boating experience, and the types of vessels we get. We have small recreational boats without any GPS at all that rely on their compass and getting to the NB buoy to realize they’re at the top of the channel. So I think we want to keep everything we have in place."

Lucey is encouraging Nantucket boaters to submit comments to the Coast Guard ahead of its deadline on June 13, 2025. Feedback can be sent to D01-SMB-DPWPublicComments@uscg.mil.

"I would say these aids to navigation are highly critical," Lucey added. "We get everything from a 13-foot whaler to a megayacht to commercial ferries to ferries carrying hazardous materials."

And Lucey isn't the only one on Nantucket raising concerns about the Coast Guard's plan. Several island charter boat captains who spoke with the Current about the proposal shared her assessment of the possibility of losing the navigational buoys around Nantucket.

"I get that maintenance on them is a pain - we’ve seen a few wash up here - then the expense to get them back on station is more than likely an inflated government expense," said Capt. Jay Starr, of Starrfish Charters. "However, electronics and GPS are wonderful, except when one of a million things happen, such as steaming out on a moonless night and someone trips the breaker to your GPS. Now you have nothing, and it takes a couple minutes to reboot. That really sucks, and you were just about to make a turn in a critical channel. If that lighted maker was there, you still could navigate. If it’s gone, there’s a huge risk of running aground or hitting what that marker was telling you to do, stay to port, starboard, or indicating rocks or shoal."

Capt. Carl Bois, of Topspin Fishing, agreed.

"I’m not thrilled about it," Bois said of the Coast Guard proposal. "There are some nav aids that may not be of all that much importance. However, there are quite a few on that list. That certainly will cause a lot of problems if removed. Woods Hole is a great example. I would like to see the NB buoy stay for Nantucket. The NB buoy lines up with the day markers on Brant point at 180 degrees down the middle of the channel to enter the harbor. Also with lighting to align at night. I still use them as a reference every time departing and entering the harbor, so I’m not just counting on my plotter."

The Steamship Authority is still reviewing the Coast Guard's plan and gathering input before taking an official position, according to SSA communication director Sean Driscoll, and Hy-Line Cruises president Murray Scudder said his boat line is in the same position, although he emphasized that his initial impression is that the Hy-Line was not concerned with the proposed changes.

"At this point, we do not have concern over the proposed discontinuation of buoys in our area," Scudder said. "We have circulated the information to all our captains and will pass along any comments they have prior to the close of the comment period later in June."

In its statement released to the public, the Coast Guard emphasized four key goals of the proposed buoy changes:

• Support the navigational needs of the 21st century

• Deliver efficient and economical service to manage vessel transit at an acceptable level of risk

• Better maintain the most critical risk-reducing buoys

• Reduce the risk of aids to navigation discrepancies and electronic system failures for those aids most critical to safe navigation

“The proposal aims to support waterway safety by ensuring the right short-range aids work well with modern navigation technology," said Matthew Stuck, the First Coast Guard District’s chief of waterways management. "Public comment about specific buoy use is essential. A sustainable buoy system ensures safety and efficiency, even during disruptions or technology failures, keeping commerce flowing smoothly. In the First Coast Guard District, the 350 buoys proposed for discontinuation represent about 6 percent of the 5,640 federally-maintained aids to navigation.

“We’re actively adjusting short-range aids to work better and more sustainably given today’s navigation tools and methods,” Stuck added. “As part of this effort, the First Coast Guard District has assessed AtoN system modernization options over the last two years. Identifying buoys with the highest navigational significance and those providing less navigational value established the baseline to engage the public for feedback on this proposal.”

Several navigational buoys around Nantucket have broken free from their moorings in recent years before washing up on the island. The retrieval operations have involved Army National Guard units and the Coast Guard, featuring Chinook helicopters to remove the buoys from the beaches and large Coast Guard buoy tenders to return them to their original location.