Buoys between Bear and Pine
 

There used to be a set of buoys, one black and one red, off of Bear by the mail dock marking a shallow spot for large vessels like the Mount (one was not supposed to go between them). Now the black has been replaced with a red top. Anyone know if this is a mistake or was it done on purpose to move traffic farther off Pine and force all to go through the full no wake zone? I used to see many boaters "cutting" the no wake zone there by slowing down very briefly by the buoy off Pine and quickly speeding up rather than go through the full no wake zone which one would have to do now if following the new set of buoys correctly. This is especially true of the Three Mile and Nokomis/Lawrence boats as well as those headed to Browns and Y-Landing.

The ice did that over the winter. It's marked wrong.

There is a red tip marker missing near Pine Is. It may have been moved on purpose, or by the ice, out to near where the black tip marker was.

The black one is definitely gone.

Both those markers ended up 1500 feet south of their original location. The marine patrol was called early in May and told of their location. They came out and moved the red one back to it's current incorrect location and left the black one 200 feet off shore 1500 feet south of the mail dock. Last week they untangled the anchor on the black one and took it away without replacing it in front of the mail dock. Think Bizer needs to find out if this is to be the new configuration or if it will return to what the chart shows.

I noticed the same last week. Understanding from this thread that the markers are now incorrect, I hope marine patrol addresses correcting the markers as a priority.
As a new boater to the area several years ago, I misunderstood the black/red marker configuration off of Bear by the mail dock and found myself lucky to avoid striking some rocks there. Someone new to the area, especially without the aid of correctly placed markers, may be in for a surprise.

The black marker was mainly for the mount as the water level in the fall brings the rocks within the mounts draft. The ones closest to Pine are the only ones the average size boat needs to worry about. Most local people come into the no wake zone at the Northwest marker, cross the 10 yard diagonal of the no wake square and power up turning west of the red bouy to the south. If you head for the middle of the opening between Bear and Pine either from the north or south you will be fine as long as you travel on a line Northeast or Southwest.

Thanks! I was thinking it was a mistake. We'll see if things get changed back to the way it has always been!

Phantom passes out crayons so all can draw on the map :laugh: :laugh:

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The spar buoy arrangement between Bear and Pine, either in last year's configuration or as the buoys are set now, do not "force all to go through the full no wake zone." There is nothing wrong with cutting close on the inside of the northwest corner of the no wake zone, as long as the boat is slowed to no wake speed while in the zone as defined by the four no wake buoys.

Just checking in to see if anyone knows if the buoys between Bear and Pine are now permanent. The black buoy is gone and a red buoy in its place.

Unless you're driving the M/V Mt. Washington, or perhaps the Sophie C. or Doris E., it really shouldn't matter.

Idiot Pilot
 

We came through this locatiion earlier this week. A large pontoon boat roared through this area on plane. Not sure if he saw us. I expressed my displeasure at his thoughtless navigating. 😡