Buoyant at last

You don’t have to spend a lot of time talking to Washington State Parks employees about the state of marine parks before the conversation drifts to the many mooring buoys that have failed.

There’s a moment of silence, followed by a deep sigh. You soon realize it is a deeply sensitive topic among parks officials.

Whether it’s covid or manpower shortages to blame, runaway mooring buoys are a source of frustration, especially among the officials who are responsible for maintaining service for boaters.

Now there’s some good news. Washington State Parks is set to begin a months-long maintenance project to repair the many mooring buoys which have broken free or just failed in both the San Juan Islands and on the eastern Olympic Peninsula.

The work to repair 82 buoys gets underway tomorrow (May 2) in the San Juan Islands and on June 1 on Olympic Peninsula parks.

In addition, state parks has entered into a five-year contract with Jen Jay, a commercial diving and environmental consulting company, to provide periodic inspection of buoys. The public has also been asked to report buoy damage promptly by emailing infocent@parks.wa.gov or by calling 360-902-8844.