Buoy Ops Aboard CGC PATOKA

  Here is a few videos I took on a recent underway trip.  The first video is of us picking up a buoy and bringing it on board.  I will outline as best as I can what is happening at each step so you can have a better understanding of what is happening.
1. Lasso the buoy with a half inch steel cable lasso.
2. Wrap the tail end of the lasso around the capstan (The big metal post with horns in the middle of the deck)  and pull the buoy on board.
3. Attach the safety chain.
4. Flip the buoy over to get to where the cable is attaching the buoy to the "rock", the 1,500 lb. piece of concrete we use as an anchor.
5. Use a rock hammer to pull the safety pin and disconnect the cable from the buoy.
6. Wrap the cable around the capstan and use it to pull the rock on board.

Now here is a video of us setting the same buoy a few minutes later in a different location.
1. Slide the buoy out to its balance point so it will easily go overboard.
2. Throw the coil of cable connecting the buoy to the rock overboard.
3. Slide two 6 foot pry bars under the rock.
4. Have two people lift up on the pry bars to dump the rock overboard.
5. Push the buoy overboard.