Spar barrel
A spar buoy denotes a floating shipping sign , the appearance of which over the water is in the form of a spar (thick rod or beam).
Word origin
In the nautical parlance, spar actually refers to any kind of round timber. The part of the name spar was used for mast ends as early as the 18th century . This form of fender with a length of 15 to 20 feet was used in the harbor and on roadstead to prevent accidentally pushing other anchorages or moorings. Mounting on warships in battle should Brander hold. Spars were also called bulkhead constructions, which were shod with triangular iron at the end at 25 to 30 feet in length. They were also attached to barrels or barrels to mark the fairway or to warn of danger spots.
Use, structure, history
At the beginning to the middle of the 19th century, spar barrels were built from wood, which consisted of a wooden barrel modified by the cooper in the form of a conical butt barrel, which was pointed at the lower end and had a lid at the top. A recess was made in the middle of the lid, into which a wooden rod - the spar - was inserted. It protruded about 50 cm from the lower end of the barrel and was provided with a ring-shaped fitting to which the chain and a natural stone were finally attached so that an anchoring on the water or sea bed was possible. Depending on the model, the spar protruded about 3 to 4 meters from the barrel lid.
In 1964, such a wooden spar barrel was accidentally fished by fishermen west of Sylt in the Lister Tief , which could be dated to the year 1860. The buoy has been temporarily stored for about 30 years as a display object in the Wittdün sea sign port in the outer area on Amrum , then restored and is currently on loan at the Husum Maritime Museum.
Around 1875 a special form of the spar barrel was developed on the Weser , which consisted of a slim, cylindrical middle section with long cones tapering at the top and bottom. The upper cone carried a pipe. This variant had Weser example, at a Bremer key tons variant , the key spar with a diameter of 0.85 meters, a length of 13 meters. It had four watertight sections inside and was made of 6 cm thick oak. As a top symbol, it wore a black wickerwork, which was crowned by a golden key, which functioned as the namesake and can still be found on the state coat of arms as a symbol of the city of Bremen . The buoy could be made out over distances of up to 3 nautical miles and reached a height of 6.5 meters above the water level. In the summer were iron versions , in winter wood versions used the key spar.
Spar barrels were widely used after the final meeting of the commission for setting up a uniform buoying system on January 6, 1887. The latter had decided to use the spar barrels as port barrels for lateral buoying.
Since the spars were made very narrow in relation to the buoy, there was no good visibility at sea. To increase this, the barrels were modified so that six to eight curved wooden slats were mounted from the top edge of the lid to the spar. This modified spar barrel shape was then called the beacon barrel .
Around 1900 another special shape was added, the jade spar barrel , the upper truncated cone of which was made so long that a separate spar could be omitted. Apparently this was first used on the jade and then became established in other areas because it was easy to recognize even at long distances.
This barrel shape in particular is still mainly used in fairways in various sizes.
Like all barrels , spar barrels still consist of the parts anchor , chain , float and top mark. Unlike the barrel barrel , they should stand vertically in the water. In addition, there is a spar between the top mark and the float, which is not used with the jade spar barrel.
Since the manufacture of tons is now also subject to modern industrial standards, these days - including the spar - at least in Germany they are predominantly made of metal and no longer of wood, which makes them fundamentally less sensitive to collisions , ice drift and rotting processes .
They are used for the following purposes:
Fairway marking
For this function, a spar buoy in Germany is always a red buoy with straight numbering, which indicates the port side (left, upstream) of the fairway. If there is a spar buoy in the main fairway, it alternates with the light bulbs. Spar buoys are mainly used in mudflat fairways (e.g. the fairways Telegraphenbalje and Otzumer Balje ), as their red color makes them easier to identify even in poor visibility. There is only a one-sided designation, as the fairway is usually too narrow to be able to pour concrete on both sides accordingly. A mudflat fairway marked with spar buoys is to be passed entering on the port side.
At the shallowest fairway points, where even a spar barrel can no longer be used properly due to the lack of water depth, pricks are often used as a replacement for spar barrel.
Danger point marking
When using spar barrels as an individual hazard sign, these barrels are black and have a horizontal red band. They are equipped with two black balls lying on top of one another as a top symbol and in a few cases even labeled with the name of the danger zone. They warn of underwater obstacles of small extent, e.g. B. a single underwater rock, and can be passed from all sides.
But barrels of spar can also warn of shoals and wrecks , which are then set according to the cardinal system. In these cases, the buoys are striped black and yellow across and have special top signs that indicate the direction in which the warning warning was made. These top marks consist of a special arrangement of cones / triangles, which are defined as follows:
- The buoy is immediately north of the wreck site / shoal: both peaks point upwards (on maps, north is usually at the top of the map)
- The buoy is immediately south of the wreck site / shoal: both peaks point downwards (on maps, south is usually at the bottom of the map)
- The buoy is located immediately to the east of the wreck site / shoal: both peaks apart (the cones form a pointed "O" for east)
- The buoy is immediately west of the wreck / shoal: both peaks point towards each other
See also
- Beacon, pointed, stump, barrel and ball bins in the main article shipping signs .
literature
- Gerhard Wiedemann, Johannes Braun, Hans Joachim Haase: The German sea sign system 1850–1990 between sailing and container shipping . Ed .: Gerhard Wiedemann. 1st edition. DSV-Verlag, Hamburg 1998, ISBN 3-88412-275-4 .
- Georg Dietrich von der Groeben : Explanations on understanding shipping and naval warfare according to alphabetical order , published in 1774, Breßlau. Reprint of the original edition: Neufahrn / Percha 1984, ISBN 3-88706-235-3 .
- Meyer's Large Conversation Lexicon 6 . Edition 1905–1909.
- J. J. Isler, Peter Isler: Sailing for Dummies . Special edition. mitp-Verlag, Bonn 2002, ISBN 3-8266-3064-5 .
- Rolf Seedorf: Lighthouses and beacons on the Outer Weser from 1832 to 2005 . Self-published.
Web links
- Example: Spier barrel retrieved on February 8, 2011
- Examples: Shipping signs accessed on February 8, 2011
- Maritime Museum Husum
- Rolf Seedorf: Bremen key bins