Pearl Harbor 



The plastic mooring buoy witli the improved design was installed by 

 Public Works Center, Pearl Harbor as part of a bow and stern mooring for a 

 barge in a reserve area. As such, it receives much less abuse than do the two 

 buoys in San Diego Bay. The buoy is examined quarterly by Public Works 

 Center personnel; it was examined by the NCEL project scientist about 1 year 

 after installation. The buoy at that time had heavy marine fouling, but very 

 little corrosion or other deterioration. Rust streaking from the steel mooring 

 eye and the hardware used to secure the fenders in place was very slight. The 

 outer skin was also relatively free of dirt and yellowing. All in all, the buoy 

 was in excellent condition (Figure 7). 



During inspection of the buoy it was brought to the author's attention 

 that several steel mooring buoys at Pearl Harbor had been coated with alternate 

 layers of fiberglass cloth and mat impregnated with polyester resin similar to the 

 construction of the plastic buoy exposed at this location. Many of these buoys 

 have had extensive yellowing of the white finish coat (Figure 8). A similar 

 yellowing was observed on the exterior of the San Diego spray-up buoy at the 

 time of initial installation. This yellowing appears to be related to degradation 

 of the resin by ultraviolet light and suggests that an ultraviolet light absorber 

 incorporated into the finish coat may be desirable. 



Figure 7. Plastic buoy after 1 year of service at Pearl Harbor. 



