BUOY, or BOY, boi (OF. boye, fetter, chain, Lat. Wit, leather collar, Gk. 13 Oemc, bocios, of oxhide, from poi.c, bous, ox: alluding to its tieing fastened by a chain). A floating body intended as a mark for the Ihnits of a chan nel. the position of a shoal. rock, wreck, or the like. It is made either of wood or metal. Buoys are moored by chains to heavy anehors or weights. It is the eustom in northern latitudes. where more or less ice is expected in the winter sea son, to replace the hollow metal buoys by wood en spar buoys until the ice has disappeared, as there is less danger of the spar being swept away or damaged. Buoys are of different kinds and shapes, according to the purposes they are intended to serve—as buoys, made of sheet iron, in the form of a cylinder, with a hemi spherical ha se; spar buoys, made of a wooden spar or log whieb is anchored at one end; nun 1,noug, which are conical above water; belt buoys, surmounted by a bell which is rung by the action of the waves (there is no clapper, but iron halls roll about on a plate under the bell's mouth, and striking against the inner surface of the bell, make a noise that can be heard at a considerable distance) ; and whistling thin important channels, thus permitting the safe entrance and exit of vessels at night. They are provided with a reservoir of compressed illu minating gas under a pressure of 150 to ISO pounds per square inch, which is sufficient to last from S5 days to a year, according to the size of the buoy and the degree of compression of the gas. The cost is estimated at less than seven cents per day (the light is not extin guished night or day) and the reservoir may be filled in a few minutes by means of a hose buoys, which are fitted with an apparatus by which air compressed by the movements of the waves is made to escape through a whistle, and so gave warning of danger. Cages or shapes are sometimes put on buoys as further marks of dis tinction.
In the States the following system of placing buoys as aids to navigation is prescribed by law: Red buoys mark the starboard or right hand side of a channel when coming from sea ward. and black the port or left-hand side; mid-channel dangers and obstructions are marked with danger buoys, having black and red trans verse stripes, and mid-channel buoys marking the fairway have longitudinal black and white stripes: and wreck buoys marking sunken wrecks are painted green; buoys marking anchorage limits or (lumping limits are painted white. The
quarantine buoy. if there be one, is painted yel low. The starboard and port buoys are num bered from the seaward end of the channel in large white or black numbers, odd white num bers on the black buoys, and even black num bers on the red. The life buoy now in common use in the navy consists of a hollow copper ring having on each side a long tube swinging freely on a pivot and weighted so as to keep in a vertical position. In the bulb at the bottom there is a burning composition which takes fire upon contact with the water, the gas burning at the top of the tuhe with a bright flame which can be seen at a eonsiderahle distance at night. This machine is hung over the side of the vessel near the stern, and is dropped by means of a trigger.
An anchor buoy is a small metal buoy made fast to the anchor by means of a rope, and it is used to mark the position of the anchor, so that should the riding-chain (the chain the ship hangs by) part, the whereabouts of the anchor is still indicated by the buoy, and it may be re covered. Gas buoys are used for marking cer leading from the gas - tanks of the supply steamer or buoy-tender. The body of the buoy is sullieiently large to give proper buoyancy, and is held upright by a centre weight at the bottom. ()it top of it there is a wrought-iron tower, about ff feet high, upon which is mounted a rresnel lens lantern, which is protected by a wire cage. A filling, valve and a regulating valve are provided. The lanterns may be so made as to give flashes of different duration or of different colors. They may be seen from 6 to S miles. Electrically lighted buoys have been used in United States harbors since 1585. They have replaced gas buoys in certain localities, particularly when there is much floating ice, for the electric lights may be placed on the ends of spars designed specially for winter ser vice. The cables require protection or armor ing, but if properly equipped electric buoys give good results.