WILMINGTON, N.C. – Coast Guard Sector North Carolina personnel temporarily removed the aids to navigation from Lockwoods Folly Inlet this week due to severe shoaling in the waterway.
Shoaling conditions in the area were exacerbated in late August by Hurricane Irene. Depths of less than three feet exist in many areas of Lockwoods Folly Inlet, less than the congressionally authorized federal navigation depth for this inlet.
Sector North Carolina personnel dispatched the Coast Guard Cutter Bayberry crew to remove the buoys because channel depths are not adequate to sustain safe navigation. The Coast Guard has issued a notice to mariners via marine radio to inform boaters that aids to navigation in Lockwoods Folly Inlet were removed and urge mariners to use alternate channels to access the Atlantic Ocean.
The Coast Guard plans to replace the navigational buoys when channel conditions improve and traffic can safely transit through the inlet.