A Visit on the 'Keeper of the Bay' - the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin

It was well below freezing in Baltimore Friday morning. Ice was visible on water and on land. At the Coast Guard Yard, there was one last buoy to tend to for the season.

The U. S. Coast Guard Cutter James Rankin is a buoy tender, home ported at The Yard. Its nickname is the Keeper of the Bay. This 175-foot ship and its 24 member crew is responsible for maintaining 390 navigational aids along the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

WNAV's Donna Cole was allowed aboard to see that last buoy of the season be tended to.

[Muddywatersist]

Very little deck storage space compared to the barge pushing river tenders.

[jacobkatzenberg]

I can't wait till they have to rename the buoy because Francis Scott Key is deemed a racist

[robg]

Any real leader would have let his crew members do the narration.

[milazzo]

You don't lift a buoy link like that with a strap. It's too much weight on a small area of the strap. A shackle to cable would have been the correct way to rig that.