I was walking with friends on Benson Beach in Cape Disappointment State Park last week when we spied a red object slowly turning in the surf a mile or so north. I soon realized it was escape-artist Buoy 8 bobbing in the waves.

Buoys — pronounced “boys” by really wired-in Northwesterners — are one of those things that seem to stir stronger than natural feelings. Like the deep, deep bass foghorns that sometimes rumble across the Lower Columbia estuary, buoys evoke a certain sense of maritime romance — of saltwater and oceanic adventures.

Buoy 8 is an especially wayward member of the tribe, having last gone walkabout almost exactly seven years ago, wandering north on the current from its station at the entrance of the Columbia’s navigation channel. For vessels traveling up the coast from the south, it is in effect the signpost marking the intersection of ocean and river.

Back in March 2016 when Buoy 8 last made an escape and ended up near the mouth of Willapa Bay, the U.S. Coast Guard playfully noted, “you may be catching some odd sounds coming from the beach, some of which resemble that of a dying cow. Don’t fret, it’s just a friendly 8-foot whistle buoy that washed ashore and is generating sounds as the waves push into its tubes. While the #USCG is currently coordinating the recovery of the buoy hull, we take a moment to relish in the twang of ATON [Aids to Navigation] culture as this little lost buoy plays you the song of its people.”

The mournful whistling can be heard at least a mile away and is an aid to mariners lost in the thick fog that often blankets the mouth of the Columbia — infamously among the foggiest places in the United States. Violent surf and salt eating away at anchor chains occasionally allow the buoys to make a run for it.

On a subsequent walk, I learned from park rangers when the USCG Aids to Navigation team planned to come retrieve their lost lamb. Observer photographer/reporter Luke Whittaker was on hand to record the operation; we’ll have his coverage in the March 15 edition.

We love being your eyes and ears at all the uniquely local events here on this fabled coast. Maintaining buoys is both quirky and genuinely important. I hope you’ll enjoy our coverage.

Thanks again for supporting the Chinook Observer, which remains healthy and alive because of your engagement with us.