When are buoys typically checked for compliance?

Buoys are typically checked for compliance after major seasonal changes because significant shifts in weather, tides, and environmental conditions can impact their position, visibility, and functionality. Major seasonal changes, such as the transition from winter to spring or summer to fall, may affect navigational hazards, water levels, and other factors critical for safe maritime navigation. This periodic assessment ensures that buoys remain effective aids to navigation, accurately marking channels, hazards, and other important points for mariners.

While frequent checks might seem beneficial, they are not practical or necessary; hence compliance checks are not conducted weekly, daily, or every few years as routine practices. Instead, focusing on seasonal changes allows for comprehensive evaluations when conditions are likely to have altered significantly, thus maintaining the buoys’ reliability for safe navigation.