Corbin_K

Does anyone know the significance of a hard hat bolted to the side of a channel marker? There is one near my house in Tampa Bay (it is known as the hard hat marker) and I have seen others here and there. I saw one up in Homosassa over the weekend. Just curious.

Jus Teasin

I've never seen that in over 35 years of boating in S. FL.

Mako 234

Never seen a hard hat but there used to be a deer head mounted to the marker outside my creek

dante11

Sounds like sneakers on the powerlines! :p

MattJimm

Its a coast guard tradition. When a member assigned to an Aids to Navigation team, is leaving the unit or transferring, they leave their hard hat on their last Aid they work on.

vulcan

Never seen a hard hat but last Saturday I started seeing the American flag stuck in the grass flats, mud and sand. I’m all for being patriotic but I doubt if the flags are being maintained. I’m sure between the current and tides they are coming loose and sinking or just floating around.

FinReaper069

I live a little north of the OP, but south of Homosassa, and there are two channel markers within a 1/2 mile of my house that have hard hats on them....maybe it’s a regional thing?

bryan28

I like this explanation. In the Army we'd tie our combat boots together and toss them onto a powerline when we'd end service.

Corbin_K

That makes sense, I thought it was something along those lines. I appreciate your response.

loose_cannon

That's the answer! A call to the CGC Vise at the St Pete CG moorings with the location of the marker might yield a name.

Jehovah jirah

What he said , spot on!

TTaxi

I like it , but suspect it is a very local or regionalized tradition as I've never seen or heard of that anywhere up here in the NE . Good thing he didn't have to leave his head like Mako's disembodied deer who apparently succumbed to somebody's concept of "the buck stops here."

"Bambi right returning" ???

PeterDE

It's probably a local ship or station tradition. I spent 20 years in the Coast Guard and another 14 as a civilian Coast Guard engineer and never heard of that. However, there are lots of units that have their own traditions. ON one ship I was on it was the mascot, a dog, was always named Sinbad. Went all the way back to WWII. Check with whoever services those Aids. If that's the CGC Vise give them a call.

FlyingTexan

that means drug dealing for that house. Unless there’s a boat parked at the market not sure how that would work

GaryDoug

I served in the CG. That's the reason although it is not condoned officially or encouraged. Sometimes it is an enlisted's cap or officer's cap. Definitely local in scope. I saw two fastened to the Verrazzano bridge one night on duty and asked about them.