Welcome to Aids to Navigation (ANT) Team Moriches
Draw a line from the easternmost areas of Long Island and travel westward, you'll pass through bodies of water such as Gardners Bay, Peconic Bay, Shelter Island Sound, Great South Bay, Hempstead Bay, etc.
These locations and numerous others are familiar to the members of the Aids to Navigation Team Moriches (ANT Moriches). Within their AOR, ANT Moriches personnel are responsible for 386 aids to navigation.
A detached unit under the direction of COTP Long Island Sound, it traces its origin back to February 1988. Formed by the combining of the AtoN's located at Station Shinnecock and Station Fire Island, ANT Moriches is commanded by a BMC (Chief Boswains Mate).
The chief and the 12 other members of the team, BM's, MK's, EM, and non-rates work fulltime to keep the 386 aids, which includes lighthouses, day beacons, lights and buoys, operating. Their motto" Where prudent mariners fear to go", has been loosely translated by the team to mean "We run aground so you don't have to."
Maintaining ATON's requires changing buoys as the inlet channel shifts. Of particular importance is the East Rockaway Inlet. Here vessels carrying fuel oil rely upon the proper positioning of Buoys as they transit the area.
ANT Moriches works closely with the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps does the surveys to help realign inlets. Corps budget restraints prevent some dredging of the inlets which in turn requires more buoy movements. As a consequence, the team constantly must reposition the buoys of Shinnecock, Fire Island, Jones, and East Rockaway inlets. (Moriches Inlet is considered a hazardous navigation area; as such it does not have buoys. Lights on the outer jetties frame the opening of the inlet.)
In order to maintain the 386 aids, the team has at its disposal three boats.
The 49' BUSL, Buoy Utility Stern Loading, sets and removes many of the larger buoys.
The 45" BUSL, CG 45306, a bow loading buoy boat, was built in 1956 making it the oldest operational boat in the Coast Guard. Together with the 49' BUSL, they are used to accomplish the ‘lions share' of the ANT work.
The newest addition, a 26' TANB, Trailerable Aids to Navigation Boat, built in 2006, gives the team the flexibility it needs to respond quickly to isolated incidents as they occur. Response time for repairs has considerably been reduced due to the mobility of this boat.
Also included in their response ‘tool bag' are GV's. Some aids, such as lighthouses and jetty lights are serviceable from shore. Servicing these aids is mainly the responsibility of the units lone EM. Many of these lights are relatively simple to service as they have been upgraded from lense/lamp combinations to LED's and similar systems.
When not involved with the numerous aids, the team is involved with the local community. Marching in parades, and assisting schools and service organizations has also become an integral part of the team's support in local, non-Coast Guard activities.