South Haven Steelheaders Sport Fishing Assoc.

The 2024 Grand Haven-Holland weather buoy, deployed near Port Sheldon, w is 100% supported by contributions from businesses, organizations, and individual boaters. We receive no funds from the federal or state government (there are simply no programs yet that cover the Great Lakes to support maintenance). YOUR contribution is needed now to ensure the buoy will return in 2024!

ALL donations will go directly to the South Haven Steelheaders Assocation, who are working closely with the Holland Steelheaders to support the buoy. Funds go to a Michigan company, LimnoTech, who works year-round to maintain the buoys and keep data flowing 24/7 during the boating season.

If you donate more than $500, you/your business can choose to have their logo/name displayed on the buoy page website! The website receives hundreds of thousands of hits each season from boaters and fishermen!! Please email Brad Stephenson (brad.stephenson32 at gmail dot com) for more information about becoming a sponsor.

The buoy provides up-to-date lake conditions to weather forecasters, search and rescue personnel, and thousands of boaters and fishermen throughout the boating season. Observations of wind speed, wave height, and water temperature were requested over 900,000 times in 2023 from almost 35,000 unique visitors, making it the most popular buoy in the Great Lakes. The buoy’s webcam also streamed high-quality images and video to the web, showing exactly what conditions were like on the water. Your contribution will fund the annual maintenance of the buoy, replacement of sensitive marine instruments, and technicians to keep the buoy fully operational from April to October.

How to get data from the buoy (during the boating season), which is deployed 3.5 miles offshore of Port Sheldon in 90ft of water.

The 2024 South Haven Weather Buoy project is supported ENTIRELY by contributions from local government, businesses, organizations, and individual boaters (like you!). The buoy provides South Haven boaters with FREE access to wave height, wind speed, water temperature, and webcam images from April through October. Observations from the buoy were requested over 510,000 times in 2023! That's almost once every 30 seconds for six months straight. This buoy is one of the most popular in the entire Great Lakes and it needs YOUR support NOW!

The buoy was originally paid for by a grant from NOAA in 2014, but local funds are needed to keep it running year after year. LimnoTech, based in Ann Arbor, is responsible for maintaining the buoy. They provide all of the technical skills and know how to keep the buoy operational. LimnoTech maintains buoys across the Great Lakes in Cleveland, Toledo, and several others on Lake Michigan.

Donations to this campaign will go directly to the South Haven Steelheaders Sport Fishing Association (EIN 82-3922278), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The fishing club has been an integral part to bringing the buoy to South Haven in 2014 and works closely with others in the region to keep it here. Please join them in supporting this campaign. The club will disperse funds to keep the buoy running, this includes paying for the replacement of damaged sensors, cellular data plans, engineering support to check the buoy over in the off season. Your individual contributions are crucial to meeting our goal for the year. If we fall short then we risk not being able to deploy the buoy.

PLEASE consider how much you personally rely on data from the buoy during the season. Even if you don't use it that much, know that folks from the National Weather Service, US Coast Guard, Van Buren County Sheriff use data from buoy daily during the boating season. The buoy is critical during search and rescue operations AND for forecasting Lake Michigan squalls and dangerous rip currents.

Reach out to the Steelheaders to learn more about how to sponsor this buoy shsportfishingassociation at g mail dot com

How to get data from the buoy: