La Bouée de Floride

Erwan Elliot-Saudrais and some friends were enjoying a leisurely boat ride in late May when they spotted a bright yellow object on the coast of Perros-Guirec, a resort town in northwest France. They couldn’t get close because of the waves and sharp rocks, but through phone calls and internet searches, they quickly learned that local authorities had tried, unsuccessfully, to dislodge what looked like an oversized spinning top but was in fact a boundary buoy. The group also discovered the floating device’s unlikely provenance: Dry Tortugas National Park in Florida — some 4,500 miles away.

With his partner, Hélène Laclaverie, Elliot-Saudrais runs Perros-Guirec’s “miniature harbor,” where children can drive 12-foot-long electric boats. He always thought the tidal basin lacked a little flair, so he saw the stranded buoy as an opportunity. “We told ourselves, ‘Wow, it would make for a great decoration!’” he said. “We had to get it.”

So, Elliot-Saudrais, his brother, Laclaverie and two friends came back two days later. One of them, a professional diver, jumped into the water and tied a rope around the buoy, which was stuck between rocks above the waterline. It took the full power of the motorboat and nearly a dozen attempts, but after nearly an hour, the team finally freed the buoy and towed it to its new home. It is now adorned by a Star-Spangled Banner floating above the black-and-white flag of Brittany.

[Fall 2024] buoy - Erwan

Erwan Elliot-Saudrais (foreground) and a friend with the freed Dry Tortugas buoy.

COURTESY OF ERWAN ELLIOT-SAUDRAIS AND HÉLÈNE LACLAVERIE

While the last couple of miles of the buoy’s journey were well documented in the local press, less is known about the device’s transatlantic voyage. For one, park staff don’t know for sure when the buoy, one of many that mark the park’s perimeter, broke free, though on the park’s Facebook page, the deputy superintendent speculated that it might have happened during Hurricane Ian in 2022, when the park lost several buoys. “It’s not uncommon, especially with storms, so we’ve had buoys end up in other places, more along the Eastern Seaboard,” said Allyson Gantt, the park’s spokesperson.

The Dry Tortugas buoy did not travel solo. Its lower parts were covered by tiny barnacles that Elliot-Saudrais suspected were erstwhile Florida residents. As far as what carried the floater from Florida to France, there is one likely culprit. “The assumption is that it’s the Gulf Stream,” Gantt said. “That’s the way it goes.”

Elliot-Saudrais said he was willing to return the buoy to its owners anytime, but that probably won’t be necessary. Transporting it back to Florida would be cost-prohibitive, and Gantt said the park was in the process of transferring ownership of the buoy to Perros-Guirec authorities. Google Maps already identifies “la Bouée de Floride” as a local landmark.

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In any case, the buoy has produced a substantial amount of Franco-American communication and goodwill. A couple of English-speaking residents of Perros-Guirec reached out to Dry Tortugas, and the park’s social media posts generated a flurry of positive reactions, including suggestions of sending a bottle of rum or bourbon to the finders for taking good care of the errant buoy. Others inquired about the design of the Breton flag, which was partly inspired by the Stars and Stripes. On their end, Elliot-Saudrais and Laclaverie were curious about Dry Tortugas and were stunned by the photos they found online. They hope to visit one day.

The buoy’s wanderings, on the other hand, have seemingly come to an end. Elliot-Saudrais said that while not exempt from storms, Brittany doesn’t experience hurricanes. Also, the miniature harbor is completely enclosed by walls of pink granite.

“Even if its moorings were to break, it would stay in the basin,” he said. “It can’t escape anymore.”