Boatnerd Discussion Forum

I got the following very nice reply from NOAA today. Someone does care.

Sir Wilfred Sykes has been changed to Wilfred Sykes on the
NOAA/GLERL/CoastWatch NOAAPORT ship reports site. Thanks you very much
for finding this. I believe you are correct - it was probably a typo of
the label "Str. Wilfred Sykes"

It can't be one data base today, as large as it would get it would be impossible to manage/support and would go against all current database design.

What I failed to mention in my previous post is that there seems to be only one database for both aviation and marine use, and it is run by a private contractor. NOAA if they care, will send a message to the contractor, and that is the end of it. It is really sad, but everything is so big today, you can't find anyone who will fix anything. At least Wilfred Sykes can be proud to be the only knighted ship in the Great Lakes!

I did notify NOAA, but haven't gotten a reply. Maybe nobody does care or staffs have been cut so much that there is nobody to care.

I worked for the FAA for 45 years, and when airport identifiers were changed, we found the this old ident would show up 52 miles north of the old one! In 15 years of trying, we never got these removed! I worked on equipment from 3 different contractors, and each one used this database. No one cares except you and me, and I no longer care!

What did NOAA say when you contact them about the error?

My first thought would be that NOAA is a government entity plus, good help is very difficult to get in this lackadaisical day and age.

On the ship location/weather report site, the Wilfred Sykes has been consistently shown as the Sir Wilfred Sykes. This is almost certainly a typo from Str (steamer) Wilfred Sykes. Does anyone have any idea why the error is gaining a life of its own and that NOAA and GLERL don't fix their database to accurately reflect the ship's name?