A buoy ( /ˈbɔɪ/, also /ˈbwɔɪ/ or US /ˈbuːiː/) is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly /ˈbɔɪ/ (identical with boy, also as in buoyancy) in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation /ˈbwɔɪ/. The pronunciation /ˈbuːiː/, while chiefly American, more closely resembles the modern French bouée [bwe].

Several different buoys at a storage depot.

A buoy used as turn marker for sailing races.

Old iron buoys, most likely for mooring.

Children playing on a buoy in the Volga

A buoy beached at Sebastian Inlet State Park.

Emergency buoy of the Swedish submarine Nordkaparen

Gas buoy stranded on land after 1915 Galveston Hurricane, near Texas City, Texas

Andonis Michaelides (24 July 1958 – 4 January 2011), better known as Mick Karn, was an English multi-instrumentalist musician and songwriter, who came to fame as the bassist for the art rock band Japan, from 1974 to 1982.

In June 2010, he was diagnosed with advanced stage cancer, and died in January 2011.

Karn was born into a Greek Cypriot family, in Nicosia, Cyprus, as Andonis Michaelides, which was later modified to Antony Michaelides. He had an older brother and sister. In late October 1961, the family emigrated to London, England, when Andonis was three years old. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London where he failed academically. Karn remained based in London until 24 May 2004, when he moved back to Cyprus with his wife and son, remaining there for six years before moving back to London in late 2010.^{[citation needed]}

The band Japan, whose other members included David Sylvian, keyboardist Richard Barbieri and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen as drummer, began as a group of friends, who all studied at Catford Boys' School. As youngsters they played music as a means of escape, playing Sylvian's two-chord numbers – sometimes with Karn as the front man, sometimes with Sylvian at the fore, guitarist Rob Dean joined the band later.

David Sylvian (born David Alan Batt, 23 February 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan. His subsequent solo work is described by critic Jason Ankeny as "a far-ranging and esoteric career that encompassed not only solo projects but also a series of fascinating collaborative efforts." Sylvian's solo work has been influenced by a variety of musical styles and genres, including jazz, avant-garde, ambient, electronic, and progressive rock.

Sylvian was born in Beckenham, Kent, the son of a plasterer and a housewife. He was educated at Catford Boys' School, Catford, South East London leaving at 16. As a youth, he listened to glam rock artists such as David Bowie and Roxy Music.^{[citation needed]}

The band Japan, whose other members included bassist Mick Karn, guitarist Rob Dean, keyboardist Richard Barbieri and Sylvian's brother Steve Jansen as drummer, began as a group of friends. As youngsters they played music as a means of escape, playing Sylvian's two-chord numbers – sometimes with Karn as the front man, sometimes with Sylvian at the fore.