14 seamanship secrets
Th e Five Secrets for Visualizing Any Aid to Navigation
Aids to navigation follow a specifi c sequence of abbreviations and text, giving
you a clear visual picture of any buoy, beacon, or light. A buoy or beacon may
be referred to as a navigational aid, navaid, or aid to navigation (abbreviated
ATON). Look at this typical buoy description as it appears on a chart:
G “7” Fl. G 4s BELL
This is a green bell buoy with the number 7 painted on it, and it has a
green light that flashes once every 4 seconds. In general, these are the ques-
tions to answer when you look at an ATON description on a chart.
- What is the painted color? Notice the description starts with a G. Buoys
and smaller lights always list the painted color of the buoy body fi rst.
Th is buoy is painted a solid green color. Th ese colors provide important
navigational information, as detailed below.
Red or Green Denotes Safe Side to Pass On
Lateral navaids Solid red or green aids—called lateral buoys, beacons,
or lights—designate the safe side of passage. Th roughout the Western
Hemisphere and in Japan, Korea, and the Philippines (collectively, Region
B of the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities, or IALA-B),
when returning from seaward, keep solid red aids on your right side and
solid green aids on your left side. “Red, right, returning” is the handy
mnemonic for remembering this. In IALA Region A (i.e., the rest of the
world), these directions are reversed, and you keep red navigational aids
on your left when returning from sea.
When it isn’t clear which direction is seaward and which is landward,
it pays to remember that the clockwise direction around North America is
considered “landward”—thus, when traveling south along the Canadian and
U.S east coasts, west along the Gulf Coast, and north along the Pacifi c Coast
of North America, keep red aids on your right. But in all cases where you
harbor any doubt at all, let your chart be the fi nal arbiter as to which side to
pass an aid to navigation.
Yellow Denotes a Special-Purpose Area
Solid yellow buoys have no lateral significance. Rather, they
designate areas such as anchorages and seaplane landing strips. You’ll
often find a chart note nearby that describes the area in question.
Multiple Colors Denote Special-Purpose Navaids
Special-purpose aids carry more than one color. Depending on the color
combination, they may indicate safe water, a split channel, or extreme danger.