BUOY, OH BUOY…WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?

Buoys, for the most part, are your friends. They tell you where to go and where NOT to go. Can you sometimes fudge it and go to the left of the buoy when you were supposed to go to the right? Sure, but at your own peril. I did it this morning to try and cut off some time, but just didn’t feel good about it.

I asked Chatgpt to give me some funny titles for this blog and a number were pretty funny. Since I can only use one in the title, here are the rest that were pretty good. What do you think?!?

• Red, Green, and Completely Confused

• Buoys: Because Rocks Weren’t Stressful Enough

• Buoy Meets Rock. We Try Not To.

• Red Right Returning… Until It Isn’t

  • Just a note about this one-The "red right returning" rule states that when you return from open water or head upstream, you must keep red channel markers on your right (starboard) side. Yet, we have been in situations where we were going north (upstream) and the red buoy was on our left and the green buoy was on our right. I guess there is always an exception.

• Follow the Buoys, They Said. It’ll Be Fun, They Said.

Hard to see, but this is a red buoy which should be on our right.

I am no expert when it comes to buoys, but thought I would share a few of the obvious ones below.

• Green buoys typically stay on your left as you go north. If you are heading Inland (Returning): Keep the green buoy on your left (port) side. If you are heading out to sea: Keep the green buoy on your right (starboard) side.

Green buoy - typically keep in your left.

The other navigational aid that is incredibly helpful is the lighthouse. These are typically a tall tower or structure with a bright, flashing light that is near the shore to guide ships and warn them of dangerous rocks or coastlines.