{"id":79,"date":"2015-02-12T00:54:30","date_gmt":"2015-02-12T05:54:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/?post_type=article&#038;p=79"},"modified":"2020-05-06T19:11:03","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T19:11:03","slug":"aids-to-navigation","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Aids to Navigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>An important part of the <a href=\"https:\/\/boatsmartexam.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BOATsmart!<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0online safe boating course<\/a> is understanding aids to navigation. These are\u00a0the system of\u00a0buoys\u00a0and\u00a0markers\u00a0that assist a boater in determining their position\u00a0on the water and identify any potential dangers and waterway obstructions. Aids to navigation\u00a0can be used to\u00a0plot position and\u00a0course\u00a0on nautical charts and also assist in choosing the preferred and safest route when out on the water.<\/p>\n<p>It is prohibited\u00a0under the\u00a0<a title=\"Boating Laws in Canada\" href=\"\/article\/boating-laws-canada\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Criminal Code of Canada<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to interfere with any navigation aid. Operators should never tie up to a marker, buoy or any other aid to navigation. In addition, no person may willfully alter, remove or conceal a signal, buoy or other type of navigation marker.<\/p>\n<p>There are two main systems of navigation are used on Canadian Waterways: The\u00a0Lateral System\u00a0and The\u00a0Cardinal System. All aids to navigation\u00a0have identifying marks such as colours, lights and numbers.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.net\/embed\/iframe\/8g300oj1t7?dnt=1&#038;popover=true\" class=\"wistia-popover[height=393,playerColor=7b796a,width=699]\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-original=\"https:\/\/embed-ssl.wistia.com\/deliveries\/10519cc116d40e21a05a5a0bdc1af7cf684928a4.jpg?image_play_button=true&#038;image_play_button_color=7b796ae0&#038;image_crop_resized=600x338\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><script charset=\"ISO-8859-1\" src=\"\/\/fast.wistia.com\/assets\/external\/popover-v1.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>\u00a0What is a Buoy?<\/h2>\n<p>A buoy is a floating marker or signal that is attached to the bottom of the waterway or mounted on a feature (such as an island) of the waterway. Buoys serve four main functions. They provide warnings, information, mark underwater hazards and provide a system for navigation.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.net\/embed\/iframe\/h9bmk8y0es?dnt=1&#038;popover=true\" class=\"wistia-popover[height=393,playerColor=7b796a,width=699]\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/embed-ssl.wistia.com\/deliveries\/41206d7f4d1890c244cfda2b75b80a235c83573b.jpg?image_play_button=true&#038;image_play_button_color=7b796ae0&#038;image_crop_resized=600x338\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><script charset=\"ISO-8859-1\" src=\"\/\/fast.wistia.com\/assets\/external\/popover-v1.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Floating Buoys<\/h2>\n<p>There are different styles of floating buoys used on Canadian waterways:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Pillar Buoys:\u00a0Pillar Buoys are typically the largest of all floating buoys and will sometimes have a lighted top. These types of buoys tend to be narrower than Can and Nun buoys.<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0Spar Buoys:\u00a0Spar Buoys are common on smaller waterways. They have a cylinder shape and are typically smaller than Light Buoys.<\/li>\n<li>Can Buoys:\u00a0Can buoys are wider than Spar Buoys. They are always green in colour and should be kept on the left (port) side when heading upstream<\/li>\n<li>Nun\/Conical Buoys:\u00a0Nun buoys are also wider than spar buoys. They are always red in colour and should be kept on the right (starboard) side when heading upstream.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>All floating buoys are attached to the bottom of the waterway using a structure of underwater cables and anchors. To help you know how to spot these different types of buoys, here\u2019s what they look like.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Buoys1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-177 size-full\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Buoys1.jpg\" alt=\"Illustration of pillar, spar, can and nun buoys\" width=\"761\" height=\"483\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Systems of Buoys in Canada<\/h2>\n<p>There are several systems of buoys and markers used on Canadian waterways to aid in navigation. Here are a few important systems that you should know:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>The Lateral System:\u00a0The\u00a0Lateral System\u00a0consists of red and green buoys used to mark preferred safe routes. The Lateral System also includes Fairway Buoys, Isolated Danger Buoys and Day Beacons.<\/li>\n<li>The Cardinal System:\u00a0The\u00a0Cardinal System\u00a0consists of yellow and black buoys that indicate safe routes by the cardinal compass points.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A third type of buoy system to be aware of is Special Purpose Buoys.\u00a0These buoys\u00a0may be yellow or white in colour and are used to mark dangers such as racecourses, underwater structures, pipelines, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","article-category":[12],"article-tag":[29,102,137,167,212],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v14.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Aids to Navigation when Boating<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A breakdown of the importance of aids to navigation when boating. Including the different systems of buoys and styles of floating buoys.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Aids to Navigation when Boating\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A breakdown of the importance of aids to navigation when boating. Including the different systems of buoys and styles of floating buoys.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BOATsmart! Knowledgebase\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-06T19:11:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Buoys1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/\",\"name\":\"BOATsmart! Knowledgebase\",\"description\":\"Everything you need to know about boating safety\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Buoys1.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/\",\"name\":\"Aids to Navigation when Boating\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-12T05:54:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-06T19:11:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"A breakdown of the importance of aids to navigation when boating. Including the different systems of buoys and styles of floating buoys.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/article\/aids-to-navigation\/\"]}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/79"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/79\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14102,"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/79\/revisions\/14102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-category?post=79"},{"taxonomy":"article-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.boatsmartexam.com\/knowledge-base\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article-tag?post=79"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}