Types of buoys for boats and their meanings - Ace Boater

Bifurcation buoy

A bifurcation buoy is used to mark the point at which a channel divides into two branches.

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A bifurcation buoy is used to mark the point where a channel devises in to branches. You may pass this buoy on either side (port or starboard side) when moving upstream. It's coloured with red and green bands. The main or preferred channel is shown by the color of the top band.

Bifurcation buoys are used at junctions (where one channel splits into two channels). Naturally, one of the two channels will be wider, deeper, and safer; it is the main channel. The purpose of the bifurcation junction buoy is to indicate which channel is the main channel.

Diving flags

A diving buoy marks an area where diving activity is taking place. It is a flagcoloured red with a white diagonal stripe, extending from the tip of the hoist to the bottom of the fly.

If a diving operation takes place from aboard a pleasure craft, Code flag Alpha or flag A (white and blue) from the International Code of signals which means “I have a diver in the water, keep well clear and at low speed” must be displayed.

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This particular mark is quite interesting as it can be viewed from two different perspectives. On one hand, it is known as the Safe Water Mark, as it signifies the point where a vessel leaves behind the safety of a buoyed area and ventures into the vast open sea.

On the other hand, when a vessel approaches this mark from the open sea, it is referred to as the Fairway Buoy. It serves as a clear indication that a buoyed channel or harbor is about to begin.

The primary purpose of this mark is simply to define the boundary of a buoyed harbor, acting as a guiding beacon for mariners.

You can easily identify this mark by its distinctive red and white vertical stripes that alternate all around. And if it has a top mark, it will be a striking red ball.

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In the Washington State marine parks, at least in the San Juan Islands, the maximum allowable length on the mooring buoys is indeed 45 feet. I don't think the park rangers get all wrapped around the axle on how one defines 45 feet. They would probably go with the manufacturer's stated length (Grand Banks 36, Nordic Tug 32, DeFever 46, etc.). If they had heartburn over this for some reason, they'd probably get out a tape measure. But I doubt it would ever come to this.

But if you plan to use the mooring buoys in the Washington marine parks, you'll need a boat 45 feet long or less. Anything bigger and you'll need to anchor.

Rafting is allowed on the Washington Marine Park buoys but the number of boats per raft is limited by their length. The length and number of boats limitations are posted on the buoys.

The mooring buoys in British Columbia's Gulf Islands marine parks are of two types. One is for boats 30 feet or less in length, the other for boats 40 feet or less. The maximum length is posted on the buoy. Rafting is not allowed on any BC park mooring buoys.

So if you plan to use the mooring buoys in the Gulf Island marine parks, you will need a boat that's 40 feet or less long. I have no idea how strictly these rules are enforced-- our boat is 36 feet long so is not a problem. We have never encountered a BC mooring buoy that has a posted length limit of 30 feet, but since they are described in the official publication about the BC marine parks, I guess they exist somewhere in the system.

While there is no stated maximum boat length for the docks in the Washington State marine parks that I know of, there is for the BC Marine Parks. It's 36 feet. Again, I don't know how rigorously this is enforced. It do know that some marine parks in the Gulf Islands have a seasonal park host. Some of these that we have met over the years lived on their boat at the dock. So I suppose in these instances, the 36' rule would probably be fairly strongly enforced.

Of course the other consideration is that many of these docks are in rather shallow water. In some parks, that alone tends to restrict the size of the boats that can use the dock. At Sucia Island in the San Juans, for example, at low tide on the docks in Fossil Bay it's not uncommon for keeled powerboats in the 36-40 foot range like Grand Banks or our friends' lobsterboat to sit on the bottom. Same thing with sailboats.

Regarding running a diesel slower than it's "normal" cruise rpm, there are a lot of variables involved. The engines in our twin-engine boat are happiest in the power range of - rpm. rpm gives us eight knots, so that's the rpm we use. While our boat's semi-planing hull will go a lot faster if the power is available, the drag and thus the fuel consumption will go up dramatically.

A late model Grand Banks 42, for example, with its two stock 400hp-plus Cat diesels, will happily cruise all day at about 9 knots with a combined fuel consumption of about 7 or 8 gph. However, the power available will push this boat along at some 15 or 16 knots no problem. The fuel consumption at this cruising speed will be some 23 gph.

Right now diesel fuel is free in the overall scheme of things, so if one has a boat like this, this is the time to go zooming and booming. But when the fuel prices go back up to $4 to $6 a gallon--- which is where I hear in my industry the prices will land when they start back up again-- that higher cruise speed will carry quite a price.

Good friends of ours have a 36' custom lobsterboat fitted with a Cat 420 hp diesel (turbocharged). This boat is intended to be cruised at 15 or 16 knots. I don't remember what the fuel consumption is at that speed--- I think it's about 12 gph.

When diesel prices went up a lot a few years ago and stayed there, our friends started cruising a lot slower, 8-9 knots. The fuel consumption dropped a lot. Our friends kept an eye on the temperature gauge to make sure the engine wasn't running too cool, which is the real issue with running a diesel at low power.

Also, on the advice of the very good diesel shop we both use, they run their engine at it's "normal" 15-16 knot cruise rpm for 15 minutes or so at the end of every run tp get it up to it's full operating temperature and "blow it out." This is apparently pretty important to do to ensure the continued health of the turbocharger.