ID This Buoy: Fl R 2.5s 8ft "2"

[rebel heart]

So it's flashing red at 2.5 seconds, and has a "2" on it. It's a light, stamped into the mud on a pole I imagine.

The 8ft... is that height over mean high tide?

Studying for oupv.

[rebel heart]

Okay, one more. These are two lights mounted on a (Zuniga) jetty when entering San Diego harbor. They're on your starboard side, outside the channel.

Fl 2.5s 28ft 6M Horn Z : I'm guessing flashing white 2.5s, 28 feet above mean high tide, with a horn, daytime you can spot the Z.

Next further to leeward:

Fl 4s 18ft 5M Y : Marked with a Y, flashing white 4s, 18 feet above mean high tide.

On both: The "M" is mileage the light is visible, as in 6 (then 5) nautical miles?

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Okay, one more. These are two lights mounted on a (Zuniga) jetty when entering San Diego harbor. They're on your starboard side, outside the channel.

Fl 2.5s 28ft 6M Horn Z : I'm guessing flashing white 2.5s, 28 feet above mean high tide, with a horn, daytime you can spot the Z.

Next further to leeward:

Fl 4s 18ft 5M Y : Marked with a Y, flashing white 4s, 18 feet above mean high tide.

On both: The "M" is mileage the light is visible, as in 6 (then 5) nautical miles?

You're doing fine with most of those except the last letters. If the light were marked with a letter or number it would be in quotes.

Y probably means yellow, it's the only meaning I could find in Chart 1.

The Z is harder. It follows the horn so I would expect it to be something about the horn. It might be that the horn blows morse code Z but I would expect the Z to be in parentheses.

Luck with the test.

[Adelie]

Something I've found is that the older Chart 1's (1984, 8th ed. is what I got) have a much better index of abbreviations than the newer ones. If you come across one cheap, pick it up.

[Tempest245]

I'd venture a guess to say that the 8 ft. high is a buoy...So it's always 8 ft high...unless it's leaning over in a current.

The Marks on the jetty should be height above chart datum ..the M is the visible range to the horizon. To which you would add your height of eye ( off the water ) to the horizon to get the total visible range. So you will see the light at a greater distance due to your height of eye (dipping the light)

I'm guessing that these lights act as sort of a range...to show how the jetty lays out when it's submerged at high tide. The higher light, being the rear end as you approach from seaward?
In this case...it's not a range that you follow in...but one that you leave alongside....... so you line them up..on your approach..obtain a course from the bearing....and then steer that course..as you enter the channel..
but leaving the lights to one side..

I don't know why they're marked with letters..but the Y Z thing makes me think that it's a 2 mark range..... Yankee, Zulu

Or Z for Zuniga ?

but I'm an east coast guy...I'm sure there's a left coaster who will weigh in
with the facts..

[DeepFrz]

The Z is harder. It follows the horn so I would expect it to be something about the horn. It might be that the horn blows morse code Z but I would expect the Z to be in parentheses.

If that were so I would expect it to be marked MO(Z). I think it must be a visible marking.

[nigel1]

On UK Admiralty charts, the height of light is normally the height of the focal plane of the light above the chart height datum, normally Mean High Water Springs.
Here is a link to Chart 5011, our equivilent of US Chart 1
http://www.ukho.gov.uk/Defence/AWNIS/Documents/5011.pdf

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by DeepFrz

If that were so I would expect it to be marked MO(Z).

More or less what I said, I just missed the MO.

[cal40john]

The Z on the chart is in parens, "Z" , so it is the written identifier on the mark. The magenta teardrop indicates that it is a lit mark, not a lit buoy which has a magenta circle.

I can't find it right now, but it won't be a range light (leading light), because I believe they always have iso or occluded or quick flashing as the lights.

John

[Tempest245]

So, I pulled up the chart 18772. Z and Y are not a range..they are 2 of 5 lights that mark the zuniga jetty. Z, Y, X, W, V

The visibility of all the lights are listed as 6M , though, Z is higher than the other lights. So is it a different intensity lamp?? No color is given for the lights but I looked it up and it's white. Z has a horn that sounds 1 blast every 10 seconds.

[rebel heart]

The visibility for Y-V on my chart lists as 5M with 6M for Z.

Either way I'm feeling good because this was a tricky one! In some of my studying last night I came across "the height of objects is referenced from MHW (mean high water)".