Is it safe to go between red and green buoys.

[jackdale]

The chart says it all.

[StuM]

Of course it's not always safe. You frequently see markers for more than one channel at the same time. And if you are on the "wrong side" of either buoy,, you are asking for trouble.

Since that is IALA Region B and heading North is "returning", you need to keep the red on the right OR the green on the left when heading north and the red on the left OR the green on the right when heading south.

This one probably makes it clearer - don't try to go between the red and green in the centre of the image!

[sv_pelagia]

Always liked this one:

Seaforth Channel (North Up)


The yellow-black cardinal buoy ONCE added a little confusion (my 1st time through) to an otherwise straightforward decision. From a distance, the buoy was clear, but not its colour (I just saw 3 buoys). Stay south....

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by StuM

Of course it's not always safe. You frequently see markers for more than one channel at the same time. And if you are on the "wrong side" of either buoy,, you are asking for trouble.

Since that is IALA Region B and heading North is "returning", you need to keep the red on the right OR the green on the left when heading north and the red on the left OR the green on the right when heading south.

This one probably makes it clearer - don't try to go between the red and green in the centre of the image!

There's a place similar to this on the ICW in Georgia that I scraped bottom on because I couldn't identify which channel the markers were for. In my defense it was dawn and we'd just come in from mechanical failure on the ocean.

[malbert73]

This is the return to my home marina on Chesapeake. Amazing how often (power) boats motor in between the markers to go up river. Most don’t even know what they’ve done probably as there is 2-4 feet on the sandbar.
Once I had a nonboater guest at the helm on my prior sailboat and was inattentive down below- my fault- and he threaded the needle. An impressive soft grounding ensued.

But careful attention to day mark colors by anyone who has rudimentary navigation knowledge is all that is needed “red right returning”

[CaptTom]

Yup. That's why you need a chart. I could probably post a dozen places I've seen people go on the wrong side of a buoy, because from a certain angle of approach it "looked right."

[tkeithlu]

Theree's a set on the entrance to Destin Florida that has an obstruction half way between them.

[s/v Jedi]

It’s called lack of situational awareness. When a chart(plotter) isn’t available, navigation requires to use all aids that are available, not just a single one like markers.

[redneckrob]

On the flip side, there is a channel marker in my home bay that anything up to 7' draft can safely ignore and go inside by many hundreds of yards, something I've been doing for years with my catamaran. One day there's a guy in a little whaler anchored near the channel marker and when he sees me coming he starts yelling to the point of becoming apoplectic that I'm an idiot and that I'm going to run aground and then moved into a diatribe about people with more money than sense. I smiled and waved and in a calm voice let him know this was only the 150th time I'd safely passed over this point with 4' of water under the keels and perhaps he could worry about his navigation and I'd worry about mine.

He was still cussing away at my stupidity well after I obviously safely cleared the area he was sure I was going to go aground on, clearly not even a demonstration was enough to convince him.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

On the flip side, there is a channel marker in my home bay that anything up to 7' draft can safely ignore and go inside by many hundreds of yards, something I've been doing for years with my catamaran. One day there's a guy in a little whaler anchored near the channel marker and when he sees me coming he starts yelling to the point of becoming apoplectic that I'm an idiot and that I'm going to run aground and then moved into a diatribe about people with more money than sense. I smiled and waved and in a calm voice let him know this was only the 150th time I'd safely passed over this point with 4' of water under the keels and perhaps he could worry about his navigation and I'd worry about mine.

He was still cussing away at my stupidity well after I obviously safely cleared the area he was sure I was going to go aground on, clearly not even a demonstration was enough to convince him.

On the flip side of that, there's a Channel Marker across from Watt's Island in the Chesapeake Bay that on one side is an 80' channel and on the other is a depth of about 2' during low tide.

If you then go a little North then East (then back SE) is the shallow channel to where my boat was when I found it at a Boatyard back in there. You can only get in there with a 4' draft near high tide. (Deep Creek Boatyard and Marina)

Watts Island: Chart 12225 -- Chesapeake Bay, Wolf Trap to Smith Point

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by thomm225

On the flip side of that, there's a Channel Marker across from Watt's Island in the Chesapeake Bay that on one side is an 80' channel and on the other is a depth of about 2' during low tide.

If you then go a little North then East (then back SE) is the shallow channel to where my boat was when I found it at a Boatyard back in there. You can only get in there with a 4' draft near high tide. (Deep Creek Boatyard and Marina)

Watts Island: Chart 12225 -- Chesapeake Bay, Wolf Trap to Smith Point

I know that one and like you said, I would definitely not try to cut outside there!

[Bycrick]

When I was in SF a long time ago, the northern entrance to South Beach Marina was awful. The breakwater paralleled the shore. At the N end was a green light. The corresponding red light was to the N, ashore on a pier. From offshore, the "path" between the two was right over the end of the breakwater.