BUOYAGE:THE RULE OF FIVE

The buoyage system seems to have been conceived on the basis of a “rule of five “:

1 There are FIVE TYPES of buoy in the system.

a) The “Landfall” or “Safe Water Mark”

b) The “Lateral Mark”
c) The “Cardinal Mark”
d) The “Isolated Danger Mark”
e) The “Special Mark”

2 There are FIVE WAYS TO RECOGNISE the functions of the buoys.

a) By the shape of the buoy

b) By the colour of the buoy
c) By the topmark of the buoy
d) By the colour of the lights
e) By the sequence of the lights

3 There are FIVE PERMISSIBLE SHAPES for buoys in the system.

a) The CAN shape

b) The CONE shape
c) The SPHERICAL shape
d) The PILLAR shape
e) The SPAR shape

The first three of these are known as NAVIGATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT shapes,

since they inform the mariner of his required action.

i.e. When going with the direction of the buoyage;

A can means leave to

A cone means leave to
A sphere means leave to
The pillar and spar shapes are NON INFORMATIVE and give the mariner no
direction, unless there is a topmark fitted

Where buoys are lit, the lights are red and green for lateral marks, yellow
for a special mark and white for all other marks.

Direction of Buoyage - Into rivers and ports and clockwise round

continents