Red Right Returning
Confusing? I know how to follow this navigation rule. Have been doing it all my life. But I never knew the origin of the rule! Read on... :-)
From Daily Boater Boating News:
Of course, many of us have heard and used the old saw of “red, right, return” – meaning when returning from sea/to your harbor/home, keep the red buoys on your right. But often harbors line cheek-to-jowl along a shore. Are you leaving one or returning to the other? So, let’s extend the old saw and get it right forever more…
“Red - Right, Return; Left, Leaving.” Keep the red buoys on your right when returning and on your left when leaving. And, if the numbers are going up, you are returning (to your penthouse in the sky!) If the numbers are going down, you are leaving (to that great job you just won!)
Be wary of one thing – “discontinuous numbers”, meaning big jumps between buoy numbers or the numbers starting to go the opposite way. This means you have entered a new seaway or road and you need to recalibrate the direction of the numbers. For example, if returning from sea via an inlet, you will certainly see the buoy numbers go up in step. But what if, for examples, pass Nun#4 and see ahead Can#15? That’s a big jump and undoubtedly means you are entering a new seaway. Now, what side? Quickly check your chart. If the next buoy after this hypothetical Can#15 is Nun#16, you are still “returning from sea.” If, however, it is Nun#14, you are “leaving harbor” as far as the buoyage system is concerned! Remember: Red-Right-Return; Left-Leaving. In this case (leaving), you would now take Can#15 to starboard so that you can subsequently take Nun#14 to port (left leaving!). Never fails (in North America).
Want to know why our reds are on our right when returning from sea and not the other way around as in Europe? Well, when we were at war with the mightiest navy in the world over 230 years, the revolutionaries turned all the buoys around so that the English men-of-war would run aground… and we just kept them that way ever since…!
“Red - Right, Return; Left, Leaving.” If the numbers are going up, you are returning as far as the rules of the road are concerned… Always…
Red Right Returning
Confusing? I know how to follow this navigation rule. Have been doing it all my life. But I never knew the origin of the rule! Read on... :-)
From Daily Boater Boating News:
Of course, many of us have heard and used the old saw of “red, right, return” – meaning when returning from sea/to your harbor/home, keep the red buoys on your right. But often harbors line cheek-to-jowl along a shore. Are you leaving one or returning to the other? So, let’s extend the old saw and get it right forever more…
“Red - Right, Return; Left, Leaving.” Keep the red buoys on your right when returning and on your left when leaving. And, if the numbers are going up, you are returning (to your penthouse in the sky!) If the numbers are going down, you are leaving (to that great job you just won!)
Be wary of one thing – “discontinuous numbers”, meaning big jumps between buoy numbers or the numbers starting to go the opposite way. This means you have entered a new seaway or road and you need to recalibrate the direction of the numbers. For example, if returning from sea via an inlet, you will certainly see the buoy numbers go up in step. But what if, for examples, pass Nun#4 and see ahead Can#15? That’s a big jump and undoubtedly means you are entering a new seaway. Now, what side? Quickly check your chart. If the next buoy after this hypothetical Can#15 is Nun#16, you are still “returning from sea.” If, however, it is Nun#14, you are “leaving harbor” as far as the buoyage system is concerned! Remember: Red-Right-Return; Left-Leaving. In this case (leaving), you would now take Can#15 to starboard so that you can subsequently take Nun#14 to port (left leaving!). Never fails (in North America).
Want to know why our reds are on our right when returning from sea and not the other way around as in Europe? Well, when we were at war with the mightiest navy in the world over 230 years, the revolutionaries turned all the buoys around so that the English men-of-war would run aground… and we just kept them that way ever since…!
“Red - Right, Return; Left, Leaving.” If the numbers are going up, you are returning as far as the rules of the road are concerned… Always…