New England Sailing Center

  6. Explain the terms and characteristics used for lighted navigation aids. Lighted aids to navigation are necessary for night navigation.  The light colors are specific to maritime use and the lights have distinctive characteristics such as frequency of flash.  There are some fixed (not flashing) lighted aids to navigation but not many.  Sandy Hook Light at the entrance to NY Harbor is one.  Others are Hospital Point Light in Salem Harbor and nearby Marblehead Light (fixed green).  Those are the only three seen by the author. Nobska Light, Massachusetts This light can be found on chart 1210Tr near Woods Hole.  It is a classic structure with white buildings and red roofs.  The lighthouse itself is a simple tubular building surmounted by the light enclosed in the black ironwork. Dutch Island Light, Rhode Island This lighthouse is located on Dutch Island at the western side of Conanicut Island.  Its location can be found on chart 1210Tr. ...

7. Explain the significance of shapes, colors, and lights used in the U.S. Aids to Navigation (ATON) system. Nun buoy Conical top is a requirement for nun buoys.  If marking a channel they have even numbers are red in color and are left to starboard when entering, port when departing. Ready references include: Chart One , Page 125  Eldridge 2022,  Page 214 Boat Navigation for the Rest of Us, inside flaps and back cover Shapes and colors are important for day piloting.  Lights on buoys are often correlated to the color of the buoy itself. Nuns have conical tops.  Red nuns with even numbers are lateral marks denoting the left side of the channel when heading seaward.  Nuns are not lighted. Cans have cylindrical tops.  Green cans with odd numbers denote the right side of the channel when proceeding seaward.  Cans are not lighted. Tower buoys may have a sound signal or a light or both.  The color denotes the buoy's significance.  Red or Gree...