郑国江 填词作品:Navis.gr - Buoyage

BUOYAGE Attemptsto establish an international uniform system of buoyagehave never met with success. A system proposed in 1936under the auspices of the League of Nations might havesucceeded had not World War II intervened before asufficient number of maritime States had ratified thesystem. The buoyage system adopted for British waters wasbased on the 1936 proposals. The system called the'lateral system' is based on knowledge of the directionof the main stream of flood. The sides of channels aremarked by buoys described as 'starboard hand' or 'porthand', these terms denoting the side that would be on amariner's right-hand or left-hand, respectively, whengoing with the main flood stream or approaching a harbourfrom seaward.

Starboard-hand buoys are conical in shape; painted blackor in black-and-white chequers; a top mark (if fitted) ofa black cone or a black diamond; and a light (if one iscarried) of one, three or five white flashes.

Port-hand buoys are can-shaped; painted red or inred-and-white chequers; a top mark (if fitted) or a redcan or red T; and a light (if one is carried) of two,four or six white flashes.

Middle-ground buoys, which mark the ends of middlegrounds, are spherical in shape. The lights they mayexhibit are either white or red and distinctive, so thatthere is no uncertainty as to which side they must bepassed. In cases in which the main channel lies tostarboard (when proceeding with the main flood stream),or when channels are of equal importance, middle-groundbuoys are painted with red-and-white horizontal bands. Incases in which the main channel lies to port (whenproceeding with the main flood stream) they are paintedwith black-and-white horizontal bands. When top marks arecarried, if the main channel lies to starboard (whenproceeding in the direction of the main flood stream) theouter end middle-ground buoy is marked with a red can andthe inner end with a red T. If the main channel lies toport, the outer end top mark of a middle-ground buoy is ablack cone and the inner end a black diamond. If thechannels are of equal importance, the outer and inner endbuoys are marked with a red sphere and a red St. George'sCross, respectively.

Mid-channel buoys are painted with black-and-white orred-and-white vertical stripes, Buoys marking isolateddangers are spherical and are painted with wideblack-and-red horizontal bands, separated with a narrowwhite band. Landfall buoys, serving to indicate theseaward approach to a harbour exhibit flashing lights andare painted with black-and-white or red-and-whitevertical stripes.

Buoysmarking wrecks in the lateral system are painted greenwith the word WRECK in white letters. They exhibit greenflashes: one flash to indicate that the buoy (sphericalin shape) may be passed on either hand; two flashes toindicate that the buoy (can-shaped) is to be passed onthe starboard hand; and three flashes to indicate thatthe buoy (conical) is to be passed on the port hand.

As well as the lateral system described above, the 1936proposed buoyage scheme included a 'cardinal system'designed for use on coasts fringed with reefs or isolateddangers. The buoys in this system have shape lights,colours and top marks which indicate whether the buoy isto be passed to the north, East, South or West. The 1936scheme allowed the lateral and cardinal systems to beused in conjunction, but special conical buoys paintedwith black-and-white or red-and-white diagonal stripes,mark the places where a change in the system occurs.

There are many systems of buoyage, besides thosedescribed above, in current use, and the mariner shouldbe perfectly aware of the details of every system heencounters, from a careful study of the relevant sailingdirections.

In 1977, the buoyage in the southern North Sea wascompletely changed to conform with a system devised bythe International Association of Lighthouse Authorities(IALA). The intention is that the IALA system will beextended to embrace all the waters of North-West Europe.Navigators need to be familiar with this system (andindeed every other system encountered) so that they reactinstinctively when using the buoyage system.

Theessential feature of the 'IALA Maritime Buoyage System A'is red for port-hand and green for starboard-hand buoys.The 'lateral' buoys, which indicate the port andstarboard hands of well-defined channels, are painted redfor port-hand buoys and green for starboard-hand buoys. Aport-hand is can-shaped and has a can as a top mark and astarboard-hand buoy is conical in shape and has a cone asa top mark.

By night a port-hand buoy is distinguished by its redlight and a starboard-hand buoy by its green light.

A buoy used to indicate the direction of deeper waterrelative to it is called a 'cardinal buoy'. Such buoysare pillar or spar buoys in combinations of black andyellow colours, with black double-cone top marks. A Northcardinal buoy is one that should be passed to the northof the buoy, is painted black above yellow and has a topmark consisting of two black cones, both pointingupwards. A South cardinal buoy is painted yellow aboveblack and has a top mark consisting of two black conesboth pointing downwards. An East cardinal buoy is paintedblack with a single broad yellow band and has a top markof two black cones base to base. A West cardinal buoy ispainted yellow with a single broad black band and has atop mark consisting of two black cones point to point.

A cardinal buoy exhibits a white light, thecharacteristics of which are based on a group of veryquick or quick flashes, which distinguishes it first as acardinal mark and then indicates its quadrant. Thedistinguishing flashes are:

North Cardinal: uninterrupted flashes
East Cardinal: 3 Flashes in a group
South Cardinal: 6 flashes in a group
West Cardinal: 9 Flashes in a group.

ABBREVIATIONS USED IN LIGHTLIST Abt. About Alt. Alternating Amb. Amber Aux. Auxiliary Bear'g(s) Bearing(s) Betw'n Between Blk. Black Bl. Blast(s) Brkwtr. Breakwater Br. Bridge when already been spelt in full B.W.H.S. Blk. And Wh. Horiz. Stripes B.W.V.S. Blk. And Wh. Vert. Stripes Comm. Commencing Cheq. Chequered Con. Conical Chann. Channel Circ. Circular Dir. Lt. Direction Light Dist. Sigs. Distress Signals Dur. During Diamd. Diamond Diaph. Diaphone E. East E. Car. East Cardinal E. F. Horn Electric Fog Horn Fix. Fixed F. Fl. Fixed and Flashing F. Gp Fl. Fixed and Group Flashing Fog Det'r Lt. Fog detector Light Fl. Flash(es), Flashing Ft. Foot, Feet Giv. Gives, Giving Grn. Green Gp. Group Hd. Head Ho. House Harb. Harbour IALA International Association of Lighthouse Authorities Iso. Isophase Isl. Island Inn. Inner Lifebt. Lifeboat L. Fl. Long Flashing (a flash at 2 seconds or more) Lt(s) Light(s) Ldg. Leading m. metres Ml(s) Miles Mk. Mark Mo. Morse Code Fog Sig. Nr. Near N North N Car. North Cardinal Occ. Occulting Out. Outer Or. Orange Occasn(y) Occasionally Obsc. Obscured Pt. Point Prev. Previous Pierh'd Pierhead Racon Radar Responder Bn. Ra. Refl. Radar Reflector R.C. Non-directional Radio Beacon Ro Bn. Radio Beacon Rlwy(s) Railway(s) R.T. Radio Telephone R.W.H.S. Red and White Horizontal Stripes S South S. Car. South Cardinal S.D.S. Special Distress Sig. Stf. Staff Str(s) Stripe(s) Sq. Square Stmr.(s) Steamer(s) Spher. Spherical Sect. Sector Sig.(s) Signal(s) Thro. Through Triang. Triang(le)ular Tyfon Fogtyfoon (U) Unwatched Vert. Vertical(ly) Vis. Visible Vi. Violet V. Qk. Fl. Very Quick Flashing (100 or 120 flashes per minute W West W. Car. West Cardinal Wh. White W/T Wireless X Diagonal Cross Yd(s) Yard(s)