Aids to Navigation — Road Signs of the Waterway

Safety Tips

• A safe boater will always have the appropriate nautical chart(s) onboard their vessel. The exact meaning of an aid to navigation may not be clear to the boater unless the appropriate chart is consulted.
• Boaters who pass too close to a buoy risk collision with a buoy, the buoy's mooring, or with the obstruction which the aid marks. Boaters must not rely solely on any single aid to navigation for determining their position, particularly buoys. Environmental conditions, seabed slope, composition, and collisions or other accidents may cause buoys to shift from their charted positions, sink or capsize.
• Boaters should not come close to beacons due to the danger of collision with riprap (stones/broken rocks), structure foundation, or with the obstruction/danger which the aid marks. Always maintain a safe distance from all aids to navigation.