this post was submitted on 27 May 2025
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Port and starboard are easy enough in a powerboat (of the type I am familiar with). Tie up port side, sit on starboard (steer board) side to steer.
But what is most fun is remembering what direction in a channel one is travelling in an area where the channels merge.
Red right return
Instructions unclear
Are we returning or leaving? Where did the channel end and the new one begin? I go through that enough for it to be a problem, but not enough to remember where they switch direction.
Because the other response was less than helpful, and I was curious myself, I found this great page!
It explained a few types of markers and how to interpret them
https://www.boaterexam.com/navigationrules/aids-to-navigation/
There’s a buoy that is supposed to mark where channels join (not shown in the link), but they’re not in use in my area. The channels are a bit like a side road joining up with a curve in the main road, except being a channel the buoys aren’t exactly dense. So, in my case, i can travel in a straight line and the markers switch sides. I remember that one, but there’s another three that are similar in nature that I don’t get to frequently and have to think about. The added fun is that the are is a bunch of channels in a pile of rocks (islands) in a body of water; it’s not like I’m travelling up or down a river.
I have charts, but that would be cheating. also worth observing that the area is not dangerously busy.
If you don’t know if you’re returning or leaving in a channel you really shouldn’t be there to begin with
That's how I learnt - but I learnt in the US and it's the opposite here in Europe (Buoyage zone A I believe). Just for S&Gs I guess
Right, all these people with mnemonics and whatnot to remember port and starboard; I just remember that port is on the port side when you dock.
Perhaps for Americans it's harder, seeing as they park on the wrong side of the road.