Every week, we present you with a question about your boating license. Whether you're looking to validate your knowledge or discover unexplored areas. This week, we tackle a question on buoyage.
"A green knit and two red stockings"
Channel markers can be conical or cylindrical in shape. Here, we're facing a cone, so this is a starboard marker. It's customary to designate course marks by facing the harbor, as you enter the channel.
In this port, only the shape of the buoy is respected. In fact, this buoy could be green and, if numbered, have an odd number. The phrase "One green knit and two red stockings" is a mnemonic for remembering that green knit = green conical starboard and red stockings = red cylinder port.
The use of yellow buoys, conical or cylindrical, most often corresponds to crossing channels, corresponding to beach access for beach craft, separating them from the bathing area. However, they can also be found in certain ports, often in the Mediterranean, as here in Saint-Raphaël.
In our situation, we're leaving port, so we have to leave the conical marks to port. We are therefore well situated in relation to this buoy. Answers A, "I'm in a channel" and C, "I'm leaving the buoy to port" are therefore the correct ones.
