Getting back to what A.M. mentioned, regarding the buoys suddenly changing in the GSB. I've heard from many people who have gotten aground in the State Boat Channel between Gilgo and Captree, that they were confused as to why the buoys are backwards. The reason for this is because the State Boat Channel is charted (and the buoys are laid out and numbered) from Jones Inlet and not Fire Island inlet. It's a little confusing if you're boating in the Great South Bay east of say, Amityville or Copiague where you would assume red right return based on Fire Island Inlet. And you would be correct in every other charted channel EXCEPT the State Boat Channel. It's important to keep that in mind. Another indication is, if the buoy numbers are increasing, you are considered to be heading in from seaward and the red buoy should be kept to the starboard (right side of the boat). If the numbers are decreasing, you are headed out to sea and the reverse is true, red is to be kept to port (the left side of the boat). Most channels aren't that long in the GSB and the general convention of red right return holds true. Being the State Boat Channel runs continuous from Jones Inlet to Captree, it's the one that appears to be backwards on it's eastern end. I hope this helps.
I know, I know, I know
- Thread starter BoatCrazy
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Interesting. If I remember correctly, when we left Zachs and made a left, the red was on my right. After going under the first bridge it switched.
- Joined
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Guess you got lucky. Check your plotter.
You were on wrong side of the buoy.
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2002
- RO Number
- 10265
- Messages
- 9,958
By the way. It is confusing. The blue line is my plotted course. The black dotted line is my actual trail.
As you can see I plotted on wrong side as well but corrected when I got there.
But there is deep water on both sides of that green 9.
As you can see I plotted on wrong side as well but corrected when I got there.
But there is deep water on both sides of that green 9.
If you left Zach's Bay and headed in a westerly direction in Sloop/State Boat Channel, you would be considered to be heading out to seaward towards Jones inlet and orient your boat so the green buoys passed you to starboard and the red to port. As soon as you left the Sloop/State Boat Channel and took another channel headed home you then would be considered returning from seaward and would now keep the red buoys to starboard and the green to port. It helps to think of the channels as one way streets. They're not, but if you think of them that way it helps explain what's going on. Also remember that they are set up, heading from the ocean to the back bays/canals. So if you're navigating in a channel as far as the buoys are concerned, you are either heading out to sea with the buoy numbers decreasing or returning from sea with the buoy numbers increasing. As you break the inlet heading in, the numbers start low and increase, and you pass the buoys with the red to starboard and the green to port. The confusion comes in when you leave one channel and enter another. It's not always obvious and can even seem like one long channel. That is why it's imperative to have paper charts. It's all laid out there. If you boat on the south shore you need chart#12352. It's a booklet, maybe a little bigger than a legal pad and contains all the charts from Rockaway inlet to the west to Shinnecock inlet to the east and parts of Peconic bay I believe. I never go out without them and I refer to them often. They contain a wealth of useful navigation information outside of the obvious. For PC's there's a bunch of great software available and if you're a Mac user like me, MacENC(It's about $99 bucks) is great. You can get any chart you need to download, free from the NOAA ENC website as well as any subsequent updates. Can't stress how important charts are.