Buoyage, marks and chart symbols
Buoyage questions test whether you can read a mark at a glance - in daylight and by its light rhythm - and whether you can place it correctly on a lake chart.
Which system
Switzerland, like the rest of Europe, uses IALA Region A: when entering a harbour or following the direction of buoyage, red marks are kept to port and green to starboard. The direction of buoyage is shown by a magenta arrow on the chart, usually pointing towards the harbour or upstream.
Lateral marks
Red can with a red light (Fl R) - port side. Green cone with a green light (Fl G) - starboard side. Numbers increase towards the harbour.
Cardinal marks
The topmark tells you where the safe water lies:
- North: two cones point up, black above yellow, light Q or VQ.
- East: cones base to base, black–yellow–black, Q(3) 10 s.
- South: cones point down, yellow above black, Q(6) + LFl 15 s.
- West: cones point to point (wineglass), yellow–black–yellow, Q(9) 15 s.
Other marks
Safe water - red and white vertical stripes, red ball topmark, occulting or isophase light; marks mid-channel or a landfall. Isolated danger - black with red band or bands, two black balls, Fl(2). Special - yellow with an X topmark: swimming areas, outfalls, nature reserves, regatta areas. New danger - blue and yellow. On Swiss lakes the yellow special marks and shore prohibition signs matter more than the full open-sea set.
Chart symbols
Soundings are in metres; a drying height is underlined. Rocks appear as a cross or dotted outline with the depth over them; wrecks as a hull symbol. Light characteristics are abbreviated (Fl, Q, VQ, Oc, Iso, LFl) with the period in seconds and the nominal range in nautical miles. Lake charts also carry restricted zones, cables, buoy positions and harbour facilities.
Worked example
Sailing east, you find a buoy ahead carrying two black cones point up, black over yellow. Two upward cones mark a north cardinal: safe water lies north of the mark. Steering east and passing on the north side leaves the buoy to starboard. The quick light confirms the cardinals' quick-flash family.
Traps
Mixing Region A and Region B habits; treating yellow special marks as channel marks; ignoring the direction of buoyage when deciding which side a red buoy belongs; confusing Q(3) with Q(9) by ear or by chart.