Gary wrote in news:1vNjf.6503$Eq5.2807@pd7tw1no:

otnmbrd wrote:
"Roger Long" wrote in news:qPkjf.51442$uC3.511
@twister.nyroc.rr.com:


No terribly clear but, buoys were never intended to be used without
charts.



I would disagree with that statement, to a point.
The general flow of buoys (sticking to the East Coast,USA) is North
to South, East to West (E-W is "old school") coming from sea.
What this meant was that if you should see a buoy while moving along
the coast and for whatever reason, you didn't have a chart/chart out
of date/you're lost, based on the "N-S", you would know which side to
pass. With out a doubt, a chart is your best bet to see and
understand what the buoys mean, but be sure you look at the "BIG"
picture of an area to check the overall direction the system is
taking.

otn
That wouldn't work around Vancouver Island. I think your N-S, E-W
premise is wrong. The buoyage system is meant to relate to the
direction of flooding tides and around here it is very difficult,
without a chart and/or tide table, to know which direction the flood
goes.


The N-S is East Coast ..... West Coast is S-N (W-E, old school) and
again this is a general along the coast, coming from sea.
Once you get into (In your case, the Straits and Pujet sound) an
"inland" area, you will need to understand the flow of your area.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting running without charts .... if
anything, I prefer having a small and large scale of an area I'm
transiting ( the small may help you determine tide flow .... barring
stopping and watching, if you don't have tables or some other means of
determining).
My point was, that knowing some buoy basics, can help you figure out a
system as well keep you in clear water when running an area you may not
be readily familiar with.

otn