AIDS TO NAVIGATION (ATON)
Aids to Navigation can provide a boater with the same type of information
drivers get from street signs, stop signals, road barriers, detours and traffic
lights.
Safety Tips
- Unless the appropriate chart is consulted, a boater may not know the
meaning of a buoy.
- Never pass too close to a buoy.
- Don’t rely solely on a single ATON to determine position, as buoys may
shift from charted positions
Know the Local Area
Before casting off, it is extremely important to identify local hazards requiring special attention. Good sources of local information are marina operators, Harbor Masters and other boat owners. Another source is the USCG publication “Local Notice to Mariners” which lists construction hazards and other important local information.
When boating in an unfamiliar area, ask these questions to learn if there are unique local hazards:
- Are there low-head dams on the rivers? Find out the location of take-out (portage) areas above the dams.
- What are the class of rapids, areas of white water, wave heights, and current water levels?
- Are there localized sudden winds or wind sheers?
- What is the state of the local tides and currents?
- Are there overhead cables, bridges, or heavy boating traffic in certain areas?
Charts
- Published by the National Oceanic &
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Charts are mariner’s guides to
navigation.
- For areas where NOAA charts are not available, private companies, such
as GMCO, may produce local maps.
- The mariner who uses charts and learns of local hazards will be a safer, more knowledgeable boat operator.
Interference with or Damage to Aids to Navigation
No person, shall take possession of or make use of for any purpose, or build
upon, alter, deface, destroy, move, injure, obstruct by fastening vessels
thereto or otherwise, or in any manner whatever impair the usefulness of any
aid to navigation established and maintained by the United States.
U.S. Aids To Navigation System
The waters of the United States and its territories are marked to assist
navigation by the U.S. Aids to Navigation System. This system employs a simple
arrangement of colors, shapes, numbers and light characteristics to mark
navigable channels, waterways and obstructions adjacent to these.
- Aids may be anything from lighted structures, beacons, day markers, and
range lights, to floating buoys.
- Each aid has a purpose for determining location, getting from one place
to another or avoiding danger.
- The U.S. Aids to Navigation System is intended for use with nautical
charts published by NOAA.
- Charts show the coastline, buoys and beacons, depths of water, bridge
heights, land features, directional information, marine hazards and other
pertinent information.
Beacons
- Beacons are aids to navigation structures that are permanently fixed to
the earth's surface. They range from lighthouses to small, single-pile
structures and may be located on land or in the water.
- Lighted beacons are called lights; unlighted beacons are called
daybeacons.
- Beacons exhibit a daymark to make them readily visible and easily
identifiable.
- Generally, the daymark, during daylight hours, means the same as a light
or reflector at night.
- Buoys (floating aids that come in many shapes and sizes), moored to the
seabed by concrete sinkers with chain or synthetic rope moorings of various
lengths connected to the buoy body. Convey information to the boater by their shape or color, by the
characteristics of a visible or audible signal, or a combination of two or
more such features.
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