Aids to Navigation:

Aids to Navigation are devices or systems external to a pleasure craft, designed and located to help vessel operators determine his or her position and course.  They also warn vessel operators of dangers or obstructions, and advise the operator of the best or preferred route.

Aids to navigation (such as marine traffic routes, buoys, lighthouses, and daybeacons), are shown on charts.  7 X 50 binoculars are best to help you see them on the water.  7 is the amount of magnification, 50 is the lens diameter in mm.  Higher magnification is only useful on a steady platform.  Large diameter, such as 50,  lets in lots of light, especially helpful at night.  (knowing your position, and the relative position of what you're looking for, will tell you which way to look).

The vessel shown above is returning home, coming in off the lake.  Coming in off the lake is considered heading "upstream" for buoyage purposes.  Even entering a marinas' buoyed channel, is considered to be heading "upstream".  Remember this tip; red, right, returning. (keep red buoys on your right). Notice that taking the right or left route, is upstream;  red buoys on your right, taking either route.  Continue on somewhat, then turn around and head back out - you do the reverse, (keep red on your left).  But lets say you don't head all the way back out; You decide to make the turn at the junction buoy, and go up that way.  It's now "upstream" again - keep red on your right.

Are you heading upstream . . . or downstream?

Passing on the wrong side of a red or green buoy may result in a collision with a submerged obstruction!

Under the Canadian Aids to Navigation System, starboard-hand buoys (red), must be kept on your right side, and port-hand buoys (green), must be kept on your left side, when proceeding in the upstream direction.

Since   many   waterways have no well defined inlet or outlet, pleasure craft operators must refer to the local charts in order to determine with certainty, which direction is "upstream" for buoyage purposes.  Let's look at the Small Craft Route which takes us through the 30,000 Islands of Eastern Georgian Bay;

Between Port Severn and Parry Sound, 55 ½ miles to the north, there is no prevailing stream or current.  Therefore an arbitrary determination of what direction is considered "upstream" had to be made.  Authorities decided that a northerly cruise from Port Severn, along the "inside" or Small Craft Route would be deemed "upstream" for buoyage purposes.

However, on the Main Shipping Tracks, approaching a port or harbour from seaward, (coming in off the lake, or ocean), is considered to be travelling upstream.  For this reason, the buoyage system may appear to be reversed where a Small Craft Route intersects with a Main Shipping Track, as it does at Parry Sound and Port Severn.  Follow your chart carefully, continually as you travel!  You should always know ahead of time, what the next buoy should be, and on which side of it you must pass!

The Solid red line above, marks a Small-Craft Route, (arrow near Picnic Pt points in the upstream direction).  But, notice the pair of red-dash lines and its arrow direction.  If you are on this route, you are returning from offshore.  Returning from offshore is considered to be headed "upstream".  So, you have been keeping the red buoys on your right, all the way in so far.  But now you reach a bifurcation (junction), the main shipping channel now intersects with the small craft route.  If you go right at the junction buoy, (buoy GRG in the centre of the triangle) you are now considered to be proceeding downstream; notice the other arrow indicating the upstream direction.  From this point on, you must suddenly keep red on your left!  [So many boats coming the other way were running aground on Sweet Shoal, OBL persuaded the Coast Guard to place a green buoy (MP5) close beside MP4 so unwary boaters would avoid the shoal by passing between them].