Part C - Cardinal Marks

Jeff Watts

Cardinal Marks

These marks are used to show the extremities of a large area of danger. They are placed at the most northern, eastern, southern or western point of the danger. Aligning the mark with your compass will show you the extent of the danger.

	North cardinal mark
West cardinal mark		East cardinal mark
	South cardinal mark

To remember the shape of the topmarks: North and South point up and down. East topmark is shaped like an Egg. West topmark is shaped like a Wine glass.

To remember the coloring of the pillar: the topmarks are always black, and the triangles point to the black section(s) on the buoy.

To remember the lights: the flashes are arranged in the same way as a clock face - 3, 6, 9 and 12 flashes out of 12. 

The long flash is so the 6 flashes for the south mark are not confused with the 3 or 9 for the east or west marks.

North cardinal mark

Feature	Colour
Buoyage shape	Buoy or a pillar
Buoyage colour	Black Yellow
Topmark shape	2 Triangular, points upward
Topmark colour	Black
Light rhythm	Q or VQ, Continuous flashing
Light colour	White

East cardinal mark

Feature	Character
Buoyage shape	Buoy or a pillar
Buoyage colour	Black Yellow Black
Topmark shape	2 Triangular points outward Egg shaped
Topmark colour	Black
Light rhythm	Q (3) or VQ (3), Three lights flashing in a group
Light colour	White

South cardinal mark

Feature	Colour
Buoyage shape	Buoy or a pillar
Buoyage colour	Yellow Black
Topmark shape	2 Triangular, points downward
Topmark colour	Black
Light rhythm	Q (6)+1 or VQ (6)+1, Six lights flashing in a group then one long flash
Light colour	White

West cardinal mark

Feature	Colour
Buoyage shape	Buoy or a pillar
Buoyage colour	Yellow Black Yellow
Topmark shape	2 Triangular, points inward
Topmark colour	Black
Light rhythm	Q (9) or VQ (9), Nine lights flashing in a group
Light colour	White

A north mark, for example, shows the northern edge of the danger, and so you must keep to the north of a north mark.

Click here to see how these buoys are used.