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AIDS TO NAVIGATION

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Aids to navigation. The lighthouses and other aids to navigation are the principal guides, and mark the approach and channels to the important ports. The buoyage accords with the system adopted in United States waters. The principal coast lights are described in the text of this volume.

The description of all aids to navigation will be found in the following publications of the United States Lighthouse Service.

The Light List, Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, contains complete descriptions of all lighted aids along the coasts mentioned.

Local Light Lists (New England Coast, Maine to Massachusetts; and New York and approaches, Narragansett Bay to Cape May) contain descriptions of all lighted aids, buoys and day marks, in the sections mentioned.

The Light Lists also contain a list of the radiobeacons operated by the United States Lighthouse Service and a list of the United States Navy radio direction-finder stations.

These publications can be purchased from agents in various ports or from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C.

Bridge regulations.-Regulations for lighting bridges over navigable waters, also for lights on sheer booms, piers, dams, and similar obstructions to navigation are prescribed by the Department of Commerce. A copy of these regulations will be sent free of charge to any shipmaster, pilot, or bridge owner on application to the division of publications, Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C. The lighthouse superintendents have immediate authority over lighting of structures in their respective districts and are charged with the enforcement of the regulations. Regulations for the operation of drawbridges are prescribed by the Secretary of War, and extracts from these regulations are given in the description of the waters affected under the heading "Bridge regulations."

Fish weirs.-Regulations prescribe that fishing structures and appliances in navigable waters of the United States shall be lighted for the safety of navigation, as follows:

The lights shall be displayed between sunset and sunrise. They shall be placed at each end of the structure excepting where the inner end terminates in such situation that there is no practicable navigation between it and the high-water line of the adjacent coast, in which case no inner light shall be displayed. The outer light shall be white and the inner light shall be red. The size, capacity, and manner of maintenance of the lights shall be such as may be specified in the War Department permit authorizing the erection of the structure or appliance. When several structures or appliances are placed on one line with no navigable passage between them, they will be considered, for lighting purposes, as one structure.

Regulations for passing dredges are prescribed by the Secretary of War for many channels and are given under the descriptions of the channels.

Lighthouse tenders, when working on buoys in channels or other frequented waters, may display a red flag (international signal-code letter B) and a black ball at the fore, as a warning to other vessels to slow down in passing.

Regulations for avoiding survey boats, prescribed by the Secretary of War, direct that all vessels navigating the tidal waters of

the harbor of New York and its adjacent and tributary waters within a radius of 150 miles (statute) of the Battery, New York, on approaching or passing within 600 feet of floating plant of any character employed by the United States on hydrographic work within the limits named, and which display a black drum and a red flag, shall slow down in passing to a speed of 6 miles (statute) per hour and shall give the craft displaying the said signals as wide a berth as practicable, but not less than 100 feet.

Special signals for vessels employed in hydrographic surveying. By day a surveying vessel of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, under way and employed in hydrographic surveying, may carry in a vertical line, one over the other not less than 6 feet apart where they can best be seen, three shapes not less than 2 feet in diameter of which the highest and lowest shall be globular in shape and green in color and the middle one diamond in shape and white. A vessel of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, when at anchor in a fairway on surveying operations, shall display from the mast during the daytime two black balls in a vertical line and 6 feet apart. At night two red lights shall be displayed in the same manner. In the case of a small vessel the distance between the balls and between the lights may be reduced to 3 feet if necessary.

Such vessels, when at anchor in a fairway on surveying operations, shall have at hand and show if necessary in order to attract attention, a flare-up light in addition to the lights which are, by this regulation, required to be carried.

The wire drags, some of which are over 2 miles long, used by the Coast and Geodetic Survey in sweeping for dangers to navigation, may be crossed by vessels without danger of fouling at any point except between the towing launches and the large buoys near them, where the towline approaches the surface of the water. Steamers passing over the drag are requested to change course so as to cross it approximately at right angles, as a diagonal course may cause the propeller to foul the supporting buoys and attached wires.

Repairs.-New York Harbor and the adjacent localities of Arthur Kill, Kill van Kull, and Hoboken are the principal places where extensive repairs to hulls and machinery of large vessels can be made. Repairs to smaller vessels can be made at the other places named in the following table. Small vessels and motor boats can be hauled out, and minor repairs to machinery can be made at many other places as mentioned under the descriptions of the different ports.

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PILOTS AND PILOTAGE

Pilots. In the States covered by this volume pilotage, with a few unimportant exceptions, which seldom occur, is compulsory for all vessels, both domestic and foreign, engaged in the foreign trade, but not for any class of vessel in the domestic trade. Rates and other information for the more important ports are given in the description of the localities.

Pilots cruise off the entrance of New York Harbor and are always available here and also at points on East River. Local pilots can be obtained on inquiry at most of the larger ports covered by this volume. The masters of towboats are usually licensed pilots.

Towboats are available at New Bedford, Newport, Fall River, Providence, New London, New Haven, Bridgeport, South Norwalk, City Island, New York Harbor and tributaries, and the more important ports on the Hudson River.

Harbor masters are appointed for the principal ports, and they have charge of the anchorage and berthing of vessels in their respective harbors. The anchorage regulations for the port of New York are given in the appendix. The laws prohibit the dumping of ashes or other materials in the channels.

Navigation laws of the United States are published by the Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce, at intervals of four years, the present edition being that of 1931. A supplement is issued after every session of Congress. The volume and supplements can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., price $1 for the volume and 5 cents each for the supplements.

Rules of the road.-International and inland rules to prevent collisions of vessels, lines within which the inland rules apply, and regulation of motor boats are published by the Bureau of Navigation, Department of Commerce, and are included in the appendix of this volume.

Pilot rules for certain inland waters of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico are published by the Steamboat Inspection Service in Form 804.

Copies of these pamphlets are furnished by the officers of the Steamboat Inspection Service, and can also be had from the division of publications, Department of Commerce, Washington, D. C.

QUARANTINE

Quarantine for all ports in the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island is enforced in accordance with the requirements of the United States Public Health Service. There are quarantine officers at Boston, Providence, and Newport.

The quarantine laws of Connecticut govern the ports in that State and local boards of health have the power to make sanitary regulations for the ports under their control. The laws of the State of New York govern the ports of that State, including those on the shore of Long Island. The quarantine laws for the city of New York control vessels westward of Execution Rocks.

Ordinarily there is no special boarding station for vessels coming through the Sound bound to New York. During periods when the necessity for such course has been felt, health officers have been detailed and temporary boarding stations established at or near the Sound entrance of East River. The health officer of the port of New York has his headquarters just above Fort Wadsworth, Staten Island.

In general, where State quarantine is in force, the minimum requirements of quarantine are in accordance with the regulations of the United States Public Health Service. National quarantine regulations will be found at the stations of the service and at American consulates, and will be furnished to vessels upon application, either by officers of the service or by the bureau in Washington, D. C.

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Every vessel should be provided with the quarantine regulations. There is a national quarantine station at Perth Amboy, N. J.

Medical relief.-American merchant seamen are entitled to free medical relief at the expense of the Government, through the United States Public Health Service at its established relief stations. A list of such stations in the region covered by this volume is given below. An American merchant seaman is one engaged on board in the care, preservation, or navigation of any registered, enrolled, or licensed vessel of the United States, or in the service, on board, of those engaged in such care, preservation, or navigation."

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Bridgeport, Conn. (deputy collector of customs).
Ellis Island, N. Y., Marine Hospital No. 43.

Fall River, Mass. (130 Rock Street).

Hartford, Conn. (deputy collector of customs).

New York, N. Y., Marine Hospital No. 70 (67 Hudson Street).
New York, N. Y., out-patient office (barge office).

Nantucket, Mass. (31 Center Street).

New Bedford, Mass. (11 North Orchard Street).
New Haven, Conn. (85 Whitney Avenue).

New London, Conn. (205 William Street).

Newport, R. I. (98 Mill Street).

Perth Amboy, N. J. (customhouse).

Providence, R. I. (403 Federal Building).

Provincetown, Mass. (234 Commercial Street).

Stapleton, N. Y., Marine Hospital No. 21 (Bay Street).
Vineyard Haven, Mass., Marine Hospital No. 22.

WEATHER

Winds.-On Nantucket Shoals and through Nantucket and Vineyard Sounds the prevailing winds are westerly and northwesterly in winter and southwesterly in summer. From Vineyard Sound westward the prevailing winds are northwesterly and northerly in winter and southwesterly and southerly in summer, but subject to many variations at all seasons. (See also the meteorological tables in the appendix.)

Fogs are liable to occur at any season, but are more prevalent from April to October than during the rest of the year. They come most frequently with easterly and southeasterly winds, often with southerly winds, and occasionally with the wind westward of south. Off Montauk Point and Point Judith, winds between south and southwest are nearly as apt to bring fog as those from southeastward. Westerly and northerly winds clear away fog, this holding good for all parts of the Atlantic coast. (For fog conditions in Long Island Sound, see p. 117.)

The following table shows the average number of hours per month, from a record (July 1, 1931, to June 30, 1932), that the fog signals were operated at the stated light stations:

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