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(1) BUOYAGE SYSTEM

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are, when practicable, colored to conform to the coloring of buoys, subject to the above conditions as to background.

Reflectors are placed on some buoys or day beacons to enable the navigator, using a searchlight, to readily locate such aids.

Significance of light characteristics

A system of four characteristics of flashes is used on lighted buoys to distinguish their principal purposes, corresponding in part to the color distinctions that are made in buoys for use by day.

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1 The first 2 characteristics (quick flashing) are shown on lighted buoys marking features requiring par ticular attention.

For a complete description of the significance of colors, shapes, and numbers of buoys and the characteristics of lights used on lighted buoys, see the introduction to the Light Lists published by the United States Lighthouse Service.

The United States Lighthouse Service has recently adopted a uniform method of marking for the Intracoastal Waterway to be gener ally applied south of Norfolk, both on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The present aids will be changed as rapidly as practicable and all aids subsequently established will conform with this system.

In proceeding in a southerly direction along the Atlantic coast and thence generally westerly along the Gulf coast, the port hand is considered as on the left, starboard on the right, and aids are colored and numbered accordingly. The use of the triangle or square and the color yellow, as indicated below, will be characteristic of the aids marking any part of the Intracoastal Waterway.

Red Lights, starboard side, surmounting red superstructures with red triangular day marks with yellow borders, even numbers in white at the center of the day mark.

White or Green Lights, port side, surmounting black superstructures with black square day marks with yellow borders, odd numbers in white at the center of the day mark.

Day marks or unlighted beacons, starboard side, red triangles with yellow borders, even numbers in white at the center of the day mark. Day marks or unlighted beacons, port side, black square with yellow borders, odd numbers in white at the center of the day mark.

Single pile structures on which the triangular or square day marks are not used will be fitted with a pointer board directed toward the channel. The top half of the starboard piles, including the pointer board, will be red with even white numbers; the top half of the port

piles, including the pointer board, will be black with odd numbers in white.

Where the Intracoastal Waterway traverses channels in rivers and inlets already marked as entered from seaward the numbering, coloring, etc., of aids in the latter will remain unchanged. In such cases a yellow triangle or square is added to day marks or to buoys to indicate the relation of the aid to the Intracoastal Waterway.

Light Lists, including fog signals; Local Light and Buoy Lists, including lights, fog signals, buoys, and day marks. All aids to navigation maintained by the United States Lighthouse Service are described in these publications, which are for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C., or by numerous sale agencies. The various lists published are given under Publications in the appendix of this volume. Each of these publications also lists the radio beacons operated by the United States Lighthouse Service and the radio direction-finder stations operated by the United States Navy.

Mariners are referred to the above publications for detailed information regarding the characteristics, power, visibility, etc., of lights, as well as a description of light structures and day marks, buoys, fog signals, etc. Such information is not given in this Coast Pilot volume except for a few of the more important aids.

The above light lists also contain (in the introduction) considerable information of general value to mariners. This includes a description of the character and power of lights and of light sectors and distances at which lights can be seen, information regarding the use of radio-beacon signals, distance-finding stations, and radio direction-finding stations and notes regarding sound-in-air fog signals, submarine oscillators and bells, whistle and bell buoys, lightships, and lighthouse tenders.

The Notice to Mariners is a weekly publication giving all changes in aids to navigation as well as recent chart correction data. This publication will be mailed free to mariners who apply to the Superintendents of Lighthouses, or single copies may be obtained or consulted at the offices of the Superintendents of Lighthouses, or the Coast and Geodetic Survey Field Stations, or other agencies distributing marine information.

Defects in Aids to Navigation.-Aids to navigation are protected by law, and mariners in their own interest should use every precaution to avoid collisions with them. Mariners are requested to report defects in the aids to navigation direct to the Superintendent of Lighthouses of the district concerned by commercial radio, by radio communication with lightships, or other prompt means.

Suggestions as to Aids to Navigation.-Mariners are also invited to send suggestions as to improvements or changes in aids to navigation directly to the Superintendents of Lighthouses, as listed below, or to confer with them, or to address the Commissioner of Lighthouses, Washington, D. C.

Dangers, Changes in Channels, Shoals, etc.-Mariners are requested to send important facts affecting the charts or other publications of the Coast and Geodetic Survey promptly to the Director of the Coast and Geodetic Survey, Washington, D. C., or to the nearest Coast and Geodetic Survey Field Station. The Field Stations are listed in the appendix of this volume.

(1) RADIO BROADCASTS

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Communication with outlying light stations.-All stations having radio communication facilities observe watch on 500 kilocycles during the first 15 minutes of each hour from 8 a. m. to 8:15 p. m. standard time for radiotelegraph communication. Information of importance in the maintenance of aids to navigation or other urgent matters from vessels may be transmitted at such times. Should the radio beacon be in operation for regular schedule, fog, or thick weather, it will not be interrupted for such communication except in matters of extreme urgency. Calling and brief communication can be carried on during the silent periods of the radio beacons. (See Light and Buoy Lists, United States Lighthouse Service, for signal characteristics and operating times.)

The district offices of the Lighthouse Service in the area covered by this publication are:

KEY WEST, FLA., Superintendent of Lighthouses, Seventh District.-Includes the waters of Florida from Hillsboro Inlet Light Station to Suwanee River. NEW ORLEANS, LA., Superintendent of Lighthouses, Eighth District.-Includes the waters of Florida (from Suwanee River), Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.

Radio broadcasts.-The United States Lighthouse Service makes official announcement from time to time of the more important Notice to Mariners data, covering the establishment of new aids to navigation, changes in existing aids, or emergency happenings relating to aids to navigation which shipping interests should receive without delay.

Broadcast announcements are preceded by the introductory words "Lighthouse Services-Notice to Mariners" and are concluded by a signature as "Lighthouse Superintendent New Orleans" and are transmitted by the stations listed in H. O. Publication No. 205 at the time and on the frequency designated. Emergency broadcasts announcing unusual happenings are made at any time using the 500kilocycle frequency. Lighthouse Tenders also make emergency broadcasts in this manner when necessity therefor occurs.

These radio broadcasts are supplemental to other established means of disseminating Notices to Mariners and are not in lieu thereof.

Hydrographic Office Publication No. 205, Radio Aids to Navigation, gives a schedule of hydrographic broadcasts. The Hydrographic Office also publishes from time to time a schedule sheet of marine broadcasts from United States Naval Radio Stations; this covers the transmitting schedules for Time, Weather, Hydrographic, and Ice.

Determination of Compass Error by the Use of Navigational Ranges.Navigational ranges provide a convenient means of determining compass error for the headings along the ranges when a vessel is entering or leaving a port or harbor. However, extreme caution should be exercised in the matter. Definite information as to the correct azimuth of any particular range is absolutely necessary; also, the permanency of the range should be taken into consideration.

The azimuths of channel ranges, which have been determined with sufficient accuracy for compass error determination, will be indicated in degrees and minutes in the Light Lists and in the Notice to Mariners. Azimuths given only in degrees should not be used for this purpose.

Channel ranges that are subject to changes in location may lead to serious misinformation if used for the determination of the compass error. If a change has taken place, the exact data relating to the change in azimuth may not be made immediately available in the Notices to Mariners or otherwise.

It is not considered good practice to derive the azimuth of a channel range from the chart. The scale of the chart and other considerations will usually prevent cartographic plotting of the azimuths to a degree of accuracy desired for the purpose of determining compass error. Furthermore, the chart may not show the latest known positions of the objects of the range (this will not effect the safe navigation of the channel, if the vessel follows the existing range beacons actually marking the channel).

Along short reaches of the channel ranges, sufficient time may not be available for the requisite steadying of the compass along the course of the range and this will cause inaccuracies in observing for compass error.

When a known area of local magnetic attraction would interfere with such use of ranges, a note describing local attraction will be found on the chart.

THE UNITED STATES HYDROGRAPHIC OFFICE

The Hydrographic Office of the United States Navy exists for the improvement of the means for navigating safely the vessels of the United States Navy and of the mercantile marine by providing accurate and cheap nautical charts, sailing directions, navigators, and manuals of instruction for the use of all vessels of the United States, and for the benefit and use of navigators generally.

The Hydrographic Office publishes nautical charts, light lists and sailing directions (pilots) for the navigable waters of foreign countries; it also publishes numerous special charts, books, manuals, and tables of interest to navigators and aviators.

The charts and coast pilots pertaining to the territorial waters of the United States and its possessions are published by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.

Among the publications of the Hydrographic Office are monthly pilot charts for the various oceans (one for Central American waters), a weekly hydrographic bulletin and a daily memorandum of information of interest to navigators. These publications can be secured by mariners who cooperate with the bureau by furnishing certain desired marine data.

The Hydrographic Office prepares navigational warnings for the Hydrographic radio broadcasts. The Hydrographic Office Publication No. 205, Radio Aids to Navigation, gives the broadcasting schedules of the United States Naval Radio Stations for Time, Weather, Hydrographic and Ice. An abstract of these radio broadcasting schedules is also published from time to time in sheet form convenient for posting in the ship radio room.

Branch Hydrographic Offices maintained at cities within the area covered by this volume are located as follows:

New Orleans, La., room 215, Customhouse.
Galveston, Tex., room 301, Customhouse.

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In these offices, bulletins are posted giving information of value to mariners who can also avail themselves of publications pertaining to navigation and facilities for correcting their charts from standards. No charge is made for this service.

THE UNITED STATES ENGINEERS

The improvement of the rivers and harbors of the United States and miscellaneous civil works are under the charge of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army.

The miscellaneous civil works under the Corps of Engineers include the administration of the Federal Laws enacted for the protection and preservation of navigable waters of the United States, the establishment of regulations for the use, administration, and navigation of navigable waters, the approval of plans of bridges, the alteration of obstructive bridges, the establishment of anchorage grounds and harbor lines, the removal of sunken vessels obstructing or endangering navigation, the granting of permits for structures or operations in navigable waters, etc.

The attention of navigators is cailed to the various publications of the United States Engineers relative to matters of nautical interest, which are listed under Publications in the appendix of this volume.

The area with which this Coast Pilot is concerned lies within the South Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico Divisions of the United States Engineers. Division Headquarters for the South Atlantic Division are at Norfolk, Va., and for the Gulf of Mexico Division at New Orleans, La. Á list of the district offices and their locations in these divisions is given below. Information concerning the various ports, improvements, channel depths, navigable waters, and the condition of the Intracoastal Waterway in the areas under their jurisdiction may be obtained direct from the District Engineer Offices.

DISTRICT OFFICES-UNITED STATES ENGINEERS

Jacksonville, Fla., District (South Atlantic Division):

Dyal-Upchurch Building, 4 East Bay Street, Jacksonville, Fla. This district includes the waterways and harbors of the State of Florida, east of and including the Aucilla River, except Fernandina Harbor, St. Marys River, Ga. and Fla., and their tributaries; it also includes the watersheds of the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers in the State of Georgia.

This district has suboffices at Miami Beach, Clewiston, and Tampa, Fla.

Mobile, Ala., District (Gulf of Mexico Division):

306 Staples-Powell Building, Mobile, Ala.

This district includes the western portion of the State of Georgia, the northwestern portion of the State of Florida, the State of Alabama, except the extreme northern portion, the eastern portion of the State of Mississippi, and a small portion of the State of Louisiana and Tennessee. It includes, specifically, the harbors on the coast of Mississippi and Alabama, the harbors in the northwestern portion of Florida, and all rivers flowing into the Gulf of Mexico west of and including Aucilla River, in Florida, to and including the Pearl River, La. and Miss.

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