What is a red and white buoy?

Anthony, age 10, from Connecticut asks: Why is the Bedford Buoy red and white?

Great question Anthony! Although I don't have an available nautical chart of this area, a red and white vertically striped marker indicates a fairway or safewater marker.

Usually this is found at the entrance to an inlet or other body of water when returning from sea. Many times these will be designated as MO(A) buoys. This MO(A) stands for Morse Code Alpha.

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This buoy's light characteristics would be the Morse Code for Alpha or the letter A. That is a short and a long light sequence ().

You can pass to either side of the marker and can expect to see additional red markers on your right and green markers on your left marking the entrance channel.

To find more about buoys, also called Aids to Navigation, be sure to check out Chapter 6 in the Nautical Know How Basic Boating Course or try the new tutorial movie.

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