How do you know what a cardinal buoy in the distance indicates? Where to go in relation to it? How do I decide my route? Here is a quick treatise on the cardinals that mark our coasts.
There are four cardinal marks: West, North, South and East. They are used to delimit a danger zone. The cardinals are arranged in relation to the geographical dial it indicates.
Thus a North cardinal is placed to the north of the danger and the navigator who wants to avoid this danger must pass to the north of the cardinal.
Cardinals are buoys, turrets or poles. They are painted black and yellow to distinguish the four of them. Two cones on the top also indicate the cardinal.
A cardinal east at low tide hints at danger.
Cardinal North, I'm going North
Cardinale Nord Basse-Melite - east of Port Tudy on Groix Island Cardinale Nord Poulins - West of Belle-Île
If the colours are not distinguishable from a distance, the cones indicate a cardinal and differentiate it. The cones always point towards black.
The cones of the North cardinal point upwards, those of the South point downwards.
To differentiate the cardinal East from West, on the East, the 2 triangles with opposite points form an E (from East) and on the West the 2 triangles point against point form a W (from West which corresponds to West in English).
At night, the lights are easily recognized by their flickering. You have to imagine the dial of a watch. - 3 flashes = 3 hours = East - 6 sparkles + 1 sparkle = 6 hours = South - 9 flashes = 9 hours = West - continuous flicker = 12 hours = North
