🔍 Key Concepts

• Cardinal marks system and what each quadrant buoy (North, East, South, West) is telling you about the safe water direction • The idea that a cardinal buoy indicates where it is safe to pass relative to the danger, not where the danger is located • How the topmarks and colors of cardinal buoys relate to the side on which you should keep them

💭 Think About

• Ask yourself: for an eastern cardinal buoy, on which side (N, S, E, or W) is the safe water located? Once you know the safe side, where must the danger be? • Visualize (or sketch) a compass rose with N–E–S–W and place an eastern quadrant buoy: which sector is being protected, and which sector is the hazard? • Compare an eastern cardinal with a northern cardinal: in each case, does the danger lie on the same side as the buoy’s name or on the opposite side?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be clear on this: a cardinal buoy’s name (N/E/S/W) tells you where safe water is, not where the danger is • Confirm the definition of an eastern quadrant buoy: safe water lies to the east of the danger • Before choosing, mentally mark the danger area opposite the safe sector indicated by the eastern buoy and see which option matches that location