🔍 Key Concepts

• IALA-B lateral buoyage system in U.S. waters ("red right returning") • Meaning of a quick flashing green light on a buoy in a channel • How to identify and pass starboard-hand vs port-hand buoys when outbound (heading to sea)

💭 Think About

• Think about whether you are inbound (returning from sea) or outbound (heading to sea) and how that changes which side the red and green buoys should be on • Ask yourself: in the IALA-B system, what color and shape marks the starboard side of the channel when returning from sea? What, then, does a green buoy mark? • Consider what a quick flashing light characteristic usually indicates about the mark’s importance or position in the channel, and whether that changes which side you should leave it on

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify which side green lateral marks indicate in U.S. (IALA-B) waters when you are outbound • Confirm that a quick-flashing green still follows the same lateral meaning as other green buoys; the flash rate affects recognition, not which side you pass it on • Make sure you are basing your choice on the color and your direction of travel, not on vague distance wording like "well clear" or "about 50 yards"