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PCOC Boating Test: Buoy numbers, tops, lights and markings

How buoys are classified, odd and even numbers, flat and conical tops, light and reflector colours, the PRIV marking and how to recognise hazard, keep out, control, mooring and swimming buoys.

  • 14 questions
  • Topic drill
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Buoy numbers, tops, lights and markings · Question 1Score 0/0

What do the letters 'PRIV' on a buoy tell you?

Study reference: An Owner's Guide to Private Buoys (Transport Canada, 2021), Ch. Buoy selection and examples — classifications, size, lights, colours, Figures 1–9

All 14 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

  1. What do the letters 'PRIV' on a buoy tell you?

    1. It marks a priority channel
    2. It is for police use only
    3. It is a privately owned buoy
    4. It marks a private beach

  2. What colour light do special buoys such as swimming or control buoys show?

    1. Green
    2. Red
    3. White
    4. Yellow

  3. What kind of numbers does a green port hand buoy carry?

    1. Depth in metres
    2. Odd numbers
    3. Even numbers
    4. Letters only

  4. What is a white buoy with orange covering its top third?

    1. A swimming buoy
    2. A keep out buoy
    3. A cautionary buoy
    4. A mooring buoy

  5. You see a white buoy with an orange diamond containing an orange cross. What does it mean?

    1. All vessels are banned from the area
    2. A speed limit is in effect in the area
    3. A rock or shoal lies below
    4. Information about a marina

  6. A white buoy has an orange square with the words 'MARINA' inside. What kind of buoy is it?

    1. A keep out buoy
    2. A control buoy
    3. An information buoy
    4. A hazard buoy

  7. What does the black symbol inside the orange circle of a control buoy show?

    1. The distance to shore
    2. The buoy owner's name and phone number
    3. The water depth
    4. The boating restriction in effect

  8. Which object should never be used as a buoy?

    1. A rigid plastic foam buoy
    2. A bleach jug or steel drum
    3. A moulded plastic buoy
    4. A commercially made spar buoy

  9. Which of these might a yellow cautionary buoy be warning you about?

    1. An aquaculture site
    2. A public swimming beach
    3. The centre of a channel
    4. A safe mooring

  10. What kind of numbers does a red starboard hand buoy carry?

    1. Letters only
    2. Odd numbers
    3. Compass bearings
    4. Even numbers

  11. At night, what colour light does a lighted port hand buoy show?

    1. Green
    2. White
    3. Red
    4. Yellow

  12. On a lake where the 'upstream' direction is hard to tell, which buoys may be the best way to mark a hazard?

    1. Cardinal buoys
    2. Starboard hand buoys
    3. Port hand buoys
    4. Mooring buoys

  13. What kind of top does an unlighted starboard hand buoy have?

    1. A round top
    2. A pointed (conical) top
    3. A yellow X topmark
    4. A flat top

  14. How many types of lateral buoys are there?

    1. Two
    2. Four
    3. Six
    4. Eight

Buoy numbers, tops, lights and markings: key rules to remember

Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗

Buoy selection and classifications

  • Small craft / low traffic areas usually need only port (green), starboard (red) and cautionary (yellow) buoys.
  • In uncharted waters or lakes where "upstream" is hard to identify, cardinal buoys may be best.
  • Six lateral types: port hand, starboard hand, port bifurcation, starboard bifurcation, fairway, isolated danger. They show the side on which they can be safely passed.
  • Four cardinal buoys (North, South, East, West): show where the safest or deepest water is by compass point.
  • Special buoys give information not primarily meant for navigation.

Size, PRIV marking, material

  • Minimum above-water size 15.25 cm (6") wide and 30.5 cm (12") high.
  • "PRIV" on two opposite sides (white on red/green/black, black on white/yellow) plus the owner's name, address and phone number.
  • Don't use steel drums, barrels, propane cylinders, bleach bottles or jugs as buoys.

Lights and retroreflective material

  • Lighted private buoys show their light continuously in darkness and poor visibility.
  • Lateral buoys: retroreflective material the same colour as the light (green port, red starboard).
  • Special buoys (cautionary, control, hazard, information, keep out, mooring, swimming): yellow light, yellow retroreflective material; orange material added to orange symbols.

Owner responsibilities

  • Owners must keep buoys in position and in good order and may be held liable for accidents involving their buoy.

Figures 1-9

  • Port buoy: green, letters and ODD numbers, flat top if unlighted, green light. Marks the left side of a channel or a danger kept on your left going upstream.
  • Starboard buoy: red, letters and EVEN numbers, pointed (conical) top if unlighted, red light. Kept on your right going upstream.
  • Cautionary buoy: yellow; warns of aquaculture, firing ranges, racing courses, seaplane bases, underwater structures, no safe through passage, traffic separation; yellow X topmark if any.
  • Hazard buoy: white with an open orange diamond on two sides and two orange bands; marks rocks, shoals, turbulent water.
  • Swimming buoy: white; marks the perimeter of a swimming area.
  • Information buoy: white with an open orange square; black words or symbols (marina entrance, campsite).
  • Mooring buoy: white with orange covering the top third.
  • Control buoy: white with an open orange circle; a black symbol inside shows the restriction under the VORR.
  • Keep out buoy: white with an orange diamond containing an orange cross; all vessels prohibited from the area.

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