Sea Lanes, Channels and Buoys by wallyweb----------------------------
GRFiD: 57421210
Version: 1.0
© 2016 wallyweb
License: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0
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Description:Channels is a GRF of buoys and channel markers as newobjects designed as an aid to guide ships safely to their destinations via the most direct route possible.
The GRF's channel marker is a water tile object that when set to transparent will display a concealed marking such that the player can easily determine which water tiles have been marked.
The concept is that ships will not enter object tiles.
By stringing a series of these tiles, the player can control the movement of a ship.
The player can construct a channel by placing two strings in paralell with normal water tiles separating the two strings.
The game's default navigation buoy can be used to guide a ship into a channel.
The GRF's buoys can be placed along with the channel markers so that the channel can be seen by the player.
If the player wants to include a touch of realism the following sections describe the buoys available in the GRF and their appropriate usage.
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Conventions:This GRF's buoys are loosely drawn and coloured based upon International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) standards.
There are two IALA regions:
Region B (IALA.B): North and South America, Japan and the Philippines.
Region A (IALA.A): The rest of the world.
IALA standards are locally enhanced by a variety of national standards.
channels.grf is based upon Transport Canada publications.
United States Coast Guard (USCG) and Western Australia Department of Transportaion also provide excellent references.
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Definitions:Rules of the road: How a ship should react when encountering another ship.
Port - Left side of the ship
Starboard - Right side of the ship
Safe (deep) water - The sea
Channel - Deep water passage between safe water and a harbour or river.
Upstream - Direction from safe water towards a harbour or the head waters of a river.
Downstream - Direction from a harbour or the head waters of a river towards safe water.
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IALA defines five buoy types: Lateral, Cardinal, Fairway (Safe water), Isolated danger and Special.
Lateral buoys: Solid red or solid green buoys that mark the deep water upstream channel into a harbour.
IALA.B: "red to starboard" and green to port.
IALA.A: "red to port" and green to starboard.
Bifurcation (Junction) buoys: Lateral bouys that mark the prefered channel where a channel splits in two.
marks : | red/green/red bands | green/red/green bands |
IALA.B: | starboard channel | port channel |
IALA.A: | port channel | starboard channel |
The following buoys are common to both regions:
Fairway (Safe water) buoys: Red and white vertical stripes - deep water on all sides.
A ship can pass on any side
EXCEPT if the buoy is placed in the center of a channel in which case it should be kept to the port side of the ship.
[The game's default navigation (waypoint) buoy is a Fairway buoy. In TTDPatch (TTDP) and New Map Features (NMF) it is also used as a docking buoy.]
Cardinal buoys: Deepest water occurs at the side of the mark's name.
Horizontal yellow and black stripes of four band types:
North Cardinal: Black band over yellow band - deepest water North of the buoy.
East Cardinal: Black band over yellow band over black band - deepest water East of the buoy.
South Cardinal: Yellow band over black band - deepest water South of the buoy.
West Cardinal: Yellow band over black band over yellow band - deepest water West of the buoy.
The following buoys are mentioned for interest only and at this time are not used in the GRF:
Isolated danger buoy: An isolated danger buoy indicates there is a danger in the immediate vicinity of the buoy, like a wreck. Ships should keep well clear of it.
Special buoys: A special buoy indicates a special area or an object mentioned on charts or in other nautical documents and publications. On their own, they may not have great navigational significance.
Anchorage Buoys - Cautionary Buoys - Mooring Buoys - Keep Out Buoys - Control Buoys - Information Buoys - Diving Buoy
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Hackalittlebit has provided a patch for cirdan's New Map Features that enables the docking buoy (A dock built on a water tile) as a mooring/anchorage buoy.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------