South Cardinal Buoy
- A south cardinal buoy is located so that the safest water exists to the south of it.
- Top-marks pointing downward.
- black band below yellow band
East Cardinal Buoy
- An east cardinal buoy is located so that the safest water exists to the east of it.
- Top-marks pointing away from each other:
- Black bands above and below a yellow band
West Cardinal Buoy
- A west cardinal buoy is located so that the safest water exists to the west of it.
- Top-marks pointing towards each other:
- Black band with yellow bands above and below.
Cardinal marks also have a special system of flashing white lights. The rhythms are basically all “very quick” (VQ) or “quick” (Q) flashing but broken into varying lengths of the flashing phase. “Very quick flashing” is defined as a light flashing at a rate of either 120 or 100 flashes per minute, “quick flashing” is a light flashing at either 60 or 50 flashes per minute.
