How to drive in the channel- and why it's the safest place to be

Knowing the shipping channel could be the most important lesson that you learn on the water as a junior boatie, bar none.

If you’ve completed your boat and jet ski licence; certainly with us, you will have been rigorously tested on your knowledge of the channel- and there's good reason for that. It's because if you're not driving on the correct side of the channel, in other words, you're not following your port or starboard markers (because there's very rarely two lined up, usually, you just got to navigate off one, which we'll get to in a second), then you don't know if you got good water underneath you.

Let me explain that a little bit more detail. If you're driving you’re boat or ski around, and you’re new to the area, that is, you haven't built up local knowledge, you haven't seen it in high tide, you haven't seen it in low tide, you haven't seen it in a neap tide, you haven't felt the run out yet- you’re actually driving blind.

You don't really know where the sandbanks and bombies are, you're just guessing that you have sufficient depth underneath, and that’s extremely dangerous.

Now, maybe you’ve just got your boat and jet ski license, or you've only had it for a couple of weeks and have only ever driven in the dams, it’s understandable how you mightn’t yet fully understand the risks. However, just imagine for a second how it might feel driving at 25 knots down the Caloundra River in your boat with your family, only to slam up on a sandbank and drive the vessel to an immediate and abrupt halt.

People and equipment go flying forward whilst the boat stays still- injuries ensue, sometimes worse. What am I suggesting?

You MUST know how to navigate the channel.

It’s non-negotiable.

This is especially true of rivers and banks on the sunshine coast- the waterways are very narrow, quite tidal and the water level can fluctuate more than 2 meters either

So how do we learn the channel, and where it’s safe to drive?

I’ll teach you right now:

There are 3 things you need to know with the shipping channel:

1.    Marker identification: What are the two types of channel markers.

2.    The phrases: You got to burn a couple of phrases into your brain (which I'll

explain in a second)

3.    The direction of voyage: Which way is back to port.

Let’s have a look at each.

1.    Marker identification.

Okay, there's two types of markers on IALA A (don’t need to know this right now) which is what we're operating here in Queensland- and the rest of Australia. There are two channel markers:

The green marker, which is called a starboard marker and has got a triangle day shape.

The red marker, which is called a port marker and has got a square/can day shape

That’s number 1 done- Red is a port marker like the port wine, Green is a starboard marker.

Remember, this is just what they are called, and it doesn't matter if you're in a boat or

you're in the water swimming, or you're on the beach fishing. The green triangle is always a starboard marker, and the red square is always a port.

2.    The Phrases

There are a bunch of different phrases that recreational and commercial skippers use to remember certain aspect of the water, such as night lights, day shapes and flags. The phrases we need here are strictly speaking about the channel, and there’s two of them to remember.

-        Red Right Out. So, the red marker (port marker) is on my right-hand side when I'm going out to sea. Red ride out. So, when I'm going out, we say “Red Right Out”

-        Red to Red going to bed. Let’s say you’ve had awesome day on the water, caught some fish or cruising around with the kids have fun on the tube, now you’re heading back in. When you come back in, we say “Red to Red Going to Bed”. So, the red marker on your red light, so it's on your left-hand side. it's

That’s it. Two phrases I need you to remember. On the

way out, ‘Red Right Out’ and on the way in, “Red to Red going to bed”

So, now we've covered off on the markers. We know the starboard is

Green- It's a triangle. We know port is Red - and it's a square. We know our phrases, on the way out, heading downstream, is Red Right Out, on the way in or heading upstream, it's Red to Red going to bed. The third and final piece (and honestly the piece that I think most people miss) is the:

3. Direction of Buoyage

If you’re in a river, or estuary or creek, one direction will be out, and one will be in. If you choose the wrong side, because it’s a new area, you could very well be driving on the wrong side of the channel and cause serious damage if the boat enters shallow waters. You must understand that one way will be heading out (downstream), and one way will be heading in (upstream).

Where do you find this information?

The only way you're going to find the direction of voyage is on a map/chart, the QLD Beacon to Beacon guides, or a phone app such as Navionics. Navionics is owned by Garmin and is an absolute thumper of an app. All of these means will show the direction of buoyage as a little arrow (usually a pink arrow) with port and starboard markers either side. The arrow always indicates which way is in (upstream).

So if I look at a chart here Sunshine Coast in Caloundra, the arrow at the entrance of the bar points inwards. So, I know that the Pumicestone Passage runs in from Caloundra Bar all the way to Bongaree beach at Bribie Island South.

In this case, this is because the Brisbane port is a main port and is in that direction, so the river is saying ‘this way is technically heading in, or upstream).

Now, it’s really easy when you have got a red and a green marker next to one another. You simply drive between the two of them, but you've never got two markers- or at least it’s very, very rare. Usually, you’ll only have both markers in a big harbor or coming into a marina. You don't get the port and starboard together often.

Okay, so I got my three pieces of info. I know my red is a port and its a

square. I know my green is a triangle and It's a starboard.

I know my phrases. Red Right Out and Red to Red Going to Bed.

And I know to look for direction of voyage on my map or Navionics to see which way is upstream and downstream.

So lets make this practical. Here’s what you need to ask yourself when you launch your boat or jetski and you’re about to drive away from the boat ramp.

Ask yourself, am I going in or out? (That's the first question you start with).

*Check which one it is.

Then, ask yourself, what's my phrases (Red Right out or Red to Red going to bed)

*Check which one it is.

Then stick to the correct side of the channel markers and you’re good to go.You’re now safely navigating the area because you’ve checked the direction of voyage and

you’ve remembered the phrases. If you turn around, well now you’d be going the opposite way.

You need to know your markers, the phrases and you need to know the direction of buoyage. You simply can't have one without the others- you need to know all three.

It’s important to note that there's no legal obligation to be in the channel, you can drive wherever you want to, but if you're new to your local area and you're still

figuring it out, my candid advice is to go out in a high tide, stay in the channel, and learn the area first.

If you’d like to see our video on the channel, where you can see us driving in the channel and explaining the principle in a bit more detail, please check out our YouTube video below.

Have the best day, and we’ll see you on the water!

• Caloundra Boat and Jetski Training - iLicence