BOATsmart! Canada
Knowledge Base

If you’re boating upstream, and you encounter a red marker buoy, should you keep the buoy on your right side, or your left? Not sure? Here’s an easy way to remember: “Red, right, returning”.

Here’s how it works:

‘Red Right Returning’ refers to keeping the RED buoy on the RIGHT side of your boat when:

• Returning to a harbor
• Boating upstream
• Entering a channel from seaward