'Is that a green one or a red one?'
'I can't tell yet, get a bit closer.'
Eyeglasses down, binoculars up.
'It's red.' (Or 'green')
This conversation takes place dozens of times a day.
The buoys serve as a very important navigational and safety tool. How can you tell exactly where you are on the river? There are no street signs to help you; it's all one long street anyway, the Danube, and you're only going up it or, in our case generally, down it.
But every so often, every kilometer when you're lucky and the way is well-marked, otherwise less frequently, there will be a black sign on the shore with the river kilometers written on it in white. Additionally, when you pass a harbour, the town name is usually written on it, or occasionally a landmark such as a castle or fortress gives you a good clue.
To be more accurate, though, you need to follow your way in the navigation charts. We use the 10 volume Verberght series 'DONAU', an invaluable classic resource that shows just about every buoy you're likely to encounter, plus of course much more information, thus allowing you to figure out precisely where in the world you are.
The buoys are painted red or green and this is clearly indicated in the navigational charts. Depending on the way the sunlight hits the buoy, it can be difficult to determine its colour, even with binoculars. So then another clue is helpful: red buoys are cylindrical with flat tops and green ones are pyramidal and point upwards. On the charts, red buoys are represented by red squares, green ones by green triangles.
And this brings us to the real purpose of the buoys, to point out the actual or potential hazards on the route and to direct the river traffic accordingly. You just can't see what's below the surface of the water. There could be a low water region where your keel risks striking the ground. Or often a groyne sticks out into the river from the shore. Sometimes there is even a wreck there below the water which must be avoided. And because a boat like our trawler reacts slowly to the input from the steering wheel, advance notice is necessary.
Going down-river, you must always keep a red buoy on your right side (starboard) and a green buoy on your left side (port) as you pass it. The buoys are often fairly close to the shores so this is somewhat obvious. Then again, when marking some unexpected hazard, they can lie virtually in the middle of the river or even over the middle. They can define your route in unusual ways too, for example , indicating a narrow passage, or directing you well to the opposite side of the river. In any case, like policemen on the roads, they are meant to be obeyed.
The buoys are very often accompanied by gulls! A single gull often sits at the top of a buoy, bobbing along with the motion and flow of the river. The larger buoys with platforms at the base may boast 30 or so gulls. These ones have all been named by us 'Gull City'.
There seemed to be quite a variety of gulls, grey ones, white ones, speckled brown ones, some bigger gulls with wide wing spans and other trim petite gulls. We attempted to make identification with the help of a field guide, but alas, our ageing eyesight let us down. However we did learn a few things, for example, the speckled brown gulls are the young of the species, and there are around 5 different types of gulls who inhabit the European inland waterways.
It's said that 'birds of a feather flock together'. Our observation has shown us that the gulls have a harmonious way of living together. As if they all understand each other's language, they will fly off altogether, whirl around a bit and then settle again on the water or on a buoy. The clever innovative ones seek out a floating log and hitchhike their way down the Danube.
As we go further down the river, there are less and less other boats or ships, fewer settlements and landmarks, naturally also fewer other human beings to give a cheerful wave to. The gulls are like friends merrily met, and the buoys our faithful way-markers.
'Gull City' somewhere on the Danube
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