Private Mooring Buoys at the Boat Show

January 23, 2017

TIDAL MARINE AT THE VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL BOAT SHOW

dock floats, buoy, mooring, trade show — Thank you for your enthusiastic help at the show Carolina!

Last week we showcased our new line of marine floatation at the Vancouver International Boat show. Thank you to the Boating BC Association for putting on yet another successful show and to the event staff who made it such an enjoyable, seamless process. A special thanks to everyone who stopped at our booth to check out our products (very special thanks to those of you who placed orders!). Attendees showed particular interest in our line of Transport Canada compliant private buoys. In fact, our mooring buoys were the only ones at the show that met Transport Canada’s design requirements.

Transport Canada Private Buoy Regulations

There are specific design criteria that must be met for a private mooring buoy to be Transport Canada compliant. The following are excerpts can be found in An Owners Guide to Private Mooring Buoys (TP14799E). The full document can be found here. All of our buoys conform to the regulations set forth in the document.

MATERIAL

Rigid molded plastic buoy types are strongly recommended because they are readily available, lightweight and easy to install and handle.

The MB76 Hawser with 522 lbs total displacement. This beautiful buoy is suitable for larger vessels and can accommodate 3/4" mooring chain through the moulded in pipe. — This MB76 can accommodate 5/8″ mooring chain through the moulded in HDPE pipe.

transport canada — The MB45 private mooring buoy is perfect for shallow moorings and small vessels.

SIZE

The PBR require that all private buoys meet minimum above-water dimensions of 15.25 cm (6 inches) in width and 30.5 cm (12 inches) in height.

IDENTIFICATION

All private buoys must display, on two opposite sides, the capital letters “PRIV”. These letters are to be as large as practical. The buoy owner’s current name, address and telephone number must be easy to read, in a permanent manner. Additionally, private mooring buoys must be white in colour with orange covering the top third of the area above the waterline.

CONSEQUENCES OF NON COMPLIANCE

RCMP scooping up illegal mooring buoys in Oak Bay, Victoria. Photo courtesy the Times Colonist

If your private buoy is non compliant, Transport Canada has the authority to issue violation tickets and remove the buoy along with the vessel attached to it. Typically they will provide 30 days notice for offenders to either modify or replace their buoy so that it is compliant. Just like there are rules and regulations for traffic and parking signs on land, the same applies to on the water. Buoyage systems are integral for ensuring the safety of all marine vessels. Improperly marked buoys can create hazards and confusion.

Many guests at the boat show asked about where you can place and if you need to register private mooring buoys in Canada. We will cover this in detail our next post. For our US customers, we sell our buoys with the US Coast Guard compliant horizontal blue stripe as well. Let us know if you have any questions about mooring buoys or anything else on our website by emailing info@tidalmarine.ca or click our ‘Contact Us! buttons on the product pages.