Engineering:Daymark

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Short description: Daytime aid to navigation
Daymark on St Martin's, Isles of Scilly
Triangular daymark in the marina of Ystad, 2021
Scharhörn daymark in 1898

A daymark is a navigational aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight.[1]

The word is also used in a more specific, technical sense to refer to a signboard or daytime identifier that is attached to a day beacon or other aid to navigation.[2] In that sense, a daymark conveys to the mariner during daylight hours the same significance as does the aid's light or reflector at night.[3] Standard signboard shapes are square, triangular and rectangular; and the standard colours are red, green, orange, yellow and black.[2]

Notable daymarks

  • Trinity House Obelisk, UK
  • Kingswear Daymark, UK
  • Tasku beacon tower, Finland
  • Keskiniemi beacon tower, Finland
  • Hiidenniemi beacon tower, Finland
  • Laitakari beacon tower, Finland
  • Herring Tower, Langness, Isle of Man
  • Le Hocq, Jersey
  • La Tour Cârrée, Jersey
  • Scharhörnbake, Germany

Symbols used on US charts

Chart symbols used by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department, 2013.[4]

Paper chart Simplified Simplified symbol name
Square or rectangular daymark
Triangular daymark, point up
Triangular daymark, point down
Retro reflector

See also

References

  1. Daymark (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, September 2005, http://oed.com/search?searchType=dictionary&q=Daymark, retrieved 4 October 2021  (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. 2.0 2.1 "Nautical Terms for boating and marine industry terminology". http://www.marineinstitute.org/nautical%20terms.htm#D. 
  3. Light List, Volume II, Atlantic Coast. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. 2015. pp. ix. 
  4. US Chart No. 1: Symbols, Abbreviations and Terms used on Paper and Electronic Navigational Charts. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Department of Defense National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2013. pp. 86.