What is the symbol for lighthouses?
In Orca, there is no standardised symbol for lighthouses. Instead, Orca follows the standard for each individual country, so Orca will use whatever symbol the official hydrographic offices in a particular country use.
In many countries, it is a tower symbol:
However, other countries follow different systems.
For example, in Norway, they are marked by a star:
What do the letters and numbers next to lighthouses mean?
Next to each lighthouse is a collection of letters and numbers, which are displayed in this order:
Light Characteristics- These show how the lights behave:
a. Fl (Flashing): Light appears as a single flash at regular intervals.
b. Oc (Occulting): Light is on longer than it is off.
c. Iso (Isophase): Light and dark periods are of equal length.
d. Q (Quick): Continuous rapid flashes.
e. F (Fixed): A continuous, unblinking light.
f. Mo (Morse): Light flashes a Morse code letter.
Colour abbreviations- These show what colours the lights are. They point towards areas of the nearby waters and give information about the safety of the area. Some lighthouses show one colour for the whole area at a given time, whereas others use different colours in different directions to provide more precise guidance. The colours used are the following:
W: White - indicates the safe channels
R: Red - should be avoided, due to hazards and danger
G: Green - marks the turn points or sides of a shipping channel
Y: Yellow - represents unique types of hazards, for example, firing ranges and observation platforms
Number of flashes in a group- This is a number in brackets, which shows how many times the light flashes in the cycle (e.g. (2))
Rhythm- The time in seconds it takes to complete the full cycle, as described in section number 3 (e.g. 8s)
Height- The height in metres of the light above the chart's vertical datum (e.g. 11m)
Example:
A full example would be Oc WRG (2) 8s 11m
This means the light is on longer than it is off, the lights are white, red and green, there are 2 flashes in a group, it takes 8 seconds to complete a full cycle, and the height is 11 metres
What do the lines coming out of the lighthouses mean?
As you can see in this photo, in some areas, lighthouses have lines coming out of them. These lines separate safe zones from dangerous areas, and give you more insight about potential hazards you may come across in the vicinity of the lighthouse.
The colours on the charts signal the safety of the zones:
Pale yellow / Cream areas: These represent safe areas, where the white light from the lighthouse will be pointing to
Clear areas: These represent the areas where red, green, and yellow lights are pointed. Please note that the exact colour of the area on the chart depends on what the base colour of the chart is (e.g., blue for shallow areas or grey for land).
Not all lighthouses have these lines on the charts; instead, they show one colour for the whole area
This information in this article also applies to some flashing buoys