Marks along the way

Like driving on a highway, sailing on the ocean has signs or marks to guide your way.  And, just like being on the roadway, you can choose to follow them or not.  And, as you might expect, things go better when you follow the planned direction. 

Marks come in assortments.  Some are on fixed posts sticking out of the water with dayboards on them.  The dayboards are typically green and red, but also can have other configurations.  

The boards mark channels, and in most cases it is always better to stay in the channel.  For example, the Houston Ship Channel passes through Galveston Bay for ships heading into Houston from the Gulf of Mexico.  The Houston Ship Channel is about 40 feet deep, just outside the channel is about 9 feet deep. Big ship, 9 feet of water – in seaman’s terms that is called “Being on the hard.”  Channels can also be marked with metal buoys, which may be called cans or nuns.  The greens are often shaped by a cylinder or can, and the reds have little pointy tops, looking a bit like a Catholic Nun in her habit. 

Marks are also numbered.  So that a sailor following their marks should be able to determine their location based on the numbers on the marks.  Often when you are traveling to a particular marina the directions may include “turn at the red 59.”  The sailor would know precisely where they were to turn.  Confusion comes when many channels intersect.  For example, turning into Offutt’s Bayou, just outside of the Intercoastal Waterway near Galveston is at the junction of two channels, so the mark is actually a red/green dayboard.  So for some it is a return to the marina and for some it is the exit from another. 

One thing you have to watch for is marks that are out of place.  It is a pretty serious offense to move or tamper with a mark.  But often marks can “escape” or become so damaged as to be useless.  Kind of like us.  When we become unattached, drift or become so altered that others don’t see the light of Christ in us, then we are marks that are no longer effective.  And sometimes that just happens.  Maybe it’s neglect.  Maybe it’s lack of attention.  Maybe it’s because we put ourselves in places where we don’t serve our designed purpose. 

Let’s make a conscious choice.  To be the Marks we are meant to be, where we are meant to be.