Chapter XIX: Limits of Inland Waters of the U. S

Inland waters on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts of the United States where the Inland Rules of the Road are to be followed; and inland waters of the United States bordering on the Gulf of Mexico where the Inland Rules of the Road or Pilot Rules for Western Rivers are to be followed.

(All bearings are in degrees true and points magnetic; distances in nautical miles, and are given approximately.)

Cutler (Little River) Harbor, Me.

A line drawn from Long Point 226° (SW. by W. ⅞ W.) to Little River Head.

Little Machias Bay, Machias Bay, Englishman Bay, Chandler Bay, Moosabec Reach, Pleasant Bay, Narraguagus Bay, and Pigeon Hill Bay, Me.

A line drawn from Little River Head 232° (WSW. ⅜ W.) to the outer side of Old Man; thence 234° (WSW. ½ W.) to the outer side of Double Shot Islands; thence 244° (W. ⅝ S.) to Libby Islands Lighthouse; thence 231½° (WSW. ¼ W.) to Moose Peak Lighthouse; thence 232½° (WSW. ⅜ W.) to Little Pond Head; from Pond Point, Great Wass Island, 239° (W. by S.) to outer side of Crumple Island; thence 249° (W. ¼ S.) to Petit Manan Lighthouse.

All harbors on the coast of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts between Petit Manan Lighthouse, Me., and Cape Ann Lighthouses, Mass.

A line drawn from Petit Manan Lighthouse 205½° (SW. ¼ S.), 26½ miles, to Mount Desert Lighthouse; thence 250½° (W. ⅛ S.), about 33 miles, to Matinicus Rock Lighthouses; thence 267½° (WNW. ¾ W.), 20 miles, to Monhegan Island Lighthouse; thence 260° (W. ⅝ N.) 19½ miles, to Seguin Lighthouse; thence 233° (WSW. ⅛ W.), 18¼ miles, to Portland Light Vessel; thence 214½° (SW, ⅜ W.), 29½ miles, to Boon Island Lighthouse; thence 210° (SW.), 11 miles, to Anderson Ledge Spindle, off Isles of Shoals Lighthouse; thence 176¼° (S. by W.) 19½ miles, to Cape Ann Lighthouses, Mass.

Boston Harbor.

From Eastern Point Lighthouse 215° (SW. ⅜ W.) 15¾ miles, to The Graves Lighthouse; thence 139¼° (SSE. ⅜ E.), 7½ miles, to Minots Ledge Lighthouse.

All Harbors in Cape Cod Bay, Mass.

A line drawn from Plymouth (Gurnet) Lighthouses 77½° (E. ⅛ S.), 16¼ miles, to Race Point Lighthouse.

Nantucket Sound, Vineyard Sound, Buzzards Bay, Narragansett Bay, Block Island Sound, and Easterly entrance to Long Island Sound.

A line drawn from Chatham Lighthouses, Mass., 146° (S. by E. ¾ E.), 4⅜ miles, to Pollock Rip Slue Light Vessel; thence 142° (SSE. ⅛ E.), 12¾ miles, to Great Round Shoal Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 229° (SW. by W. ⅝ W.), 14½ miles, to Sankaty Head Lighthouse; from Smith Point, Nantucket Island, 261° (W. ⅜ N.), 27 miles, to No Mans Land Gas and Whistling Buoy, 2; thence 359° (N. by E. ⅛ E.), 8⅛ miles, to Gay Head Lighthouse; thence 250° (W. ⅝ S.), 34½ miles, to Block Island Southeast Lighthouse; thence 250½° (W. ⅝ S.), 14¾ miles, to Montauk Point Lighthouse, on the easterly end of Long Island, N. Y.

New York Harbor.

A line drawn from Rockaway Point Coast Guard Station 159½° (S. by E.), 6¼ miles, to Ambrose Channel Light Vessel; thence 238½° (WSW. ⅛ W.), 8¼ miles, to Navesink (southerly) Lighthouse.

Philadelphia Harbor and Delaware Bay.

A line drawn from Cape May Lighthouse 200° (SSW. ½ W.), 8½ miles, to Overfalls Light Vessel; thence 246¼° (WSW. ½ W.), 3⅛ miles, to Cape Henlopen Lighthouse.

Baltimore Harbor and Chesapeake Bay.

A line drawn from Cape Charles Lighthouse 179½° (S. ½ W.) 10½ miles, to Cape Henry Gas and Whistling Buoy, 2; thence 257° (W. ⅝ S.), 5 miles, to Cape Henry Lighthouse.

Charleston Harbor.

A line drawn from Ferris Wheel, on Isle of Palms, 154° (SSE. ¼ E.), 7 miles, to Charleston Light Vessel; thence 259° (W. ⅞ S.), through Charleston Whistling Buoy, 6 C, 7⅝ miles, until Charleston Lighthouse bears 350° (N. ⅞ W.); thence 270° (W.), 2½ miles, to the beach of Folly Island.

Savannah Harbor and Calibogue Sound.

A line drawn from Braddock Point, Hilton Head Island, 150½° (SSE. ⅝ E.), 9¾ miles, to Tybee Gas and Whistling Buoy, T (PS); thence 270° (W.), to the beach of Tybee Island.

St. Simon Sound (Brunswick Harbor) and St. Andrew Sound.

From hotel on beach of St. Simon Island 15⁄16 mile 60° (NE. by E. ¼ E.), from St. Simon Lighthouse, 130° (SE ½ E.), 6⅞ miles, to St. Simon Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 194° (S. by W. ⅛ W.), 8¾ miles, to St. Andrew Sound Bar Buoy (PS); thence 77° (W.), 4¾ miles, to the shore of Little Cumberland Island.

St. Johns River, Fla.

A straight line from the outer end of the northerly jetty to the outer end of the southerly jetty.

Florida Reefs and Keys.

A line drawn from the easterly end of the northerly jetty, at the entrance to the dredged channel ½ mile northerly of Norris Cut, 94° (E. ¼ S.), 1⅝ miles, to Florida Reefs North End Whistling Buoy, W (HS); thence 178° (S. ¼ E.), 8 miles, to Biscayne Bay Sea Bell Buoy, 1; thence 182° (S. ⅛ W.), 2⅜ miles, to Fowey Rocks Lighthouse; thence 188° (S. ⅝ W.), 6¾ miles, to Triumph Reef Beacon, O; thence 193° (S. by W.), 4½ miles, to Ajax Reef Beacon, M; thence 194° (S. by W. ⅛ W.), 2 miles, to Pacific Reef Beacon, L; thence 196½° (S. by W. ⅜ W.), 5 miles, to Turtle Harbor Sea Buoy, 2; thence 210° (SSW. ½ W.), 4⅞ miles, to Carysfort Reef Lighthouse; thence 209½° (SSW. ½ W.), 5¾ miles, to Elbow Reef Beacon, J; thence 217½° (SW. ¾ S.), 9¾ miles, to Molasses Reef Gas Buoy, 2 M; thence 235½° (SW. ¾ W.), 6 miles, to Conch Reef Beacon, E; thence 234½° (SW. ¾ W.), through Crocker Reef Beacon, D, 10⅜ miles, to Alligator Reef Lighthouse; thence 234° (SW. ⅝ W.), 10⅞ miles, to Tennessee Reef Buoy, 4; thence 251° (WSW. ⅛ W.), 10½ miles, to Coffins Patches Beacon, C; thence 247° (SW. by W. ¾ W.), 8¾ miles, to Sombrero Key Lighthouse; thence 253½° (WSW. ⅜ W.), 2⅞ miles, to Looe Key Beacon, 6; thence 257½° (WSW. ¾ W.), 6⅜ miles, to American Shoal Lighthouse; thence 253° (WSW. ¼ W.), 2¼ miles, to Maryland Shoal Beacon, S; thence 259° (WSW. ⅞ W.), 5¼ miles, to Eastern Sambo Beacon, A; thence 253° (WSW. ¼ W.), 2¼ miles, to Western Sambo Beacon, R; thence 257° (WSW. ⅝ W.), through Western Sambo Buoy, 2, 5½ miles, to Key West Entrance Gas Buoy (PS); thence 262° (W. ⅞ S.), 4¼ miles, to Sand Key Lighthouse; thence 261° (W. by S.), 2¾ miles, to Western Dry Rocks Beacon, 2; thence 268° (W. ⅜ S.), 3½ miles, through Satan Shoal Buoy (HS) to Vestal Shoal Buoy, 1; thence 274½° (W. ⅛ N.), 5¼ miles, to Coal Bin Rock Buoy, CB (HS); thence 324½° (NW. ⅝ N.), 7¼ miles, to Marquesas Keys left tangent; from northwesterly point Marquesas Keys 59° (NE. by E.), 4¾ miles, to Bar Buoy, 1, Boca Grande Channel; thence 83° (E. ⅞ N.), 9¾ miles, to Northwest Channel Entrance Bell Buoy, 1, Northwest Channel into Key West; thence 68° (NE. by E. ⅞ E.), 23½ miles, to northerly side of Content Keys; thence 49° (NE. ¼ E.), 29 miles, to East Cape, Cape Sable.

Charlotte Harbor and Punta Gorda, Fla.

Eastward of Charlotte Harbor Entrance Gas and Bell Buoy (PS), off Boca Grande, and in Charlotte Harbor, in Pine Island Sound and Matlacha Pass. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Peace and Miakka Rivers north of a 250° and 70° (WSW. and ENE.) line through Mangrove Point Light; and in Caloosahatchee River northward of the steamboat wharf at Punta Rasa.

Tampa Bay and Tributaries, Fla.

From the southerly end of Long Key 245° (SW. by W. ⅝ W.), 9 miles, to Tampa Bay Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 129° (SE. ¾ E.), 6½ miles, to Bar Bell Buoy (PS), at the entrance to Southwest Channel; thence 103° (E. by S.), 2¾ miles, to the house on the north end of Anna Maria Key. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Manatee River inside Manatee River Entrance Buoy, 2; in Hillsboro Bay and River inside Hillsboro Bay Light, 2.

St George Sound, Apalachicola Bay, Carrabelle and Apalachicola Rivers, and St. Vincent Sound, Fla.

North of a line from Lighthouse Point 246° (SW. by W. ⅝ W.) 13¼ miles, to southeasterly side of Dog Island; to northward of East Pass Bell Buoy, 1, at the entrance to East Pass, and inside West Pass Bell Buoy (PS) at the seaward entrance to West Pass. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Carrabelle River inside the entrance to the dredged channel; in Apalachicola River northward of Apalachicola Dredged Channel Entrance Buoy, 2.

Pensacola Harbor.

From Caucus Cut Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy, 1A, 3° (N. ⅛ W.), tangent to easterly side of Fort Pickens, to the shore of Santa Rosa Island, and from the buoy northward in the buoyed channel through Caucus Shoal.

Mobile Harbor and Bay.

From Mobile Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS) 40° (NE. ⅞ N.) to shore of Mobile Point, and from the buoy 320° (NW.) to the shore of Dauphin Island. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Mobile River above Choctaw Point.

Sounds, Lakes, and Harbors on the Coasts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, between Mobile Bay entrance and the Delta of the Mississippi River.

From Sand Island Lighthouse 259° (WSW. ⅝ W.), 43½ miles, to Chandeleur Lighthouse; westward of Chandeleur and Errol Islands, and west of a line drawn from the southwesterly point of Errol Island 182° (S. ¼ E.), 23 miles, to Pass a Loutre Lighthouse. Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in Pascagoula River, and in the dredged cut at the entrance to the river, above Pascagoula River Entrance Light, A, marking the entrance to the dredged cut.

New Orleans Harbor and the Delta of the Mississippi River.

Inshore of a line drawn from the outermost mud lump showing above low water at the entrance to Pass a Loutre to a similar lump off the entrance to Northeast Pass; thence to a similar lump off the entrance to Southeast Pass; thence to the outermost aid to navigation off the entrance to South Pass; thence to the outermost aid to navigation off the entrance to Southwest Pass; thence northerly, about 19½ miles, to the westerly point of the entrance to Bay Jaque.

Sabine Pass, Tex.

Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply to Sabine Pass northward of Sabine Pass Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS), and in Sabine Lake and its tributaries. Outside of this buoy the International Rules apply.

Galveston Harbor.

A line drawn from Galveston North Jetty Light 129° (SE. by E. ¼ E.), 2 miles, to Galveston Bar Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS); thence 276° (W. ⅛ S.), 2¼ miles, to Galveston (S.) Jetty Lighthouse.

Brazos River, Tex.

Pilot Rules for Western Rivers apply in the entrance and river inside of Brazos River Entrance Gas and Whistling Buoy (PS). International Rules apply outside the buoy.

San Diego Harbor.

A line drawn from southerly tower of Coronado Hotel 208° (S. by W.), 5 miles, to Outside Bar Whistling Buoy, SD (PS); thence 345° (NNW. ¾ W.), 3⅝ miles, to Point Loma Lighthouse.

San Francisco Harbor.

A line drawn through Mile Rocks Lighthouse 326° (NW. ⅝ W.), to Bonita Point Lighthouse.

Columbia River entrance.

A line drawn from knuckle of Columbia River south jetty 351° (NNW. ⅞ W.) to Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

Juan de Fuca Strait, Washington and Puget Sounds.

A line drawn from New Dungeness Lighthouse 13½° (N. by W.), 10⅜ miles, to Hein Bank Gas and Bell Buoy (HS); thence 337½° (NW. ½ W.), 10¾ miles, to Lime Kiln Light, on west side of San Juan Island; from Bellevue Point, San Juan Island, 336½° (NW. ¼ W.) to Kellett Bluff, Henry Island; thence 347° (NW. ⅝ N.) to Turn Point Light; thence 71½° (NE. ⅛ E.), 8¼ miles, to westerly point of Skipjack Island; thence 38½° (N. by E. ¼ E.), 4⅜ miles, to Patos Islands Light; thence 338° (NW. ⅛ W.), 12 miles, to Point Roberts Light.

General rule.

At all buoyed entrances from seaward to bays, sounds, rivers, or other estuaries for which specific lines have not been described, Inland Rules shall apply inshore of a line approximately parallel with the general trend of the shore, drawn through the outermost buoy or other aid to navigation of any system of aids.