Lowe Boats
BOATS Fishing Boats
Pontoon Boats
Hunt & Fishing Boats
Lowe Boats
BUILD
/content/brunswick/lowe/na/us/en/build-and-price/my-saved-boats.html
Lowe Boats Saved Boats Icon

SAVE MY BOAT

View your customized Lowe

A Lowe LS 210 pontoon boat with several people on board cruises across a lake at sunset with rolling hills in the background.

Basic Navigation Tips to Learn Before You Hit the Water

Category: Boating Resources

Most people think boating is about driving.

 

Point the bow forward. Push the throttle down. Go have fun.

 

Then one day they miss a channel marker, slide onto a sandbar, and spend the next 45 minutes knee-deep in lake muck while strangers idle past pretending not to stare.

 

That’s usually when navigation starts making sense.

 

Because good boating isn’t just knowing how to run a boat. It’s knowing where you should—and definitely should not—put one.“

 

 

Red, Right, Returning” Is One of the Few Rules You Really Need to Memorize

 

If you forget everything else, remember this:

 

Red, right, returning.

Heading back toward the marina, launch ramp, or inland waterway?

Keep the red marker on your right-hand side.

Heading out toward open water?

The green marker stays on your right.

 

Simple enough—until you’re tired, the wind picks up, and five other boats are trying to funnel through the same narrow channel at sunset.

 

That’s why experienced boaters don’t casually ignore markers. Those buoys are basically floating reminders saying:

 

“Trust us. The shallow stuff is over there.”

 

 

Channels Exist Because Somebody Already Found the Bad Spot

 

There’s always somebody convinced they can shave 30 seconds off the ride by cutting outside the markers.

 

Channels are marked for a reason:

 

  • Shallow flats
  • Submerged rocks
  • Timber
  • Mud
  • Sudden drop-offs
  • Unmarked hazards

 

And while aluminum fishing boats, pontoons, and deck boats can run surprisingly skinny water, “shallow draft” doesn’t mean “immune to bad decisions.”

 

 

Treat Boat Traffic Like a Two-Lane Backroad

 

When traffic is moving both directions through a channel, stay to the right side whenever possible.

 

Not because it’s complicated boating law.

 

Because chaos happens fast when people don’t.

 

Busy summer waterways already feel like floating parking lots:

 

  • Wake boats throwing rollers
  • Pontoons drifting wide through turns
  • Bass boats running late to weigh-in
  • Jet skis doing whatever jet skis do

The more predictable everybody is, the smoother things go.

 

 

Not Every Marker Means “Keep Left” or “Keep Right"

 

Some markers are there purely to warn you.

 

Orange symbols and bands usually signal:

 

  • Swim zones
  • Idle-speed areas
  • Restricted water
  • Underwater hazards
  • Dangerous shoals
  • No-wake zones

And ignoring them usually ends one of two ways:

 

  1. You damage something expensive
  2. Somebody else gets angry enough to remember your registration numbers

Neither one improves your day.

 

 

GPS Is Great Until It Isn’t

 

Modern electronics are unbelievable compared to what boaters used even 15 years ago.

 

Today you can:

 

  • Track depth in real time
  • Overlay mapping
  • Save routes
  • Mark hazards
  • Navigate unfamiliar lakes after dark

But electronics also fail at the worst possible moments.

Dead batteries.

Overheated screens.

Bad mapping data.

Signal loss.

 

That’s why old-school boaters still pay attention to:

 

  • Shorelines
  • Water color changes
  • Marker placement
  • Wind direction
  • Visual landmarks

Technology helps.

 

Awareness saves you.

 

 

Water Doesn’t Always Stay Where It’s Supposed To

 

One thing newer boaters don’t realize right away:

 

Lakes change.

Water levels rise and fall.

Storms move sandbars.

Current shifts debris.

Flooding creates new hazards.

 

A safe path in spring might be a prop-eating nightmare by late summer.

 

That’s why experienced operators don’t run unfamiliar water just because the map says it’s probably okay.

 

 

Navigation Lights Aren’t Just There for Decoration

 

At daylight, most boating mistakes are embarrassing.

 

At night, they become dangerous quickly.

 

Your navigation lights tell other boaters:

 

  • Which direction you’re traveling
  • Whether you’re crossing their path
  • If you’re moving or anchored
What to turn on at night: 

 

Red light = port side.

Green light = starboard side

White light = stern. 

White masthead light = 360-degrees. 

 

And if another boat suddenly appears out of darkness without lights, you realize pretty quickly why those rules matter.

 

 

Slow Down Earlier Than You Think You Need To

 

Most docking problems happen because somebody waited too long to slow down.

 

Wind pushes the bow.

 

Current grabs the stern.

 

Suddenly the dock feels way smaller than it looked 20 seconds ago.

 

Experienced boaters handle tight areas slowly because boats don’t stop like trucks.

 

Momentum on the water hangs around longer than people expect.

 

 

Night Boating Changes Everything

 

Running a lake at noon and running it after sunset feel like two completely different sports.

 

Depth perception disappears.

Debris becomes invisible.

Distance gets harder to judge.

Shorelines blend together.

 

Good boaters back things down at night—even on lakes they know well.

 

Because water gets unforgiving in a hurry once visibility disappears.

 

 

Learn the Water Before You Try to Master It

 

The best navigators on the lake usually aren’t staring at giant electronics screens nonstop.

 

  • They’re watching:
  • WindBoat traffic
  • Shorelines
  • Marker placement
  • Changing water conditions

They know where the channel narrows.

 

They know where wakes stack up.

 

They know where sandbars move every season.

 

That kind of boating knowledge doesn’t come from horsepower.

 

It comes from paying attention long enough to stop making the same mistakes twice.

 

Additional Resources:

Read tips on driving your pontoon boat at night.

Learn the rules of proper pontoon boating.

Know the essential boat safety equipment you should have onboard.

 

 

Cookie Preferences