Safe water marks indicate that there is navigable water all around the mark. They are often used to indicate fairways or midchannels, or the seaward end of channels. Safe water marks are colored with red and white vertical stripes. Beacons have an octagonal daymark; red and white buoys are spherical or display a red spherical topmark.
Code of Federal Regulations
[CGD 86-031, 52 FR 42640, Nov. 6, 1987, as amended by CGD 88-018, 54 FR 48608, Nov. 24, 1989]