Rabbit Waves
an explanation of how to use day shapes on boats

Day Shapes are signals raised during daylight hours to indicate their status to other vessels. The signals consist of geometric shapes, like a sphere, a cylinder, a diamond and a cone. When combined together, the shapes communicate different messages: A single ball means "at anchor". An inverted cone means "Under sail & power". A diamond means "towing vessel", or "vessel towed". Two cones with their points touching in the middle means "Fishing with limited maneuvrability", when paired with a single cone it means that there is outlying gear more than 150 M from the vessel. Two balls over one another means "not under command". 3 balls laid horizontally, with the middle ball raised higher, means "minesweeping". 3 balls over each other means "aground". A diamond sitting between two balls vertically means "restricted maneuvrability", it is paired with: 1) 2 diamonds laid vertically over one another, which indicates the safe side to pass the vessel 2) 2 spheres over one another vertically, which indicates the side where the obstruction exists. A vertical cylinder means "constrained by draft". A square over a sphere means "in distress".