Passage Planning, Position and Electronic Navigation
Appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring, position fixing, DR/EP, GPS, radar and ARPA limits, with route-specific depth.
How to prepare for a Boatmasters' Licence
Use the actual area, vessel and operation to select the route, build Annex 8 or 9 underpinning knowledge, complete the required records and training, and rehearse practical handling on the relevant vessel.
Core concepts
Concept 1
A passage plan connects current charts and publications, water limits, weather, traffic, vessel capability, abort points and contingency arrangements.
Exam cue: Move through appraisal, planning, execution and monitoring without skipping the contingency case.
Concept 2
Position must be checked at a frequency and by methods appropriate to the available room and consequence of error.
Exam cue: Cross-check electronic position with independent bearings, ranges, depth, time and visual evidence.
Concept 3
GPS, radar, ARPA, echo sounding and electronic charts have source, setup, geometry and interpretation limitations.
Exam cue: Re-plan when traffic, weather, water level or vessel condition invalidates an assumption.
Risk pitfalls and guardrails
Treating the planned line as safe without considering vessel dimensions and real water level.
Guardrail: Do not treat the aggregate 601-item study allocation as an official MCA paper or assume knowledge study replaces service, records, medical fitness, safety training or practical handling.
Accepting an electronic position or target vector without checking sensor quality and settings.
Guardrail: Do not treat the aggregate 601-item study allocation as an official MCA paper or assume knowledge study replaces service, records, medical fitness, safety training or practical handling.
Continuing after a missed waypoint or altered condition without revising the downstream plan.
Guardrail: Do not treat the aggregate 601-item study allocation as an official MCA paper or assume knowledge study replaces service, records, medical fitness, safety training or practical handling.
Memory anchors
APEM
Appraise, Plan, Execute and Monitor the passage.
Fix Twice
Use independent evidence to confirm a critical position.
DR
Dead reckoning advances from a known position using course, speed and time.
EP
Estimated position adjusts DR for current, wind and other known effects.
Electronics Assist
Electronic navigation supports rather than replaces the watchkeeper's judgement.
Checkpoint rule
Do the check-up only after you can summarize each concept in one sentence and identify one dangerous pitfall from memory.
Knowledge Check (after reading)
Short check-up to confirm understanding of this module.
Check-up Questions
What are the four broad stages of passage planning?
Why include a berth-to-berth view in the plan?
Answer all questions to submit.
Next step personalized recommendations
Continue learning
Move forward only after this module is stable.
What is Pass Harbor?
Completely free exam prep for 247 UK exams.
- Practice questions
- Flashcards
- Study guides
- Mock exams
- No registration
- No paywall
- Start instantly
“No more expensive exam prep. Quality study tools should be accessible to everyone.”