Kystskippereksamen common mistakes
Kystskippereksamen · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
When plotting a running fix or a course change, the candidate advances the earlier position line using a single course-and-speed vector for the whole interval, even though the vessel altered course or speed partway through the run.
Candidates memorize the two-bearing running fix procedure as a fixed recipe and skip the step of checking whether the boat actually held one course and speed between observations. Under exam time pressure they grab the total elapsed time and one heading, which is only valid for a steady run.
What to do instead
Before advancing any line, write the track as a sequence of legs with the time and speed on each. Advance the earlier position line along each leg separately, or use the course and speed actually made good over the whole interval. Practise with a deliberately interrupted run (one course change between bearings) until the multi-leg advance is automatic.
The candidate reads the hand-bearing compass bearing to the wrong side of north, or applies variation and deviation with the wrong sign, so the plotted line is mirrored by several degrees and the fix lands on the wrong side of the channel.
Hand-bearing compasses read relative to the boat or to magnetic north depending on the instrument, and candidates mix up which correction to apply. Sign errors with east/west variation are common because the mnemonic (east is least, west is best) is remembered but not applied consistently to compass-to-true versus true-to-compass conversions.
What to do instead
Always state the direction of the conversion out loud or on paper (compass to true, or true to compass) and check the sign logic with a quick sanity check: is the true bearing plausible for the charted feature? Do a set of ten conversions in both directions, including easterly and westerly variation plus deviation, until the sign handling is reliable.
When asked to identify a vessel's obligations from lights or shapes, the candidate answers from the first feature noticed (for example 'it is a fishing vessel, so give way') instead of first establishing the vessel's length, whether it is underway or at anchor, and whether it is engaged in a special operation.
Candidates learn light configurations as isolated flashcards and never build the decision tree: length, status (underway, at anchor, aground, restricted in ability to manoeuvre, not under command, fishing, trawling, sailing, towing) and then the resulting give-way or stand-on status. The exam presents combined or unfamiliar configurations that defeat pure recall.
What to do instead
Drill a fixed sequence of questions for every light or shape question: how long is it, is it making way, what is it doing, and what does that make it under the rules? Build a one-page decision tree from that sequence and work through every rule 23 to 31 case, including small craft and vessels under 12 metres.
The candidate answers a sound-signal or distress-signal question with the meaning of the signal but omits the required response, such as what a stand-on vessel does on hearing one short blast, or what a vessel must do on receiving a distress alert.
Signals are studied as a vocabulary list (one short = altering to starboard) rather than as an exchange with obligations attached. Candidates also confuse the signals required in restricted visibility with those used in sight of one another.
What to do instead
Learn each signal as a pair: what it means and what you must do or expect next. Separate the two regimes clearly, sight-of-one-another signals (rules 34 and 32) versus restricted-visibility signals (rule 35), and test yourself by describing the full exchange, not just the meaning of a single blast.
The candidate answers a machinery or stability question by describing what a system does in normal operation but cannot state the immediate action, the check, or the limit when something is abnormal, for example low lube-oil pressure, high cooling-water temperature, or a list that does not correct.
Preparation focuses on system descriptions and component names because those are easy to revise, while the operational judgement (when to reduce load, when to stop, what to check first) requires understanding of consequences and is practised less.
What to do instead
For each main system, prepare a short abnormal-condition card: symptom, first check, immediate action, and the limit that forces a shutdown. Include bilge and ballast handling, fuel transfer and the effect of free surface on stability. Rehearse the cards aloud so the answer comes out as a sequence of actions, not a description.
The candidate describes a man-overboard or fire response as a list of items (throw a lifebuoy, call mayday, start the engine) without a correct sequence, without the helm and throttle actions that keep the person or the fire in view, and without saying who does what on a small crew.
Checklists are memorized as unordered sets, and candidates have rarely talked through a drill with a real crew. On a small coaster the same few people must steer, keep lookout, communicate and recover, so an unsequenced answer falls apart in practice and in the oral exam.
What to do instead
Learn and rehearse the drills as timed sequences with named roles: immediate helm and throttle action, marker and lookout, distress call, recovery approach, and aftercare. Practise the Williamson turn and the Anderson turn on paper with a track plot, and run a spoken drill with your crew so the sequence and the role allocation are fluent.
The candidate reads a synoptic chart or forecast and reports the pressure values and the wind direction at the isobars, but does not translate this into what will happen locally: when the wind will shift, how strong it will be in the fjord or off the headland, and what sea state and visibility to expect.
Meteorology is revised as symbols and definitions (isobar spacing, warm and cold fronts) rather than as a forecast for a specific stretch of coast. Local effects such as channeling in fjords, land and sea breezes, and topographic acceleration are under-practised.
What to do instead
For every chart or forecast, write a short local forecast: wind direction and strength at your position now, expected shift with timing, sea state, visibility and any warning. Compare with the coastal observations afterwards. Learn the local wind effects for the waters you actually sail, including headland acceleration and fjord channeling.
The candidate plans a coastal passage on the chart but does not build a safe track with cross-track limits, wheel-over points, and a stated minimum under-keel clearance, and does not check the track against the buoyage, sector lights and charted hazards at the actual state of the tide.
Passage planning is treated as drawing a line between waypoints. Candidates forget that the charted depths are referenced to chart datum, that sectors and leading lines have defined limits, and that a track must be checked for the whole width of the safe corridor, not just the centreline.
What to do instead
Plan every leg with a stated cross-track limit, wheel-over point, minimum under-keel clearance and abort or contingency point. Check each leg against IALA region A buoyage, sector boundaries and leading-line transit at the predicted height of tide. Practise on a chart you know and have an instructor challenge each leg.
The candidate cannot state which certificates, manning documents and records must be on board for a given vessel and trade, or confuses the validity and endorsement requirements of the certificate of competency with those of the vessel's certificates.
Regulations are studied as a list of document names without the link to vessel size, trade area and manning. Candidates also mix up the survey and certificate cycle of the ship with the personal certification and medical requirements of the crew.
What to do instead
Build a table with vessel type and trade area across the top and required ship certificates, manning documents and crew certificates down the side, with validity periods and endorsement rules. Check it against the current regulations and update it whenever a requirement changes. Answer practice questions by naming the document, its validity and who issues it.
The candidate sends a VHF mayday or a DSC distress alert with the wrong format or order, omits the position or the nature of distress, or fails to state which channel is used for the follow-on, and does not know when a distress alert should be cancelled or relayed.
GMDSS procedures are learned as text rather than as a spoken routine, and candidates rarely practise transmitting under pressure. The difference between a DSC alert and the voice mayday, and the correct use of urgency and safety priority, is often blurred.
What to do instead
Learn the distress, urgency and safety routines as fixed spoken scripts with the correct order (identity, position, nature of distress, assistance required, number of persons, other information) and practise them aloud on a real VHF set in training mode. Include the DSC alert, the follow-on voice call, acknowledgement, relay and cancellation in the drill.