Navigation, pilotage and passage planning
Navigation, pilotage and passage planning is the planning-and-execution domain. The examiner expects a plan that is safe, tidal-aware and briefed to the crew, plus pilotage techniques that keep the boat in safe water.
Passage planning
Plan in stages: appraisal, detailed planning, execution and monitoring. Use the right chart, almanac, pilot book and tide atlas; mark waypoints, no-go areas, abort points and tidal gates. Calculate distance, speed and time with S = D/T. Check weather and fuel, and write a simple timeline. A plan is not a route on a GPS: it includes contingencies for fog, engine failure and a missed harbour entrance.
Course to steer and tidal streams
To find a course to steer, draw the desired ground track from the start. From the same start, draw the tidal stream for the passage duration. From the end of the stream vector, draw an arc of the boat's speed through the water to cut the ground track. The direction from the end of the stream to that cut is the course to steer; the length from start to the cut is the ground speed. Use ground speed for the ETA.
Worked example: boat speed 5 kn, stream 2 kn east, desired ground track 000°T. The boat must point west of north to counter the east-going stream. Solving the vector triangle gives a heading of about 336°T and a ground speed of about 4.6 kn. A 10 nm passage therefore takes roughly 2 h 10 min, not 2 h.
Pilotage
Use transits, clearing bearings, sector lights, soundings and a hand-bearing compass. A clearing bearing is a line beyond which you must not go; a transit should be checked for whether it takes you clear of hazards. Mark the pilotage plan with courses, distances, headings and abort points. Keep a GPS track but do not rely on it alone.
Traps: forgetting variation when converting a plotted course to compass; using boat speed instead of ground speed for ETA; ignoring leeway; putting a waypoint on a buoy or hazard; missing a tidal gate; and failing to brief the crew on the plan.