Hong Kong Part A Written Test study guide
Hong Kong Part A Written Test · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Hong Kong Part A Written Test is the written paper that candidates for a local pleasure craft operator certificate (commonly called a boat licence) sit before moving on to the practical assessment. It is aimed at people who want to command small craft in Hong Kong waters for recreation - owners of cruisers, speedboats, sailing yachts and similar vessels - and who therefore need a working command of seamanship, the collision regulations, basic navigation, buoyage, weather, emergency procedures and the local rules that govern Hong Kong's very busy harbour and coastal waters. The Hong Kong Part A Written Test study guide has 7 sections and about 4,067 words.
01Seamanship and Boat Handling
Part A tests practical seamanship on small craft in Hong Kong conditions - crowded anchorages, tidal streams of one to two knots in the harbour, and constant berthing alongside pontoons and typhoon moorings. Questions focus on anchoring, line handling, propeller effects and close-quarters boat handling rather than ocean passage-making.
446 words, about 2 min02Collision Regulations and Local Collision Rules
The Collision Regulations carry heavy marks because Victoria Harbour is one of the busiest waterways in the world. Part A expects you to name the applicable rule, describe the lights and shapes, and state the action you would take - in that order of certainty.
437 words, about 2 min03Navigation, Charts and Position Fixing
Chart work in Part A is practical: read a Hong Kong chart, convert a bearing, and fix the vessel. Questions lean on chart datum, the compass and tidal height rather than on celestial navigation.
353 words, about 2 min04Buoyage, Marks and Aids to Navigation
Hong Kong is an IALA Region A area - red to port, green to starboard when proceeding in the direction of buoyage - and Part A tests whether you can identify a mark from its shape, colour, topmark and light rhythm, and say on which side to pass it. Port hand: red, can-shaped, red light, any rhythm except those reserved for cardinal and safe-water marks.
401 words, about 2 min05Meteorology
Meteorology questions in Part A are about Hong Kong's weather systems and what they mean for a small vessel: monsoon strength, typhoon signals, squalls and visibility. You are expected to read a synoptic situation, not to forecast professionally.
404 words, about 2 min06Tides and Weather Awareness
Tide questions in Part A are calculation questions dressed as seamanship: will the boat float over the sill, when is slack water, how much water is under the keel at high water. Answers come from the Hong Kong Observatory tide tables, not from guesswork.
442 words, about 2 min07Safety of Life at Sea
Safety of Life at Sea questions test what equipment must be on board, how it works, and what you personally do in the first sixty seconds of an emergency. A lifejacket for every person on board, plus child sizes, stowed where they can be reached - not locked in a locker.
1,584 words, about 8 min