RYA Day Skipper

Exercise 5
Course to Steer

USE RYA CHART 3, the area near Namely Harbour.

Use variation 7° W.
All times are DST unless otherwise shown.

1. At 1235 a boat, having left Namley Harbour, is 1.5 miles due south of the Bar beacon.

a) Plot the 1235 position

b) What is the magnetic course to steer from this position to the

east cardinal buoy off Mutton Head on Strong Holm island
(46° 16'.00N 005° 48'.70W)? The boat speed is 8 knots and
the tidal stream is 110°T @ 1.0 knot.

c) Will it take just under an hour or just over an hour to get to the
buoy?

2. A team of marine biologists from Port Frazer University have left their dive site and are
returning to the harbour. At 1600 they are at the north cardinal buoy north west of Potta
Island (46° 16'.10N 005° 59'.00W).

a) What is the magnetic course to steer from the buoy to

intercept the start of the transit line of the mast/spire into Port
Frazer harbour if the boat speed is 5.0 knots and the tidal
stream is 320°T @ 1.4 knots.

b) With this combination of boat speed and tidal stream, which is

the greater: the speed through the water or the speed over
the ground?

3. On Friday 8th November a fishing vessel is working NW of Whale Bay. The centre of
the compass rose south of Namley Harbour has been put into the GPS as a waypoint
to plot positions quickly.

a) At 1052 UT the direction and distance to the waypoint is 225°(T) 3.6 miles.

Plot this fix.

b) What time is HW Victoria?

Is it springs or neaps?

Set(°T) Drift(kts)
c) What is the tidal stream between 1052 and 1152 UT?
Use the tidal stream atlas in the RYA Almanac.

d) What is the magnetic course to steer from the fix to the

BB1 green buoy if the boat speed is 8 knots?

e) Will the boat pass to the west or east of the 24m

©Skippers Online 2015. Source materials licensed from the RYA. Page 1 of 2
 RYA Day Skipper
Exercise 5
Course to Steer

charted depth in position 46° 22'.20N 005° 41'.60W?

4. On Wednesday 11th September at 1038 a yacht, on passage to Namley Harbour, is at
the BB6 red buoy north west of Strong Holm island.

a) What time is HW Victoria?

Is it springs or neaps?

Set(°T) Drift(kts)
b) Using tidal diamond <A>:

What is the tidal stream between 1038 and 1138?

and between 1138 and 1238?

c) What is the magnetic course to steer from the red buoy

to the Namley Bar beacon? The boat speed is 4.5
knots.

d) If the skipper estimates that the north westerly wind will

give 10° of leeway, what course should the helmsman
steer instead?

e) When the beacon is sighted will it be dead ahead, on

the port bow or on the starboard bow?

f) The skipper wants to check the course to steer on route. Which would be most
suitable in this situation: plotting a fix, taking bearings ahead or astern of the
boat, using the GPS or the echo sounder? Give reasons for your answer.

5. a) If a second vessel, a motor cruiser, had left the same

position at exactly the same time but travelling at 18
knots, what would be the magnetic course to steer to
the beacon? (No leeway.)

b) About what time would they pass the beacon?

©Skippers Online 2015. Source materials licensed from the RYA. Page 2 of 2