YMB17: Test your mates with this nautical quiz

Test your mates with this nautical quiz. (Scroll down to find the answers.)

1. How deep is a fathom?

2. “To dress a ship” means what? To hoist her flags; to hoist her sails; to remover her bonnet; to inspect her crew.

3. On a chart, what does the abbreviation “Hr.” stands for?

4. A navigational technique of sighting two separate objects to determine a ship’s position is known as what?

5. Excluding the dogwatch, a usual watch on ship lasts 4, 6 or 8 hours?

6. Does the salinity of seawater vary from ocean to ocean?

7. The navigation lights of a boat at night tells you three things about the vessel. What are they?

8. The angular difference between true north and magnetic north at a given point is called what? Deviation, variation, bearing, or magnification.

9. There are four nautical things to consider when deciding on a safe anchorage. What are they? (The boss’s happiness is not one of these four.)

10. One degree of latitude equals how many nautical miles?

11. How can you find your latitude in the night sky?

12. What’s the difference between a voyage and a passage?

ANSWERS

1. About 6 feet
2. To hoist her flags
3. Harbor
4. Cross bearings
5. 4
6. Yes
7. The direction the vessel is traveling, her size and what she is doing
8. Variation
9. Sufficient depth at low tide, good holding ground for the anchor, shelter from wind and waves, room to swing around the anchor
10. 60
11. North of the equator, look for the elevation, in degrees, of the North Star (Polaris). That will roughly represent your latitude.
12. A voyage is the full journey, outward and return. A trip between two ports is a passage.

How did you do? Share your thoughts below.