Boating Quiz Time

All questions relate to a 5m RIB. Answers on at the back.

Q1. You are at sea, being overtaken by a pilot launch. Should you:

a: alter course to starboard
b: hold your course and speed
c: slow down or stop

Q2. Is an ebbing tide:

a: rising
b: lower than average
c: falling

Q3. You are heading South and see this buoy ahead (Figure 1). Should you:

a: turn to starboard
b: turn to port
c: slow right down and be prepared to lift your outboard

Q4. You are in rough weather. Should you fire a parachute flare:

a: upwind
b: downwind
c: straight upwards

Q5. You are about ten miles from your home port when the weather forcast gives a gale warning "soon". Should you:

a: make a dash for home
b: stay where you are
c: rely on a RIB's reputation for seaworthiness and ignore it

Q6. How much rope would you use to anchor a RIB in 5m of water:

a: about 12-15m
b: about 25-30m
c: about 50-60m

Q7. You are towing a 40ft yacht alongside. Should you:

a: have your bows level with those of the towed boat
b: have your steering position approximately 20ft back from his bows
c: have your stern behind his

Q8. On a chart, would you find a scale of distance on:

a: the top and bottom edges
b: on the sides
c: underneath the title panel

Q9. Is the rubber bush in the propeller intended to protect:

a: the engine
b: the propeller
c: swimmers

Q10. You are towing at 60mph on a motorway when the trailer starts to sway from side to side. Do you:

a: steer to counteract the swing
b: brake firmly
c: ease your foot off the accelerator

 

Boating quiz answers

A1 - b: Rules 13 and 17 of the collision regulations require the overtaking vessel to keep clear and the other to hold her course and speed.

A2 - c: Falling. A rising tide is flood.

A3 - a: It is a west cardinal buoy, so the best water is west of it. Remember you are heading south!

A4 - b: No flare should be fired upwind because of hot debris and smoke. Parachute flares are designed to curve upwind, so that when fired downwind, they go off overhead.

A5 - a: "Soon" means 6-12 hours: plenty of time to get home. Ignoring a gale warning is definitely wrong.

A6 - b: As a rule of thumb, anchoring with rope requires 5 x depth

A7 - c: You need your steering effort (the engine) as far behind the pivot point (the yacht's keel) as possible.

A8 - b: A sea mile is a minute of latitude and the latitude scale runs up the sides of the chart.

A9 - a: Propellers and swimmers are too soft for a rubber bush to do any good. It is there to save the engine and gearbox from shock damage

A10 - c: Braking makes it worse and attempting to 'steer out of it' can make a trailer roll.

How many did you get right?

9-10     Boating know-it-all

7-8     Diver Cox'n

4-6     Boathandler

0-4     Boathandling courses are being run regularly!

 

This page was last updated on : 09 Sep 2018