Plan it, check it, then sail it.

Appraise and plan the passage in from sea, correct the charts, work the tides and a tidal window, read the buoyage in both IALA regions, and run the departure checks. Then follow the plan on the bridge.

Try a lesson free 48 oral questions

Why it matters in the oral

Examiners expect you to know the four stages of a passage plan and to show how each one turns into something on the chart. They also ask the small practical questions: which chart, which tide, which side of the buoy.

Here the plan is the one you sail. The tides, the buoys and the shallows on the chart are the ones you meet on the way in.

The lessons

13 lessons on the bridge.

Each has its own page: what you do, how the lesson runs and its oral questions.

Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
The chart table: the right chart, a position, a course and a DR
Take out the right paper chart, plot the GNSS position, lay off the course, run a DR ahead and check it against the position when the time comes.
5 steps on the bridge, 4 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
This week's notices: charts and publications
Work the whole weekly edition: correct the charts in ink or pencil, then the List of lights, the radio list and the pilot book, and record each.
5 steps on the bridge, 4 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
Chart corrections from notices to mariners
Apply this week's notices to the paper charts, ink or pencil as each needs, and log every one.
3 steps on the bridge, 4 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
Tidal calculations: UK standard and secondary ports
Work a Plymouth height, then a secondary port height and time, by the Admiralty method on the practice tables.
3 steps on the bridge, 4 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
Tides at a diurnal port
One tide a day: work a height at Hon Dau and at a secondary port on the practice tables, with the twelve-hour curve.
2 steps on the bridge, 3 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
A tidal window over a shoal patch
Work the height of tide the crossing needs and when it comes, a secondary port height by the factor curve, then cross with enough water.
3 steps on the bridge, 3 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
The tidal stream atlas, and an EP
Find the atlas page for the coming hour, scale the rate for today, and lay an EP an hour ahead on the paper chart.
2 steps on the bridge, 3 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
IALA Region B: into the Ambrose Channel at dusk
Identify the safe water buoy, take her through the entrance gate and up the Ambrose Channel with every red buoy to starboard.
3 steps on the bridge, 4 oral questions
Phase 2: Publications and the chart table
IALA Region A: a practice channel and a preferred channel mark
Take her up a made-up Region A channel with every red buoy to port, then pass a preferred channel mark on the right side.
3 steps on the bridge, 3 oral questions
Phase 3: Fixing the position
A clearing bearing past a wreck
Clear a dangerous wreck on a bearing of a charted light, check it as you pass, and find the set and drift of the stream.
3 steps on the bridge, 4 oral questions
Phase 5: Passage planning and keeping the watch
Plan the passage in from sea
Make and check the route on the ECDIS, work depths, clearance, reporting points and contingencies from the publications, and hand the plan to the master.
4 steps on the bridge, 4 oral questions
Phase 5: Passage planning and keeping the watch
Bridge checks before departure
An hour before sailing: put the bridge right, from steering pumps to the course recorder, and tick the departure checklist.
9 steps on the bridge, 3 oral questions
Phase 5: Passage planning and keeping the watch
Coastal passage on paper after both ECDIS fail
Get the position onto the paper chart, fix every 15 minutes, lay off an EP and a course to steer for the stream.
4 steps on the bridge, 5 oral questions

Oral questions

Passage planning questions, and what a good answer covers.

Six of the most-asked. In the course, each one follows the lesson where you have just done it.

Which chart should you be using, and how do you know it is fit to use?Often asked
A good answer covers:
- The largest-scale chart that covers where the ship is, as the passage plan lists them
- Corrected up to date from the latest notices to mariners, with the corrections recorded on it and in the chart correction log
- The latest edition, checked against the catalogue or the cumulative list
- Check the datum and units, and any notes, cautions and the source data diagram before relying on it
Practised in the lesson The chart table: the right chart, a position, a course and a DR.
Show me on the bridgeThe chart table and the folio. Which chart covers where we are at the largest scale?
How are depths, heights and dangers shown on a chart, and where do you look a symbol up?Often asked
A good answer covers:
- Depths are soundings below chart datum, usually about the lowest astronomical tide; drying heights are underlined
- Heights of lights and land are above a high water level, so clearance under a bridge or a light's range must allow for the tide
- Wrecks, rocks and obstructions have their own symbols, with a dotted danger line round those that matter
- Every symbol and abbreviation is explained in Chart 5011, the INT 1 symbols booklet
Practised in the lesson The chart table: the right chart, a position, a course and a DR.
What is the difference between a fix, a DR and an EP, and how do you mark each?Often asked
A good answer covers:
- A fix is an observed position, from position lines or a positioning system: a dot in a circle, with the time
- A DR is worked from a known position using the course steered and the speed through the water: a cross on the course line
- An EP also allows for the tidal stream and leeway: a dot in a triangle
- Each is labelled with the time, and the method for a fix
Practised in the lesson The chart table: the right chart, a position, a course and a DR.
What's in a weekly edition of notices to mariners, and how do you work through it?Often asked
A good answer covers:
- An index of the charts and publications affected, so you can see at a glance what you hold that needs work
- Chart corrections, permanent, and a separate section of temporary and preliminary notices
- Navigational warnings in force, and new charts and editions
- Work from the index against the folio and the books you hold, and record everything you do
Practised in the lesson This week's notices: charts and publications.
Show me on the bridgeChart table, Notices to mariners: start with Section I, the index.
One notice changes a light. What do you correct?Often asked
A good answer covers:
- Every chart you hold that shows the light, as the notice names them
- The List of lights entry for that light, as a separate correction in that book
- Each correction recorded: in the chart log, and in the book's record of corrections
- Otherwise the chart and the book disagree, and the light may be misidentified at night
Practised in the lesson This week's notices: charts and publications.
Talk me through correcting a paper chart from a notice to mariners.Often asked
A good answer covers:
- Check the notice applies to the chart and the edition you hold, and that the earlier notices for it are done
- Make the correction neatly at the exact position, using the standard chart symbols and abbreviations
- Write the notice number and year in the chart's small corrections margin
- Record it in the chart correction log, so anyone can see the folio is up to date
Practised in the lesson Chart corrections from notices to mariners.
Show me on the bridgeThe chart table, with three notices to apply this week.

All 48 Passage planning questions

Preparing for the OOW 3000 oral? See the whole syllabus, topic by topic. Other topics: Radar and ARPA, ECDIS and electronic aids, Position fixing, COLREGs, Watchkeeping, Pilotage, GMDSS and distress, Emergencies, Ship handling, Weather.