Orals Revision: Passage Planning, Chartwork & Position Determination (Master 200/OOW 500 Yacht Route)

Orals revision card — Master (code vessels less than 200 GT)/Officer of the Watch (yachts less than 500 GT) Oral Examination Syllabus, Section 1.1 'Plan and conduct a passage including Chartwork and Position Determination' (MCA, gov.uk, updated 17 June 2026). This is the small-vessel/yacht route to command — a separate syllabus from the Unlimited CoC track covered in this series' MIN 653 and MSN 1856 cards. If you're working toward Master 200/OOW 500 on a code vessel or yacht rather than a big-ship Unlimited ticket, this is your syllabus.

Passage Planning & Publications

• Plan a passage using the full toolkit: charts, sailing directions, light lists, tide tables, and radio/navigational warnings — not chart-and-eyeball alone
• Know how to obtain and apply weekly Notices to Mariners to keep charts corrected
• Read and understand chart symbols and abbreviations without hesitating

Buoyage & Electronic Systems

• Know the IALA maritime buoyage system, both Region A and Region B conventions
• Understand the limitations and common sources of error in electronic chart and navigation systems
• Radar and ARPA — practical operating knowledge, the different modes, their limitations and error sources, plus basic radar plotting

Fixing & Monitoring Position

• Check the vessel's position regularly and know what action to take if you find yourself off track
• Fix a position from magnetic bearings and/or radar ranges, and give it correctly as latitude and longitude
• Apply variation and deviation to convert between true and compass courses, and explain what causes each
• Work out the magnetic course to steer and ETA to a destination from a starting position and log speed
• Identify transits and clearing marks on the chart to plan a safe approach to harbour or anchorage

Tides

• Find the time of high and low water, and predict intermediate heights/times at standard and secondary ports
• Find and predict the set and rate of tidal streams using tidal reference points on the chart and a tidal stream atlas

Quick Self-Check

• What's the practical difference between IALA Region A and Region B buoyage?
• Talk through fixing a position from two radar ranges and stating it correctly as latitude and longitude.
• How do you use weekly Notices to Mariners to keep a paper or electronic chart corrected?

Test yourself: Navigation Knowledge Checks.

Related Reading

• BML Revision: Chartwork — the same core skills at Boatmaster's Licence level, useful for the underlying basics
• BML Revision: Tides & Currents — companion tidal calculation revision
• The Meshka Grounding — a real passage-planning and chart-currency failure, the exact gap this competence exists to close