🔍 Key Concepts

• Coast Pilot / chart descriptions of local shoals and bottom characteristics • How bottom composition and shoaling pattern are usually described in sailing directions • The difference between sea state effects (like breakers with certain winds) vs. permanent features (like bottom type or slope)

💭 Think About

• Which of these choices sounds like a permanent charted characteristic that would be listed in Coast Pilot or on a chart, and which sound more like temporary or subjective observations? • When a shoal is described as a navigation hazard, what is more useful to mariners: knowing exact bottom type, the way depths change around it, or conditions under a specific wind direction and speed? • Look at the wording of each option: which one gives you information that helps you approach or avoid the shoal safely from different directions?

✅ Before You Answer

• Make sure you can distinguish between bottom composition (what the seafloor is made of) and shoaling characteristics (how quickly it shallows from different sides). • Ask whether a detail like breakers at a specific wind speed and direction is likely to be a standard, published description of a shoal. • Consider which option would most likely appear in an official description such as the U.S. Coast Pilot or a chart note for Long Sand Shoal.