You are on course 073° per standard magnetic compass when you take the following bearings:
Watch Hill Point Light: 037°psc Montauk Point Light: 179°psc Race Rock Light: 289°psc
What is your position?
• Three-bearing fix with lighthouses as known navigation aids • Converting per standard magnetic compass (psc) bearings to true bearings using variation and deviation from the exam’s reference table or problem data • Plotting lines of position (LOPs) from the known lights to find their intersection (your fix) and then reading latitude/longitude
• On your chart, which direction do you draw a line of position: from the light toward the ship, or from the ship toward the light? Think about how a bearing ‘to’ an object is represented on the chart. • How do you turn the given psc bearings into true bearings on the chart, and are you using the same conversion steps you would use for your course line? • After plotting the three LOPs, how close together is the intersection point, and which answer choice has a latitude/longitude that matches that plotted fix most closely?
• Be sure you apply variation and deviation with the correct sign for this area and for a standard magnetic compass. • Confirm you are plotting reciprocal bearings from each light if needed (bearing of the light FROM the ship vs. line from the light TO the ship). • After plotting, carefully read latitude (north-south) first, then longitude (east-west) to avoid swapping or misreading minutes.
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