You are proceeding up a channel at night. It is marked by a range which bears 185°T. You steady up on a compass course of 180° with the range in line dead ahead. This indicates that you(r) __________.

Question

You are proceeding up a channel at night. It is marked by a range which bears 185&deg;T. You steady up on a compass course of 180&deg; with the range in line dead ahead. This indicates that you(r) __________.

Accepted Answer

Option C: compass has some easterly error. Steering a compass course of 180°T while the true range reads 185°T indicates a 5° discrepancy. Per Bowditch, compass error (Variation plus Deviation) makes the compass read lower than true when easterly error exists, causing the vessel to pull left of the actual range line.

You are proceeding up a channel at night. It is marked by a range which bears 185&deg;T. You steady up on a compass course of 180&deg; with the range in line dead ahead. This indicates that you(r) __________.

You are proceeding up a channel at night. It is marked by a range which bears 185°T. You steady up on a compass course of 180° with the range in line dead ahead. This indicates that you(r) __________.