Your vessel is proceeding up a channel, and you see a pair of range lights that are in line dead ahead. The chart indicates that the direction of this pair of lights is 283° T, and the variation is 13°E. If the heading of your vessel at the time of the sighting is 278° per standard compass, what is the deviation?

Question

Accepted Answer

Option D: 8°W. True range of 283°T combined with a variation of 13°E yields a magnetic heading of 270°M. Comparing this with the standard compass heading of 278°psc produces a deviation of 8°W, utilizing the standard rule 'Magnetic East, Compass Least'.