Yachtmaster revision module 14 of 20

📋

Passage Planning

Deck log, passage preparation, waypoints, and planning for extended coastal passages.

Keeping a navigational record / deck logConfirmation of position by independent source

11 guided lessons · 20 practice questions · 17 flashcards

3 outcomes · self-guided revision
  • Explain deck log, passage preparation, waypoints, and planning for extended coastal passages.
  • Apply Keeping a navigational record / deck log to a realistic onboard situation.
  • Recall the core check: aLWAYS plan the passage before departure.

A self-guided revision companion that explains essential concepts, then helps you practise and test them. It supports—but does not replace—recognised instruction, practical training, assessment or certification. Access is a one-time payment, not a subscription.

More ways to revise

Lesson summaries

Use this module hub to choose the right lesson, then open the dedicated lesson page for the complete explanation, worked examples, FAQs, and practice questions.

The Importance of Passage Planning

Every voyage, no matter how short, should be planned in advance. A well-prepared passage plan ensures you have considered the weather, tides, hazards, timing, and contingencies before you...

  • ALWAYS plan the passage before departure
  • Even short, familiar passages need a plan
Read the full lesson: The Importance of Passage Planning

Appraise

Gather all the information you need: weather forecast, tidal predictions, chart analysis, port information, crew experience, and vessel capability. Identify potential hazards along the ro...

  • Gather: weather, tides, charts, port info
  • Identify hazards and constraints along the route
Read the full lesson: Appraise

Plan

Plot the route on the chart. Mark waypoints, courses, distances, and expected times. Note tidal gates (times when the tide allows safe passage over a bar or through a narrows). Identify s...

  • Plot route with waypoints, courses, distances, and ETAs
  • Identify tidal gates and timing constraints
Read the full lesson: Plan

Execute Phase

Execution turns the approved plan into safe navigation; it is not permission to follow a route mechanically. Before each constrained leg, confirm position, chart and publication status, c...

  • Confirm the plan and its assumptions before each constrained leg
  • Choose fix, log and review intervals from the actual risk
Read the full lesson: Execute Phase

Monitor

Continuously monitor your progress against the plan. Are you on track? Is the weather as forecast? Are the tides behaving as predicted? If conditions change — stronger wind, fog, equipmen...

  • Compare actual progress to the plan
  • Monitor weather against the forecast
Read the full lesson: Monitor

Navigational Records

Keeping a proper navigational record (log) is critical. It creates an audit trail of your decisions, helps you fix your position if electronics fail, and provides evidence if there is an...

  • Log: time, course, log reading, wind, pressure, position
  • Choose a risk-based interval and record course changes and other significant events
Read the full lesson: Navigational Records

Watch Systems and Crew Management

On passages lasting more than a few hours, a formal watch system is essential to ensure the crew gets adequate rest and the boat is always safely manned. The skipper must organise watches...

  • Establish a watch system before departure on any passage over a few hours
  • Common systems: 4-on/4-off, 3-watch rotation, shorter night watches
Read the full lesson: Watch Systems and Crew Management

Meteorological Strategy for Passages

A weather window exists when the expected wind, sea state, visibility and hazards fit the vessel, route and crew. Define those limits before looking for a favourable forecast: include win...

  • A weather window is a period of suitable conditions for your passage and crew
  • Check issue time, validity, area and uncertainty rather than counting forecast apps
Read the full lesson: Meteorological Strategy for Passages

Extended Coastal and Offshore Passage Planning

Multi-day passages and longer offshore legs require additional planning beyond a standard day sail. Distance planning means breaking the passage into legs with intermediate waypoints, cal...

  • Break multi-day passages into legs with waypoints, ETAs, and bolt holes for each leg
  • Provision for the full passage duration plus contingency days
Read the full lesson: Extended Coastal and Offshore Passage Planning

Yachtmaster Offshore Standard

Passage Planning at Yachtmaster level is not just recall. The answer has to show command judgement, evidence quality, margin, and a fallback if the first plan stops being safe.

  • State the evidence you trust and the evidence you distrust.
  • Name the margin that makes the plan defensible.
Read the full lesson: Yachtmaster Offshore Standard

Advanced Scenario Check

Decision pressure: The boat is still safe now, but the skipper must decide before the easy divert disappears.

  • Apply Keeping a navigational record / deck log to a changed real-world situation.
  • Separate fact, estimate, and assumption.
Read the full lesson: Advanced Scenario Check

Add the complete practice layer

Keep reading the public lesson articles, and add this module's guided flow, quizzes, spaced-repetition flashcards, progress, and mock exams with one payment.