National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners (Sample Examination) Page 1 of 8
Choose the best answer to the following Multiple Choice Questions. 1. Assume that your vessel has just entered Lake Erie by way of the Welland Canal and is proceeding in a southwesterly direction. Which statement about the aids to navigation you can expect to encounter along the route is TRUE? o (A) All red even-numbered buoys should be kept on your port side when proceeding in this direction. o (B) Lighted aids, fog signals, and radio beacons maintained by Canada are not included in the Great Lakes Light List. (C) The characteristics of buoys and other aids are as if "returning from seaward" when proceeding in this direction. o (D) All aids are maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, 9th Coast Guard District, Cleveland, Ohio. 2. On the Great Lakes, which defines the term "controlling depth"? o (A) The minimum amount of tail water available behind a dam o (B) The designed dredging depth of a channel constructed by the Corps. of Engineers (C) The least depth within the limits of the channel which restricts the navigation o (D) The distance in units of the chart (feet, meters or fathoms) from the reference datum to the bottom 3. You are heading into the sea during rough weather. What may happen if there is too much weight forward in your small boat? o (A) The craft will broach (B) The craft may plunge into the wave o (C) The craft will list severely o (D) The craft will rise rapidly over the wave 4. Assume that your vessel has just entered Lake Michigan via the Straits of Mackinac and is proceeding south to Chicago. Which statement is TRUE with respect to the aids to navigation you will encounter along this route? o (A) All solid colored buoys are numbered, the red buoys bearing odd numbers and green buoys bearing even numbers. o (B) Green buoys mark the location of wrecks or obstructions which must be passed by keeping the buoy on the right hand. o (C) Aids to navigation are serviced jointly by the U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard. (D) Red buoys should be passed down your starboard side. Page 2 of 8
5. A vessel operating on the Great Lakes, and whose position is south of an eastward-moving storm center, would experience which condition? o (A) High clounds o (B) Fog o (C) A rising barometer (D) A southeast to south wind 6. Which term defines when a boat turns broadside to heavy seas and winds, thus exposing the boat to the danger of capsizing? (A) Broached o (B) Yawed o (C) Trimmed o (D) Pitchpoled 7. Which publication offers information on Great Lakes ice services? o (A) National Weather Service, Ice Outlooks o (B) Light List volume VII o (C) Marine Weather Log (D) U.S. Coast Pilot #6 8. Which describes nearly half of all storms that enter the Great Lakes Basin during the period from October through May? o (A) Highs which originate in the east and east central USA o (B) Highs which originate in north eastern and eastern Canada o (C) Lows which originate in north central and western Canada (D) Lows which originate in the central and western USA 9. Which term defines when a vessel is swinging from side to side off course due to quartering seas? o (A) Pitchpoling (B) Yawing o (C) Rolling o (D) Broaching Page 3 of 8
10. Your vessel is on a voyage from Ogdensburg, NY, to Chicago, IL, via the Great Lakes. The date is October 3 of the current year. If your vessel is subject to the load line requirements, using illustration D031DG below, to which of her marks should she be loaded? (A) Fresh water - Intermediate o (B) Salt water - Intermediate o (C) Fresh water - Winter o (D) Salt water - Winter 11. Which defines the term "Seiche"? (A) An oscillation caused by the diminishing of forces which cause lake level fluctuations o (B) An unusually strong storm system which approaches the Great Lakes System generally from the Northeast o (C) A higher than normal high water or lower than normal low water o (D) The lake current which is predominant during the spring and fall navigation season on the Great Lakes 12. Which statement is FALSE with regards to the Great Lakes Light List? o (A) Volume VII does not include information on Class III private aids to navigation. o (B) The Light List should be corrected each week from the appropriate Notice to Mariners. (C) The Light List does not contain information on any of the navigational aids maintained by Canada. o (D) The Light List does not include Coast Guard mooring buoys, special purpose buoys, or buoys marking fish net areas. 13. On the Great Lakes, which can cause short-term fluctuations in water levels? o (A) Calm winds o (B) Below normal rain fall (C) Seiches o (D) Steady barometric pressure Page 4 of 8
14. When the period of beam seas equals the natural rolling period of a vessel, what will most likely occur? o (A) Excessive pitching (B) Excessive rolling o (C) Excessive yawing o (D) No change should be evident 15. There are basically three categories of water level fluctuations on the Great Lakes. What is NOT included as one of these? o (A) Short period fluctuations o (B) Seasonal fluctuations (C) Controlled outflow fluctuations o (D) Long range fluctuations 16. Which statement concerning storm surges on the Great Lakes is FALSE? (A) They are common along the deeper areas of the lakes. o (B) They cause rapid differences in levels between one end of the lake and the other. o (C) The greatest water level difference occurs when the wind is blowing along the axis of the lake. o (D) If the wind subsides rapidly, a seiche effect will most likely occur. 17. What does the line labeled "MS" indicate on the Great Lakes load line model shown in illustration D031DG below? o (A) Midseason o (B) Mean sea level o (C) Maximum submergence (D) Midsummer 18. Your vessel is off a lee shore in heavy weather and laboring. Which action should you take? o (A) Heave to in the trough of the sea. o (B) Put the sea and wind on either quarter and proceed at increased speed. (C) Put the sea and wind about two points on either bow and reduce speed. o (D) Put the bow directly into the sea and proceed at full speed. Page 5 of 8
19. A vessel is loaded to her summer marks for a voyage from Montreal, Canada to Duluth, MN via the Great Lakes System. The voyage has been estimated to take nine (9) days. If the vessel departs Montreal on September 28th, which of the following statements is TRUE? o (A) The vessel must be at her summer marks when she arrives at Duluth. (B) The vessel's intermediate load line marks may not be submerged after September 30. o (C) The vessel is in violation of the load line requirements. o (D) The vessel must be at her winter marks by the evening of the third day. 20. Which vessel is exempt from the load line and marking requirements for vessels operating on the Great Lakes System? (A) A 500 GT dry cargo river barge operated continuously between Calumet Hbr Chicago, IL and Burns Hbr, IN o (B) A 300 GT tank barge operating exclusively on Lake Michigan o (C) A 200 GT passenger vessel operating between Duluth, MN and Munising, MI o (D) A 79-foot, 150 GT pleasure craft operating on the St. Lawrence River 21. In which situation could a vessel most easily capsize? o (A) Anchored with your bow into the seas o (B) Running into head seas o (C) Running with following seas (D) Running in the trough 22. On which of the Great Lakes would shore ice be the most pronounced? o (A) Lake Erie (B) Lake Superior o (C) Lake Huron o (D) Lake Michigan 23. When is the phenomenon known as a "seiche" most likely to occur on Lake Erie? o (A) During the passage of a rapidly moving warm front o (B) When the Moon and Sun are in alignment o (C) Only during the months of May through August (D) When strong winds from the Northeast suddenly diminish Page 6 of 8
24. Which of the Great Lakes generally has the shortest navigation season? o (A) Lake Michigan o (B) Lake Erie (C) Lake Superior o (D) Lake Huron 25. You are steaming in a heavy gale and find it necessary to heave to. Under most circumstances, how is this best accomplished? o (A) Increasing the speed and taking the sea broad on the bow o (B) Stopping the engines and drifting beam to the seas (C) Taking the sea fine on the bow and reducing the speed o (D) Going slow astern and taking the seas on the quarter Page 7 of 8
National Maritime Center Providing Credentials to Mariners D031DG 5/23/2016 Adapted for testing purposes only Further reproduction prohibited without permission Page 8 of 8