Anchoring and ropes — Seamanship, Mashit 30

81 questions on anchoring and ropes, from the Seamanship exam of Mashit 30. Anchors, mooring, springs, ropes and wire rope. Every question is shown with its correct answer, as in the official question pool.

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Questions on Anchoring and ropes

What could a single white light ahead of you be? All of the above.
What vessel is shown in picture 39? A ship aground.
A vessel shows the lights in picture 61. What do they indicate? The starboard side of a vessel at anchor, more than 50 metres in length.
Which lights must you show when at anchor in a secluded bay in a 13-metre vessel? An all-round white light.
A vessel "underway" means: A vessel that is not made fast to a quay, not aground and not at anchor.
Which areas are closed to navigation (under the regulations)? Bathing beaches, diving areas, closed areas.
You are in a sailing vessel, motor-sailing. Ahead of you is a vessel showing the flag in picture 98. What lights must she show after dark, and what should you do? Lights as shown in picture 70. She is marking a diving area and you must keep clear of her.
You must tow a 10-metre yacht in the open sea. The waves are 2 metres high. Which towline would you prefer to use? A rope of 4-inch circumference, 50 metres long.
On a boat with a steering wheel, the emergency tiller is there for a case in which: Answers a and b are correct.
While preparing to abandon ship, you launch a liferaft and it inflates upside down. What should you do? Send a swimmer to stand on the gas cylinder, hold the straps provided for this and right the raft.
What is the main purpose of a drogue (a type of sea anchor)? To slow the boat down when running down high waves.
You are in a motorboat and have run aground on a sandbank. What is the first thing you do? I put the engine into neutral.
What is a safety harness for? To secure the crew against falling overboard in heavy weather.
You want to anchor in a bay. Which seamanship considerations will affect your decision? The type of bottom, the wind strength and direction, how crowded the bay is, the weather forecast.
What is required of a towline? It must have high elasticity (stretch).
Which of the following is an effective way to tell that the anchor is holding and not dragging? Feeling the anchor rode for "vibrations".
What is a "dead anchor"? An anchor permanently fixed to the seabed.
The marina office where you berth (a sailing yacht) tells you to moor alongside another vessel (a sailing yacht identical to yours) because the marina is crowded. How do you moor your boat? I moor alongside "bow to stern".
What do you do immediately after running aground? Damage control: try to limit the damage as the situation allows, and prepare for abandoning ship or for rescue.
After you have finished anchoring, what is the recommended way to take the load off the anchor windlass? You can tie a line to the anchor chain and make it fast to the bow cleat, sharing the load between them and adding security.
Which is one of the requirements of a mooring line? It must have high elasticity (stretch).
As you enter Herzliya Marina, turning the wheel has no effect at all on the boat's steering. What is your immediate option? I fit the emergency tiller to the rudder stock.
Which of the following ropes, all of the same thickness, is the strongest? Kevlar.
What is a safety "lifeline" (jackstay)? A lifeline is a line rigged from bow to stern, used to clip on a safety harness when working on deck in rough weather.
What gives the best mooring? It is better to make one strong line fast to a given point than two weak lines that together give the same strength as the strong one.
What is the effect of a knot or a splice on a rope? Any knot or splice reduces the rope's original strength.
What does the marking 6/12 on a wire rope mean? 6 strands, with 12 wires in each strand.
What is the main use of a sea anchor? To check drift and hold the bow or stern of the boat to the wind and waves.
The boat lies starboard side to the quay, held by a single line acting as a stern spring. The engine is put astern with the wheel amidships. How will the boat react? The bow will swing to port.
You are sailing parallel to the shore, about 500 metres off. The wind is rising and pushing the boat towards the shore, and you are 5 hours' sailing from your home port. What should you do? I will move away from the shore quickly.
What is the first thing you do when the anchor is dragging? I let out more anchor rode or chain.
Which statement about wire rope is the most correct (the construction is read from left to right)? 1×19 wire is mostly used for the guardrails.
How should ropes be cared for? Rinse them in fresh water and dry them in the shade.
What properties should an anchor rode have, and which rope would you prefer? It should stretch and sink.
Your 19 m boat is moored alongside the fuel berth in a marina. The wind is pressing you hard against the berth and you want to leave. What could be a solution? I will use a bow spring with a fender at the bow and go ahead on the engine.
You want to moor Mediterranean-style in a harbour in Greece. Where can you find information about the harbour and the berth? In the pilot book, on nautical charts and from friends who have sailed in the area.
When would you rather moor bow-to the quay than stern-to? Answers b and c are correct.
Your boat is moored in a marina to a "dead anchor" (a sinker) by a "mooring" line (lazy line). What is the danger when you leave? That the engine cannot be put in gear until the line has sunk.
How can you tell whether your anchor is dragging? There will be vibration in the anchor rode and the boat will not keep her bow to the wind.
What is the correct order of actions when anchoring? Choose where to anchor, brief the crew, approach the spot head to wind, stop, drop the anchor and check whether it is dragging.
What do you do when someone falls overboard in a rough sea while you are under sail? Throw a lifebuoy, furl the jib, start the engine and go to the person in the water.
You are sailing to Cyprus when you suddenly hear a request for a tow from an Israeli sailing yacht 90 miles from Cyprus. The weather is good, but a depression is forecast in 48 hours (the tow is requested because of engine failure). What do you do? Check whether I am able to tow her (fuel state, suitable lines, etc.); I am not obliged to help, since the boat is not in distress.
Which factors must you take into account when towing another vessel? The sea state, the amount of fuel and the strength of the towing points.
Your inflatable dinghy with its outboard weighs 320 kg. You rig a tackle on the end of the main boom so that 4 parts of rope run from the moving block (the one attached to the dinghy), and you want to lift the dinghy with the tackle. Ignoring friction, what force is needed to lift the dinghy? 80 kg.
As you approach a marina you want to furl the jib, but the jib furler will not turn. What can you do? Answers a and c are correct.
You are caught in a storm in your sloop: 45-knot winds and waves an estimated 7 metres high. The mainsail is fully lowered, and the reefed jib you set has torn. The boat is now drifting beam-on to the wind and waves. What must you do? Stream a sea anchor to hold the boat steady, facing the waves and the wind.
Your boat, 12 m long and 4.5 m wide, is under engine, towing a sailing yacht 10 m long and 3.5 m wide. You have no towing bridle. The towline, about 10 m long, is made fast to the port cleat at your stern. You have to make a sharp turn to port, which leaves the towline slack. What may be the immediate effect on your boat when the line comes taut again? The towed boat will swing your bow hard to starboard.
What is recommended when towing in heavy weather? Lengthen the towline and make it as heavy as possible.
While berthed in a marina you receive a warning that a very strong wind (Beaufort force 9) and high waves are expected before dawn. What do you do? Answers b and c are correct.
Of the anchors listed below, which will hold best in a sandy bottom? Bruce anchor.
Approaching Herzliya Marina from the west, you are sailing in a 2 m westerly swell. How high do you expect the waves to be near the entrance, and what do you do? There will probably be high waves at the marina entrance; I will try to time my entry for a lull between the waves.
Sailing vessel B, showing two black balls, sees sailing vessel J. What action is required? J gives way in the most effective direction.
You are underway in vessel A and see vessel I flying flag O with a black ball above it. What do you do? She is in distress; I go to her assistance.
Sailing vessel O sees vessel C showing the lights in picture 53, and there appears to be a risk of collision. What is the vessel, and what action is required? C is a towing vessel and must give way. Sailing vessel O will hold her course.
Vessel H, flying the flag in picture 97, sees vessel J flying the flag in picture 106 above her superstructure, with a black ball at her bow. What action is required? J is at anchor, flying a flag meaning that she is healthy and requests permission to enter harbour; no action is needed.
Vessel J, showing the lights in picture 35, sees vessel B showing the lights in picture 15, with flames visible on her deck. What action is required? B is in distress; J must go to her and assist her.
Vessel J, showing the lights in picture 35, sees vessel B showing the lights in picture 15. What action is required? B gives way to J.
Vessel H, flying the flag in picture 97, sees vessel J flying the flag in picture 104 with a black ball below it. What action is required? J is in distress; you must go and assist her.
Over the VHF you are told to berth in the marina using the method called "Mediterranean mooring". So you will moor: With an anchor or a mooring buoy at the bow, and the stern to the quay.
A boat is made fast to the quay, starboard side to, by a bow spring only. How will she react with her engines slow ahead and the rudder amidships? The bow will swing to starboard.
You are on a sailing yacht with her sails furled. A north-westerly wind of 20 knots is blowing. In the entrance to Herzliya Marina, between the breakwaters, the engine suddenly stops and you cannot restart it. What will you do? I will set one of the sails so as not to be left without propulsion.
What is the mechanical advantage of a mainsheet tackle made up of a double block on the boom and another double block on deck, with the hauling part leading from the block on the boom? The mechanical advantage will be 5.
Vessel J, showing the day-shape in picture 84, sees vessel D showing the flag in picture 98 on her mast and a black ball at the bow. What is vessel D signalling, and what action is required? She is a vessel at anchor with divers down, so you must keep at least 200 metres away from her.
Which statement about a liferaft is true? A liferaft carries at least one sea anchor.
What does the marking 6/12 on a wire rope mean (reading from left to right)? 6 strands, with 12 wires in each strand.
What is the safety harness on board used for? To secure the crew against falling overboard in heavy weather.
You have decided to come in to the shore in a motorboat with her bow facing the open sea, and you intend to use the anchor to do it. What must you do? Control the paying out of the chain or rope, so that the anchor stops the boat while you keep full control of the process.
What is required of a mooring line? All of the above.
You are about to make a Mediterranean moor in a marina crowded with moored boats. Your boat is 12 metres long (anchor at the bow), the depth is 7 metres, the anchor rode is 70 metres long, and a strong crosswind is blowing on your starboard bow. Where will you drop the anchor? I will drop the anchor straight out from my berth, at right angles to the quay and as far from it as possible.
What is the job of the mooring lines called springs? They stop the boat moving fore and aft along the quay, parallel to it (once she is made fast).
Which of the following items is not part of a liferaft's standard equipment? A portable SART.
What, as a rule, is required of a towline? It should have high elasticity (stretch).
How is the weight of the anchor determined in relation to the size of the boat? The safety equipment standard of the Administration of Shipping and Ports deals with this.
Sailing vessel O sees vessel C showing the lights in picture 53, and there appears to be a risk of collision. What is the vessel, and what action is required? C is a towing vessel and must give way. Sailing vessel O will hold her course.
What is a vessel signalling when she shows the flag in picture 92 with a black ball above it? I am in distress and need assistance.
You see a single white light ahead of your bow, and it is getting brighter. What could it be, and what will you do? It is the sternlight of a vessel. I will give way to her.
You are in a sailing vessel and see, right ahead, a vessel showing the lights in picture 39. What is she signalling, and what will you do? She is aground, so I must take care.
Vessel J, showing the day-shape in picture 84, sees vessel D showing the flag in picture 98 on her mast and a black ball at the bow. What is vessel D signalling, and what action is required? She is a vessel at anchor with divers down, so you must keep at least 200 metres away from her.
Vessel C, showing the day-shape in picture 84, sees G showing the day-shapes in picture 81. What action is required? C is fishing and G is aground; keep as far away as possible.
Vessel G, showing the signal in picture 82, sees vessel O flying the flag in picture 98 above her superstructure and showing a black ball in the bow. What action is required? Keep at least 200 metres away from O: she is at anchor and engaged in diving operations.
When do you anchor with two anchors? All of the above.

Anchoring and ropes — Seamanship, Mashit 30

Questions on Anchoring and ropes

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