USCG Exam PracticeDanger bearings and danger circles
A navigator is piloting in restricted visibility and can identify only one charted object visually. She takes a bearing of 042°T to the object, runs a timed distance on a steady course, then takes a second bearing of 068°T to the same object. She advances the first LOP along the DR track and intersects it with the second bearing. The result is best described as:
- A. A fix, because two lines of position were used
- B. A danger bearing, because only one charted object was used
- ✓ A running fix, less reliable than a simultaneous two-object fix because it assumes course and speed were held exactlyCorrect
- D. A three-bearing fix requiring a third observation to confirm position
Why C is correct
Bowditch Ch. 7 §708 describes exactly this procedure as a running fix and notes it is less reliable than a simultaneous two-object fix because it assumes course and speed were maintained precisely between observations. A danger bearing (option B) is a planning tool, not a position-finding technique.