Navigation Workbook PROBLEM!

[Young sea dog]

Hi!

I'm one of the last PH7 HND cadets, orals are in February (slightly stressed already) anyways, I have not got a lot in the dreaded book of mine and does anyone have any tips etc? Books I could get worked example from? I have an Idea of what needs to be put in it and have radar plots, some celestial etc in it. You may think I am lazy because of the state it is in however that is not the case. I am with a small coasting company and I did not have the time to be writing up the nav workbook as well as the portfolio reports. I did try my best but feel it is not enough.

Cheers in Advance.

Ryan

[James]

Hi Ryan,

Just to be clear, have you completed all of your sea time in preparation for your Orals or do you still have another short trip to do? Forgive me, I am not aware of what structure the HND route currently takes.

Ideally, all of your navigation workbook should be completed at sea. However before handing it in I would recommended tidying it up and making sure that you have included as much relevant material as possible. Your portfolios and TRB are the first thing the MCA will see when assessing you, so if you have a well presented portfolio, you will be getting off to a good start.

You will find that people have done their navigation workbooks in different ways, but as long as you have covered the main bases there shouldn't be any issues. At the end of the day, your navigation workbook is evidence of what you have been doing at sea and proves your knowledge and understanding. The more you have, the better; however always be aware that quality comes first. You are far better having 1 high quality entry, than 50 low qualities entries.

Your college should have issued you with some guidelines, although I'll pass on some ideas - if you have missed bits out, you should always add these to your existing entries:

- As a guide, try to maintain the navigation workbook for a minimum of 5 days in each 2 month period you are on the bridge (only a very rough guide).
- Each entry should include day & date, and where you are operating.
- Use diagrams and draw sketches to further your understanding!
- Possible topics: azimuths, amplitudes, merr passes, sun/star sights, ETAs, plane sailings, great circle sailings, rumb lines, tides, passage planning, discussion of traffic situations, bridge navigational equipment.

Personally when I was a cadet, I had 1 full arch-lever folder made up of my Operations & Navigation workbooks. You will find some people have more, others less, but as long as you are happy then that's all that matters. It is your portfolio and alongside your reports, forms the bulk of evidence to the MCA when they assess you. If you are not happy then consider adding to it (if possible), or else ask for more sea time with your company?

[Young sea dog]

Thank you very much for the info!

I have finished all my sea time and sitting orals in February. We do however have the xmas break off, I have arranged to go back to sea for those two weeks to get more stuff in the book and to put more learning experiences into practice before my orals.

Thanks again,

Ryan