1

In World War 2, which British Army unit used an astrolabe as its cap badge?

A: The Royal Engineers.

B: Popski's Private Army.

C: The Parachute Regiment.

D: The Catering Corps.

2

What did the American master Thomas H Sumner discover on December 18, 1837?

A: The Mariana Trench.

B: The 'dip' correction for sextants.

C: Pluto's Moon.

D: The Celestial Line of Position.

3

The Spratley Islands are located in...

A: The Indian Ocean.

B: The Balearics.

C: The South China Sea.

D: The South Pacific.

4

Who invented the Diesel engine?

A: Rudolf Christian Karl Diesel.

B; Christian Rudolf Karl Diesel.

C: Karl Rudolf Christian Diesel.

D: Herbert Akroyd.

5

What is a 'bonaventure'?

A: The name of a bar in Charleston, South Carolina.

B: A chain connecting a bowsprit to the stem of a boat.

C: The second mizzen sail on a 16^th century square-rigger.

D: The bow-wake of a fast-moving yacht.

6

Where was Joshua Slocum born?

A: Plymouth, England.

B: Boston, Massachusetts.

C: Mount Hanly, Nova Scotia.

7

Joshua Slocum once skippered a 'bark' (or 'barque'). What rig did a bark have?

A: Three masts, two square-rigged with a fore-and-aft mizzen.

B: Three masts, the main-mast square-rigged, the foremast and mizzen with fore-and-aft sails.

C: Four masts, two square-rigged, the foremast and mizzen having fore-and-aft sails.

8

Which star in the constellation of Orion always rises due East (and sets due West of course)?

A: Betelgeuse.

B: Rigel.

C: Mintaka.

D: Saiph.

9

What is the color of a 'towing light' as defined by International Rule 21 of the ColRegs (NavRules)?

A: Yellow.

B: White.

C: Red.

D: Green.

10

Which of these was not proposed as a means of determining longitude?

A: A chain of anchored ships stretching across the Atlantic, each in sight of the next in the chain, each in turn firing a cannon to signal the passing of an hour at Greenwich.

B: The use of wounded dogs which would bark on the hour.

C: The eclipsing moons of Jupiter.

D: The changing colours of real yoghourt.

11

What is 'arming'?

A: Pulling up an anchor without the use of a windlass.

B: Tallow in the hollow base of a sounding lead, used to sample the bottom.

C: The explosive charge used in signalling flares.

D: An obsolete expression for readying the cannons on an 18th century Man o' War.

12

What is a 'brail'?

A: A line used to take the pressure off a line under stress.

B: A line used to support a dinghy held in davits.

C: A line used to gather in a sail and secure it to a spar.

D: A line used to support a gaff.

13

What is the rig of an Arab dhow?

A: The lateen rig.

B: The asseem rig.

C: The hussein rig.

14

What is the 'catenary'?

A: A traditional place in the stern to keep a ship's cat.

B: The curve of the rode when lying to anchor.

C: A slotted spar on the bulwark used to stow marlin spikes.

D: A place in the bow used for stowing an anchor while under way.

15

The vertical ridges on the barrel of a capstan are called...

A: Drumheads.

B: Bars.

C: Whelps.

16

In the Western North Pacific a hurricane is called a...

A: Cyclone.

B: Typhoon.

C: Monsoon.

17

What is the old measure of a 'league' in modern nautical miles?

A: 7 nautical miles.

B: 3.2 nautical miles.

C: 2.67 nautical miles.

D: Any of the above.

18

A 'triatic stay' is...

A: A line that connects the mastheads of a fore-and-aft vessel.

B: A line that connects the open ends of a wishbone boom, thus forming a triangle.

C: A stay that incorporates a short-wave radio antenna.

19

The NavRules (ColRegs) require that a vessel crossing a Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS) should...

A: Keep a course of 90º to the heading of the first ship sighted in a TSS lane.

B: Keep a heading of 90º to the direction of the TSS lanes.

C: Keep a course of 90º to the direction of the TSS lanes.

D: Keep a heading of 135º to the course of the first ship sighted in a TSS lane.

20

A tipstaff is a...

A: A dock-worker who supervised the load and unloading of a ship.

B: A device used to indicated the angle of heel of a sailing vessel.

C: A vertically-set steering device used on early square-riggers.