YOUR Exam code ONC04-B (the B is for NEAR COASTAL).
NOTE, it is required that you take Azimuth and/or Amplitude of ANY BODY.
And
NMC has been operating behind closed doors since September 2016. They have had PLENTY of time, especially during Covid (2020 and 2021), to create and post NEW QUESTIONS in their database. As has been seen by many mariners at the State and Federal schools, NEW chart plots for each area have been given during exams with a passing rate that was a disaster (12% TO 38%).
and from what I am told it was all because of the academy kids.
So does this mean hawspiper can get the the old plots or new plots or are all the old plots trash trash now? Is it just new plots from here on out?
I am really weak on ploting. If anything would fail me its this. FUCK. I guess i can’t do the whole mem answers for chart plot now I guess
Yeah this is true and probably for the best if I make it to the wheelhouse and I can’t do shit I they are just going to put me back down on deck anyway so I am going to learn the fundamentals
Kinda like you never missing a chance to blame literally anyone else for you having a tough time doing very simple tasks required of an officer.
If you can’t plot you don’t deserve the license. Memorizing deck gen and safety is one thing, but memorizing the plot because you can’t pass? That’s a concern.
While I can see how the majority of 3rd mate tests are taken by academy cadets due to sheer volume of 3M’s the academies put out annually, don’t put the blame solely on them.
If you want to talk people that cheat to get their licenses, I wonder how many of the mariners that are under indictment/plead guilty to the Houma license buying are hawsepipers vs academy guys. And from what I can remember, most of those licenses were bought under the old testing question bank.
Why do you want special treatment as a hawsepiper and be allowed to take the old chart plots? So you can memorize the answers?
What is supposedly making chart plot so much harder? Is there some new advanced chart plot navigation technique new candidates are being tested on?
Chart plot knowledge and skills are fairly basic and the building blocks for more advanced navigation theory and technique. It’s a skill that should be mastered. Attention to detail and accuracy are everything.
Study and learn the theory and technical skills and stop trying to find a short cut or person to blame if you can’t.
My whole life i have been very bad at navigation and can’t go more then 30 min away from the house and get back home with out gps. I may be over stating it but you get the point.
Yes, and - - if you’re having trouble, take the TIME, spend the MONEY, go to a GOOD SCHOOL to LEARN what you need to know and how to do it! After all, it’s an investment in your future. - - from a hawsepiper who did it - - - all the way from boat cook to Master Oceans - -
Got it easy? Dude the exams haven’t changed. They just made some new questions that are exactly like the old questions.
I took the Chief Mate exam a couple years ago. I requested the old exam because that’s what I studied for. When I arrived at the REC they gave me the new exam and I failed to notice. I took it and passed, no problem. Know why? Because the material is the exact same!
Chart plot is easy as long as you take your time, pay attention to detail and remember to BE NEAT. I was in between two answers on the exam for something as silly as the lead in my compass being flattened out which screwed up my accuracy by thaaaaaaat much.
Also (speaking of cadets failing) a lot of cadets fail to take notice of TRUE vs. PER GYRO. If two of four answers are in PGC and the others are T, reread the question and you might knock two off the list right there. Read the question and take note of what it is asking… sometimes half the words and info in the question are irrelevant.
When I was helping SUNY cadets study for their exams I was astonished to learn how many of them came up with and memorized inane rhymes and word associations to find the right answers to questions. That much effort put into actually mastering the material would have solved their “can’t do it, wanna do it, gimme license,” attitude.
Back in '17 we had a 3M on a prepo ship out at Diego Garcia who could not even do a running fix off nav aids while outbound for sea. Straight line, no traffic, 1-2-3 and you’re at sea.
Couldn’t… even… do… that. (Forgot to add that his excuse was “we were never taught that at Schuyler.”)
Later bragged in the seaman’s club that he cheated on license. No one was surprised, and I was not surprised to see him in there a few weeks later behind a pile of empty beer cans crying that he was being sent home.
