Prerequisites
- You have worked through the other ICC lessons, especially Passing the ICC Practical Assessment, Man Overboard Recovery and Weather and a Simple Passage Plan.
- You know COLREGs Rules 5 to 19 and the lights, shapes and sound signals of the common vessel types, IALA buoyage, and basic chartwork and tides at RYA Day Skipper shorebased level.
- For the coastal assessment, bring a Portland-style plotter or parallel rules, dividers, a pencil and a rubber. The examiner provides the sample chart, tide table and tidal stream data.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Answer, in your own words, every question type in Appendix 1 of the RYA's guidance notes for ICC test centres (sample question formats).
- Cover every knowledge item in the ICC-4a power and ICC-4b sail syllabus (Regulations 1 to 8, Safety 1 and 2) and the ICC-4c coastal syllabus (Planning 1 and 2, IRPCS 1 to 5, Navigation 1 to 6).
- Know what the examiner is listening for in each answer, so a short answer still scores.
- Rate yourself with a self-check list and fix the gaps before the day.
How the Oral Works
The theory is not a formal exam paper for most candidates. The examiner asks questions between manoeuvres, over a chart at the saloon table, or on the pontoon before you leave. Some centres add a short written paper. The RYA tells examiners to put candidates at ease, to talk rather than be inscrutable, and that some coaching is allowed. If you do not understand a question, ask for it to be put another way. Practise by covering each answer and saying yours aloud first.
The examiner's guidance keeps the questions practical. Lights questions are limited to your own boat and a few common vessels. Tidal questions avoid interpolation. Chartwork needs principles, not precision. What fails candidates is not a forgotten detail but a dangerous misunderstanding: thinking a sailing yacht always has right of way, or that a steady bearing is good news.
Regulations (ICC-4a and 4b)
1. Lookout
"Why should there always be two people in a ski-boat?" or "Is it permissible to have nobody on deck or in the wheelhouse of a cruiser?"
Answer: No. Rule 5 requires every vessel to keep a proper lookout at all times, by sight and hearing and by all available means such as radar and AIS. A ski-boat driver must watch where the boat is going, so a second person watches the skier. On autopilot, someone must still be on watch.
Listening for: "at all times", and that the skipper is responsible for it.
2. Safe speed
"In thick fog, how fast should you go?" or "If you were taking a motor cruiser through a group of racing dinghies, how fast would you go?"
Answer: At a safe speed: slow enough to take proper and effective action to avoid a collision and to stop within a suitable distance (Rule 6). In fog that may mean very slow, with the navigation lights on and fog signals sounding. Through dinghies, slow enough to keep full control and make no wash that could capsize them.
Listening for: speed linked to control and stopping, and the factors: visibility, traffic, manoeuvrability, sea state, depth.
3. Risk of collision
"How could you establish whether there was a risk of collision with an approaching vessel?"
Answer: Take a series of compass bearings of the other vessel. If the bearing does not change appreciably and the range is closing, there is a risk of collision (Rule 7). With a very large ship or a tow, risk can exist even when the bearing is changing slowly.
Listening for: "steady bearing, closing range". This is the key sentence.
4 and 5. Give way and stand on
The examiner shows encounter diagrams like those below and asks: "Which is the give-way vessel, and what action should each take?"
Answer: Head-on power vessels both alter to starboard and pass port to port (Rule 14). In a power crossing, the vessel with the other on her starboard side gives way, normally by altering to starboard to pass astern (Rule 15). Sailing vessels on opposite tacks: port tack gives way to starboard tack; on the same tack, windward gives way to leeward (Rule 12). An overtaking vessel keeps clear, whether power or sail (Rule 13). Power gives way to sail, except when the sailing vessel is overtaking or in a narrow channel or TSS where it must not impede a vessel restricted to it (Rule 18). The give-way vessel acts early and substantially (Rule 16). The stand-on vessel keeps her course and speed, may act if the give-way vessel is clearly not doing so (after sounding five short blasts), and must act if collision cannot be avoided by the give-way vessel alone. A power stand-on vessel should then avoid turning to port for a vessel on her own port side (Rule 17).
Listening for: early and substantial give-way action, and the three stages of stand-on duty.
6. Narrow channels
"You are in a narrow channel and a large ship approaches, what action should you take?" or "What should you do before crossing a narrow channel?"
Answer: Keep as near to the starboard edge of the channel as is safe, or outside it if there is enough depth. A vessel under 20 m, or a sailing vessel, must not impede a vessel that can navigate only within the channel (Rule 9). Before crossing, look both ways, make sure you will not impede any ship, and cross quickly at right angles. Do not anchor in a narrow channel.
Listening for: "must not impede", and that small boats get out of the way of big ships in channels.
7. Manoeuvring signals
"What are the meanings of the following signals: 1 short blast, 5 short blasts?"
Answer: One short blast: I am altering my course to starboard. Two short: altering to port. Three short: I am operating astern propulsion. Five or more short and rapid blasts: I do not understand your intentions, or I doubt you are taking sufficient action to avoid collision (Rule 34). These are made by vessels in sight of one another.
Listening for: all four, and that five short is a warning. See the lesson Passing the ICC Practical Assessment for a diagram.
8. Distress signals
"If you had no radio on board, how would you signal distress?" or "What does an orange smoke signal mean?"
Answer: Orange smoke means distress (by day). Without a radio: red hand flares or a red parachute rocket, orange smoke, slowly and repeatedly raising and lowering outstretched arms, continuous sounding of the foghorn, SOS by light or sound, flames on the vessel, or a mobile phone call to the emergency services. With a radio: a DSC distress alert and a Mayday by voice, or an EPIRB or PLB.
Listening for: the common ones, especially flares, smoke and the arm signal.
9. Inland books
"On the Dutch inland waters, what books must you have on board?"
Answer: On most European inland waterways the rules require a copy of the national regulations on board. In the Netherlands that is the BPR (Binnenvaartpolitiereglement), usually carried as part of the ANWB Wateralmanak; the requirement depends on the boat's size and speed. Elsewhere it is the local version of CEVNI.
Listening for: "a copy of the national regulations". The CEVNI lessons in this course cover the rest.
Safety (ICC-4a and 4b)
1. Crew brief
"Give me your safety brief." Often asked for as a demonstration on deck.
Answer: Lifejackets: where they are, how to fit them with crotch straps, and when we wear them. Man overboard: what to shout, the spotter, the lifebuoy, danbuoy and MOB button. Distress alerting: how to send a DSC alert and Mayday, where the flares and EPIRB are. Fire: extinguishers, fire blanket, engine and gas shut-offs. The kill cord, if fitted: always attached when the engine is running. Then the liferaft, first aid kit, bilge pumps, heads, seasickness and moving safely about the boat.
Listening for: lifejackets, distress alerting, fire extinguishers and kill cord, the four named in the syllabus, delivered so the crew could actually use them.
2. Before setting out
"What would you do before setting out on this trip?"
Answer: Get a forecast from two sources and decide if it suits the boat and crew. Do engine checks before starting: fuel, oil, coolant, raw water strainer, belts, bilge and obvious leaks. After starting, check cooling water is coming out of the exhaust. Work out fuel for the distance with at least a third in reserve. Check the boat is not overloaded beyond the number of people or weight on the builder's plate. Brief the crew, plan the passage, and tell someone ashore where we are going and when we expect to arrive.
Listening for: weather, engine and cooling, fuel range, overloading.
A follow-up you may get: "How far can we go on the fuel we have?"
Answer: Divide the usable fuel by the consumption to get hours, multiply by speed to get range, and keep a third in reserve. With 150 litres, burning 15 litres an hour at 8 knots: 10 hours, 80 miles. Keep a third back: plan on about 53 miles.
Coastal Regulations (ICC-4c, IRPCS)
1. Traffic separation schemes
"If you had to cross a traffic separation scheme, how would you do so?"
Answer: Avoid crossing if you can. If you must, cross on a heading as nearly as practicable at right angles to the general direction of traffic flow, as quickly as possible (Rule 10). The heading counts, not the track over the ground, so do not steer to counter the tide. Keep clear of the separation zone, use an inshore traffic zone for coastal passages, and never impede a power-driven vessel following a lane. Join or leave a lane at its ends, or at a small angle to the flow.
Listening for: "heading at right angles", and "must not impede".
2. Your own lights
"What lights should you show on your own boat at night?" The examiner keeps this to your type of boat.
Answer: Sailing yacht under 20 m, under sail: sidelights and sternlight, or a masthead tricolour instead. Under engine: masthead (steaming) light, sidelights and sternlight, no tricolour. At anchor: one all-round white light. Motor cruiser under 50 m: masthead light, sidelights and sternlight; under 12 m, an all-round white plus sidelights is allowed. By day, a yacht motor-sailing shows a cone point down, and any boat at anchor a black ball.
Listening for: the right set for your boat, including the change from sail to power.
3. Recognising lights
"What types of vessel are indicated by the following lights? What aspect is shown?" Expect at least four pictures.
Answer: Masthead light over red and green: power-driven vessel under 50 m, head-on. Red over green all-round at the masthead with a red sidelight: sailing vessel, port side. Two white masthead lights in a vertical line with a green sidelight: towing vessel with a tow under 200 m, starboard side (three whites if over 200 m, and a yellow towing light above the sternlight). A single white all-round: vessel at anchor under 50 m. Red-white-red vertical with two reds on one side and two greens on the other: dredger, pass on the two-greens side. Two all-round reds: not under command.
Listening for: the vessel type and which way it is heading. Saying "I can see her red, so she is crossing from my right to my left" shows you understand aspect.
4. Sound signals in fog
"What sound signal would you make in your own vessel in fog?" or "What is the meaning of one long and two short blasts?"
Answer: Power-driven vessel making way: one prolonged blast at intervals of not more than two minutes. Stopped but under way: two prolonged. Sailing vessel: one prolonged and two short, every two minutes. One long and two short is also made by a vessel not under command, restricted in her ability to manoeuvre (such as a dredger), constrained by draught, fishing, or towing. A vessel at anchor rings a bell rapidly for about five seconds every minute; a manned vessel being towed sounds one long and three short.
Listening for: your own signal, and that one long, two short means "a vessel that cannot easily get out of the way".
5. All other rules
"You are in a crossing situation with a ship and it is getting close. You are the stand-on vessel. What do you do?"
Answer: Hold course and speed while watching the bearing. If the ship does not appear to act, sound at least five short blasts and get ready to act. If collision can no longer be avoided by the ship alone, act myself, avoiding a turn to port for a vessel on my port side. A small yacht should act early anyway: a large ship may not see it.
Listening for: the Rule 17 sequence and common sense about big ships.
Pilotage (ICC-4c)
1. Buoys
"What is this buoy and what is its significance?" The examiner points to a buoy on the chart or describes it: black over yellow, two cones pointing up, Q or VQ white light.
Answer: A north cardinal. The safe water is to the north of it, so I pass to the north. Its light is continuous quick or very quick flashing white.
Listening for: what you do about the mark, not just its colour. Know all four cardinals (light: north continuous, east 3 flashes, south 6 plus a long flash, west 9), port and starboard lateral marks in IALA A and B, isolated danger (black and red, two black balls, Fl(2)), safe water (red and white stripes, one red ball) and special marks (yellow, yellow X).
2. Local regulations
"Where would you find the local regulations for this harbour?"
Answer: In the nautical almanac and the pilot book (sailing directions) for the area, the harbour authority's website and notices, and Admiralty Notices to Mariners. They cover speed limits, small craft channels, VTS and port radio channels, port entry signals and anchoring restrictions.
Listening for: that local rules exist and where to find them. This also covers ICC-4c Navigation 2.
Follow-up: "What do three red lights in a vertical line at a harbour entrance mean?"
Answer: Under the International Port Traffic Signals, three fixed red lights mean vessels shall not proceed. Three flashing reds mean a serious emergency: stop or divert as instructed. Three greens mean you may proceed, one-way traffic. Many ports have their own variations, listed in the almanac.
Follow-up: "What is VTS and what do you do about it?"
Answer: Vessel Traffic Services, run by the port authority, monitor and advise traffic, usually on a published VHF channel. I listen on that channel when entering or leaving, and call if the almanac says small craft must.
3. Entry and departure plan
"Talk me through your plan for entering this harbour." The examiner uses a sample chart.
Answer: Check tide height for any bar or shallow patch, and the stream at the entrance. Approach from a safe waypoint offshore. List the marks in order with bearings and distances between them, the leading line or transit if there is one, and clearing bearings for hazards. Stay just outside the main channel in the small craft area where depth allows, keep clear of ships, and listen on the port channel. Note the entry signals, where the visitors' berths are, and an abort plan: where I go if I cannot get in.
Listening for: a plan appropriate to a small boat, keeping out of the way of large vessels.
Navigation (ICC-4c)
1. Charts, depths and drying heights
"What does this symbol mean?" and "What is the difference between a charted depth and a drying height?"
Answer: A charted depth is the depth below chart datum, which in UK and many European charts is about the lowest astronomical tide, so there is almost always at least that much water. A drying height is the height above chart datum of ground that uncovers; on Admiralty charts it is underlined. Actual depth over a drying patch equals height of tide minus drying height. The common symbols are a rock which covers and uncovers (an asterisk shape with its drying height), a rock awash at chart datum (a cross with dots), a dangerous underwater rock (a cross, often in a dotted circle), and a dangerous wreck (a fishbone shape in a dotted circle).
Listening for: the datum, the underline, and "height of tide minus drying height".
2. Three-bearing fix
"Plot this three-bearing fix and give me the latitude and longitude."
Answer: Choose three charted objects spread widely, ideally about 60 degrees apart. Take the bearings quickly with the hand-bearing compass, beam objects last because they change fastest. Convert magnetic to true by applying variation (add east, subtract west), plot each line from the object, and mark the fix with a circle and the time. Read latitude from the side scale and longitude from the top or bottom scale. A small triangle, called a cocked hat, is normal; assume the corner nearest to danger.
Listening for: sensible objects, correct variation, and reading lat and long the right way round.
3. Course to steer
"You are at this buoy. Assuming the tidal stream is 180 degrees True at 1 knot, what is the magnetic course to steer for this harbour, with a boat speed of 6 knots and no leeway?"
Answer: See the worked example below. Draw the track to the destination, draw one hour of tide from the start, then swing an arc of one hour's boat speed from the end of the tide line to cut the track. The line from the end of the tide line to that point is the course to steer. Convert to magnetic.
Listening for: tide laid off first, then boat speed, and the course measured from the right line.
4. Tide tables
"Here is a tide table. What are the times and heights of today's high and low waters?"
Answer: Find today's date, read the HW and LW times and heights, and check the time zone printed on the page. UK tables are in UT (GMT), so add one hour in summer. Heights are above chart datum.
Listening for: the time zone correction. It is the commonest error.
5. Tidal streams
"What is the direction and rate of the tidal stream here, two hours after high water springs at the reference port?"
Answer: From the tidal diamond table on the chart, read the row for HW plus 2: the direction in degrees True and the springs rate. Or open the tidal stream atlas at the page for HW plus 2 and read the arrow; figures such as 12,23 mean 1.2 knots at neaps and 2.3 knots at springs.
Listening for: the right row or page and the springs column. No interpolation needed.
6. Fixing and checking position
"Your GPS shows your position. Why and how would you check it?"
Answer: GPS can fail, be jammed, or be set to the wrong chart datum, and plotters can have errors near the coast. Verify position from at least one more source: a visual bearing or transit, a depth sounding compared with the chart, a radar range, or simply passing a known buoy.
Listening for: at least two independent sources, as the syllabus says.
7. Weather and sea state
"Where did you get today's forecast, what does it say, and what does it mean for us?"
Answer: Name the source and time of issue, read out wind, sea state and visibility, then the impact: "South-west 4 to 5, slight to moderate, good. We will reef before the headland, and we pass it at slack water to avoid wind against tide." See the lesson Weather and a Simple Passage Plan.
8. Methods of sending distress
"What methods of signalling distress are there, apart from VHF voice?"
Answer: From Annex IV of the collision regulations: DSC distress alert; EPIRB or PLB; SART; red parachute rockets and hand flares; orange smoke; slowly raising and lowering outstretched arms; continuous fog signal; SOS by light or sound; flames; a gun fired at intervals of about a minute; the code flags N over C; a square flag with a ball above or below it; and a dye marker in the sea.
Listening for: a good spread, with the ones you carry first.
Worked Example: The Course to Steer
The examiner sets: start at a buoy, harbour due east (track 090 degrees True, 6 miles), tidal stream 180 degrees True at 1 knot, boat speed 6 knots, no leeway, variation 2 degrees West.
- Draw the track from the buoy to the harbour: 090 degrees True.
- From the buoy, draw one hour of tide: 1 mile towards 180 degrees, so the end point is 1 mile south of the buoy.
- Open the dividers to 6 miles (one hour of boat speed). From the end of the tide line, swing an arc to cut the track.
- Join the end of the tide line to that point. Measure its direction: about 080 degrees True. The tide pushes you south, so you steer about 10 degrees north of the track.
- Convert to magnetic: variation West is added going from true to magnetic. 080 plus 2 = 082 degrees Magnetic.
- Speed over the ground is a little under 6 knots, so the 6 miles take just over an hour.
A sound answer: "Steer about 082 degrees magnetic. The tide is setting me south, so I aim a bit upstream." That is all the examiner needs.
Questions Asked During the Practical
These come up while you handle the boat, and test the skills part of the ICC-4a and 4b syllabus:
- "Show me how you check the engine is cooling." Look for water from the exhaust or the outboard's tell-tale within seconds of starting.
- "Why do you use a spring to leave this pontoon?" To pivot the bow or stern out against the wind holding you on.
- "Where is a good place to hoist the main?" Head to wind, in open water clear of moorings and traffic.
- "Why approach the mooring buoy into the tide?" To stop under control against the stronger of wind or stream.
- "How much anchor cable will you let out?" About four times the maximum depth for chain, six times for rope with some chain, more in strong wind.
Common Mistakes
- Saying a sailing yacht always has right of way. It does not in narrow channels, TSS lanes, when overtaking, or towards vessels restricted, constrained or fishing.
- Forgetting the stand-on duties. "I keep going" is only the first part of Rule 17.
- Crossing a TSS on a track rather than a heading.
- Reading the tide table without correcting for summer time.
- Confusing drying heights and depths, or forgetting the underline.
- Describing a buoy's colour without saying which side to pass.
- Long, rambling answers. Give the key rule first, then the detail if asked.
Summary
- The oral follows Appendix 1 of the RYA test centre guidance: Regulations, Safety, Coastal regulations, Pilotage, Navigation.
- Key sentences: "a proper lookout at all times"; "a safe speed to stop and avoid"; "steady bearing, closing range"; "small boats must not impede large ships in narrow channels"; "cross a TSS on a heading at right angles".
- Know your own boat's lights and fog signal and at least four common vessels by night.
- For pilotage, say what you do about a mark; know where local rules are found.
- For navigation, show the principles: depths and drying heights, a three-bearing fix, a course to steer, HW and LW from a table, streams from a diamond or atlas, position checked from two sources.
Self-Check List
Tick each item only when you can explain it aloud without notes:
- Lookout, safe speed and risk of collision (Rules 5, 6, 7)
- Give way and stand on in head-on, crossing, overtaking and sailing encounters (Rules 12 to 18)
- Narrow channels and traffic separation schemes (Rules 9 and 10)
- Manoeuvring signals 1, 2, 3 and 5 short blasts
- Fog signals for your own boat and the meaning of one long, two short
- Your own lights under sail, under power and at anchor
- Lights of a power vessel, sailing vessel, vessel at anchor, tug and tow, dredger
- At least six distress signals, and how to send a DSC alert and Mayday
- A full crew safety brief, including the kill cord
- Pre-departure checks: forecast, engine, cooling, fuel range, overloading
- Cardinal, lateral, isolated danger, safe water and special marks
- Where to find local regulations, port entry signals and VTS channels
- A harbour entry plan for a small boat
- Charted depth versus drying height, and the common danger symbols
- A three-bearing fix with latitude and longitude
- A simple course to steer allowing for tide
- HW and LW times and heights, corrected for summer time
- Tidal stream direction and rate from a diamond or atlas
- Forecast sources at home and abroad, and their impact on a passage
Check Your Understanding
- What does a steady compass bearing of an approaching vessel tell you?
Answer: If the range is closing, there is a risk of collision (Rule 7).
- You must cross a traffic separation scheme with a strong cross-tide. Do you steer to make your track cross at right angles?
Answer: No. Your heading must be as nearly as practicable at right angles to the traffic flow; let the tide set you along the lane while you cross quickly.
- You see a single white light, a red light below it and slightly to one side, and no green. What is it?
Answer: A power-driven vessel seen from her port side, crossing from your right to your left if ahead of you.
- What is the fog signal of a sailing yacht under way?
Answer: One prolonged and two short blasts at intervals of not more than two minutes.
- A charted figure of 2 is underlined on an Admiralty chart. The height of tide is 3.5 m. What depth is there?
Answer: 3.5 minus 2 = 1.5 m. The underline means a drying height of 2 m above chart datum.
- Name three places to find local regulations for a harbour.
Answer: Any three of: the nautical almanac, the pilot book or sailing directions, the harbour authority's website or notices, and Notices to Mariners.
- Why should a GPS position be checked against another source?
Answer: GPS can fail, be jammed or be set to the wrong datum. The syllabus requires verifying position from at least two sources, such as a bearing, a depth or a passing buoy.
- What does an orange smoke signal mean?
Answer: A vessel in distress, by day.