Third class voyage planning is a critical segment of the larger scheme of bridge team management. When the sophomores are in this phase of training, they will explore the mechanical elements associated with proper voyage planning. This is a large part of our 3rd class cadet’s sea term training.
They have a little less than one month to create a voyage plan of one leg of our SeaTerm.
“A voyage plan is like planning a cross country road trip,” one of the professors, Captain Dalton said to his students as assisting them. You have to plan out the highways, exits you need to take, and some sites you are going to see along the way. The sophomores work together in small groups to complete this assessment until they get it right or run out of time. They work extremely hard and from what I have seen, they have done great work!
The voyage plan that I was overseeing was from Fort Rodman- Balboa Panama to sea buoy WHIS Mo(A) 10s Sea buoys are identified by there are many possible light sequences; this means that each buoy can have a distinctive pattern to ensure it is easily differentiated from any other. An Mo (A) is a specific type of buoy that is coded in morse code rather than light color. This maker indicates a mid-channel or safe water mark. This will usually be the first marker you see returning from sea. It will not have a number and may be lettered. It may be lighted or unlighted and may have an associated sound. The light (if lighted) will be white and will flash the Mo (A) sequence. (Morse Code Alpha). You may pass to either side of the marker.
While the next leg of the voyage plan was from Fort Rodman- Balboa Panama to Puntarenas, Costa Rica.
Try your skill at the Online Voyage Planner
Each part of the voyage plan has a check list that includes waypoints (a point that helps us know where we are and where we're going); departure positions from latitude- longitude; the Per Ship's Compass (PSC) course; position fixing (The fix confirms the actual position during a journey); and soundings (soundings help fix a ship's position by sonic, or echo, depth finders). All of these terms are how the navigator can tell where and when the ship will be to a certain location.
Talk to you soon,
Jill
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