Study by subject
Boating licence
For the boating licence you learn the steering and sailing rules, buoyage, sound signals and lights. Lumi asks them back until the right reflex comes on its own, well before the exam.
How to turn this subject into cards
Make one card per buoyage mark, one per crossing or overtaking situation and one per sound signal. Put the rule in one sentence and describe the situation, because every right of way question is played out between two boats and a wind direction. Cardinal and lateral marks stick better in pairs, north and south, port and starboard. The trap is recognising the answer on a diagram without being able to say why. With Lumi you state the rule before seeing the options, and you revisit each card at intervals that grow longer (Cepeda et al., 2006). End each session by replaying aloud the situations you got wrong.
What you need to know by heart
- Cardinal, lateral and isolated danger marks.
- Steering and sailing rules, crossing, overtaking, head on.
- Priorities between power boats, sailing boats and vessels restricted in their ability to manoeuvre.
- Sound signals and navigation lights.
- Safety equipment on board and what to do when someone falls overboard.
It depends on the country
Licences and navigation rules differ by country and by type of boat. Lateral buoyage follows two systems. In region A, which includes Europe, you keep the red mark on your port side when entering harbour, while in region B, which includes the Americas, you keep it on your starboard side. The steering and sailing rules come from a common international convention, but each country runs its own exam. Check the syllabus of your own authority.
How Lumi helps you remember it
You teach your cards to Lumi, buoyage, priorities, sound signals. It forgets over time, like you do, then quizzes you right before you would forget. As the exam approaches, the Mist settles over the rules you know less well and Lumi asks those first. You arrive able to state the rule and why it applies, not only to recognise a diagram.
Example cards
Three cards the way you would write them, with the answer Lumi expects.
What does a north cardinal mark mean?
The safe water lies to the north of the mark.
Who gives way between a power boat and a sailing boat?
As a general rule, the power boat.
What does one short blast on the whistle mean?
The vessel is altering its course to starboard.
Example card
Try it, Lumi turns it into fill in the blank questions in your browser.
Boating licence · teach this card to Lumi
A north cardinal mark has two black cones pointing up. A south cardinal mark has two black cones pointing down. As a general rule, a power-driven vessel gives way to a sailing vessel. One short blast means the vessel is altering its course to starboard.
Lumi’s question
A _____ cardinal mark has two black cones pointing up.
Pick the missing word
Answer right to light Lumi up
Its lamp fades when a fact slips away.
Frequently asked questions
- Do I need to memorise the diagrams?
- Learn the rule in one sentence and draw the situation next to it. Lumi asks the rule back, and the drawing helps you rebuild it.
- How do I remember the buoyage marks?
- Learn them in pairs, north and south, east and west, port and starboard, with one card per mark for its shape and colour. Lumi asks them back in a mixed order so you do not learn them as a list.
- Are the rules the same at sea and on a lake?
- The steering and sailing rules are close, but some inland waters have their own regulations. Check the syllabus of your licence.
Read next
Sources
- Cepeda, Pashler, Vul, Wixted, Rohrer (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks. A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3). doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.3.354
Teach this to Lumi
Give Lumi your boating licence notes, it gives them back as questions at the right moment.