Thursday 22 February 2018

Revision technique [in need of revision]


Updated the photos on a post I'd published up here back in December which, although I didn't know it at the time, turned out to be Calstar's last outing onto the Bristol Channel, or at least will be for quite some time yet to come as she's coming out of the water on Monday then is shipping down to Plymouth at the end of next month.

I don't know why, but the Instagram links I'd used to illustrate the post simply failed to display. And the pictures from that evening's sail (Calstar: prettiest sky) were, I think at least, too pretty not to share, so I've replaced the original Instagram links with the source photos themselves. A far better deal all round I reckon.


In other news, I sat the final paper for my RYA Yachtmaster Coastal ticket Tuesday evening. The photo at the top is from my revision on Monday night, the theory being that if I could finish a past paper with the aid of a couple of beers, I'd have no problem doing the same for real Tuesday night stone cold sober.

I have to report, as far as revision technique is concerned, it's not a method to be recommended.

Tuesday's chartwork exam was, funny enough, the one I was most looking forward to. Of the three, I thought it would be the one I could most easily do in my sleep. Pride before the fall. In the event, I actually found that of the three exams, it was the only one I struggled to complete within the time allotted, was rushed to do so, and had no time left to check back on my work before the clock insisted I handed the paper over for marking.

And consequently, now the result has been handed back (and credit to Trevor, our instructor, for being so diligent and quick in turning about the marking) it seems that of the six questions, I made fundamental errors in three of them: miscalculated the tidal hour in one, a mistake in my computation of rates for another, and, finally, fouled up a secondary port tidal calculation for the third.

The other three questions were good though.

Disappointed with myself. Screwing up the tidal hour in particular seems pretty fundamental, hard to imagine how I got that one wrong. I shall find out when I meet with Trevor again next Tuesday, and all is not lost as I think it just means I need to rework the areas I messed up and satisfy the instructor that I've understood and can correct the various errors in principle that I fell foul of.

Still, that's a sub-50% score on the card. Can't remember the last time I gave such a poor showing.

I guess I shall have to go drown my sorrows.

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