Master Test

**shipmate 1** · August 29th, 2008, 08:36 PM

Greetings All, I am currently 4 days away from taking my U/L Masters. Has anyone out there taken their Masters this year? If so, how did you find the test and what surprised you? Those in the Gulf, be safe. Shipmate 1

**anchorman** · August 30th, 2008, 02:20 AM

I was surprised how easy it was. I took the test in June.I studied for that test for years though - The 1600 ton mate was the hardest test I ever took, but I started at zero, whereas with the UL/Master test, I had 14 years as a professional mariner. Stability was the main concern for me going in, but it wasn't that bad. I did have a KM problem as the first question.

**shipmate 1** · August 31st, 2008, 10:10 AM

Thanks Anchorman. I just spent the day reviewing every Rules question and my head hurts. Nav. Problems is my biggest concern (80%) along with recalling the stability formulas properly. T-2 days. Shipmate 1

**anchorman** · August 31st, 2008, 10:39 AM

Good Luck. I tested in 3 days. I took 5 tests the first day just to have stability the next morning. I took stability, then plotting, and last I took the Nav.Problems (I was about to save that for the 3rd day, but decided to review at lunch and test that afternoon). You will not have any tides or currents on the nav. prob......it's in the Nav.Gen test at this level (which is good at 70%). Look for a sunrise/sunset,amplitude of planet, azimuth of planet/star, and fuel conservation.....everything else is the same as for 3rd/2nd test. On the third day, I worked out celestial problems from 0500 in the morning to lunchtime, and then I tested that afternoon. That helped big time...I only missed one and might not have passed at all by going in there cold. I could have just as easily took 2 test per day and carried over the weekend to finish if needed (I didn't even know they allowed that till I tested, It use to not be that way for upper level).......With rules like that, most anyone can pass.

**Salinity Now** · August 31st, 2008, 10:54 AM

buddy of mine took his C/M & Master UL combo test a few months ago....heres what he had, are you taking the combo, or just the Master portion (old system?) Not sure if there is a difference nowadays, but anyway, hope this helps. 
Navigation Celestial Test (15 Question, need 80 to pass, can get 3 wrong)
Lat. By Polaris
Lat by ex-meridian (lower Transit) CG#836
3 Star running Fix
ID Minor Star
Pick 3 best for Fix (Moon, Planet, Star)
LAN (2nd estimate)
Amplitude of Sun on Visible Horizon
Azimuth of Star
Time of Sunset
Great Circle (Determine Longitude of Vertex)
Parallel Sailing CG#526
Voyage Planning (Had 2 of these)
Great Circle Theory Question (Like CG#739)
Mercator Sailing: Determine Longitude of Arrival
Navigation Terrestrial Test (10 Question, need 90 to pass, can get 1 wrong)
Time Abeam CG#2665
Compass Deviation Table (find Variation)
Time Tic
ETA
Sunset
Lt. Abeam
Find Deviation
Fuel Consumption
Determine Slip
Determine Dist. Run (using Slip, Eng Spd & Obs. Spd)
Chart Plot (10 Question, need 90 to pass, can get 1 wrong)
CG question #’s 16538 to 16546
Stability (CG#’s correspond to type of problem, not exact problem)
Determine Rolling Period (CG#2010)
Determine Right Arm (CG#2578)
Angle Of List (CG#2994)
SS American Mariner determine LCG-FP (CG#4402)
FS Correction (CG#2868)
Determine Available GM (CG#2659)
Determine GM (CG#641)
Determine KG (CG#1041)
Determine New Draft (CG#3333)
Reduction in GM Due to FS (CG#401)
3 question on Stability theory

**shipmate 1** · August 31st, 2008, 08:47 PM

Thanks all. This info will help as I come into the back stretch of my studying. I am taking the old test. The approval letter from the CG states the following. *Rules of the Road 50q/ 90% *Deck General (includes Nav. General, Deck Safety and Envir. Protection) 70q/ 70% *Stability Problems 15q/ 70% *Navigation Problems (No Chart Problem) 10q/ 80% ------------------------------------ My plan is to take Rules and Deck General day 1, Stability day 2 and Nav Problems. Then I'll get my oh so important Flashing Light. I'll be glad when it's all over. Thanks

**GOMariner** · September 1st, 2008, 03:51 PM

I am also sitting for my Chief Mate's test in 3 weeks . Anybody got any tips or advice for the test .

**shipmate 1** · September 13th, 2008, 09:50 PM

Well, the pain is over. I passed my U/L Masters with only having to retake Stability. Here is my advice to anyone who is serious about properly preparing. 1) Start early. I started studying while at sea in June bound for Japan and back. 2) Buy the 5 Murphy books and sign up for Lapware.org. This will run you about $350 but well worth it. The key with Lapware.org is they have solutions worked out for you thus you can see where you went wrong (especially important for stability). You will also need to buy a reprint of the 1981 almanac ($50, can you say Ouch?) 3) Shut the tv and radio off and get in a room with silence. I was in my bunker for 14 days. 4) Create notes for every rule of the Rulles of the Road. I never realized how different Int. and Inland were. 90% allows no room for error. 5) Memorize all of the stability formulas. You will need them. Stability was the most difficult with Nav. Problems and Deck General next. 6) Buy a star finder. You will have to either choose 3 stars to shoot or ID an unkown star. 7) Back to Lapware.org. The nice thing is you can search any question by its CG number. Good luck to all who will be taking their U/L Masters soon. It was alot of work but your effort will pay off in the end. There are no short cuts. Now I'll be another over qualified 2/M shipping off the board.

**jdcavo** · September 19th, 2008, 04:42 AM

I hope you saved your receipt for that 1981 Nautical Almanac so you can get a refund. It's available for free on our web page: <A href="http://www.uscg.mil/nmc/mmic_deckexquest.asp]http://www.uscg.mil/nmc/mmic_deckexquest.asp</A> Scroll down to "Publications." I hesitate to post this as you'll also discover how we updated all our questions from 1981 so quicky. We didn't write new ones, we just asked the Government Printing Office to take "1981" off of the cover. Instant update. It's still a 1981 Nautical Almanc, but it's not as obvious. James D. Cavo Chief, Mariner Training & Assessmewnt Division USCG National Maritime Center <A href="mailto:James.D.Cavo@uscg.mil]James.D.Cavo@uscg.mil</A> <img height=282 alt="" src="http://gcaptain.com/maritime/forum/extensions/YUIEditor/img/511221824403.jpg" width=532 _width="75" _height="75]

**New3M** · September 19th, 2008, 10:14 AM

Mr. Cavo, Can you explain why some of the tests don't use the 1981 Almanac, but other years instead?

**jdcavo** · September 19th, 2008, 10:55 PM

What type of questions? All of our questions that require the use of the Nautical Almanac are 1981. As noted above, we took the year out of the question and off the Nautical Almanac, but it's still 1981. If we use a different year, it's a question where the year is not critical to solving the problem. If you have specific examples let me know and I'll check on them. James D. Cavo Chief, Mariner Training & Assessment Division USCG National Maritime Center James.D.Cavo@uscg.mil

**New3M** · September 20th, 2008, 04:13 AM

I don't have any specific examples, but here's what happened. A classmate of mine went to retake the Oceans module of the 3/M Unlimited test at the Battery REC in Manhattan. I think you get 3 1/2 hours for the test, which has some sailings and a bunch of celestial - 3 star fix, sunlines, etc. He was doing the test, and wasn't getting any of the right answers when doing the celestial problems with the almanac that he had picked up from the back of the room. Finally he closed the cover and looked at it, and I believe it was a 1992 almanac. He was pretty confused, so he went to the evaluator to tell him that a non 1981 almanac was in the room, and the guy told him to just put it back. Now, this was nearly 2 hours into the test, and he didn't have the time to redo all of the celestial with the 1981, did what he could, guessed on the rest, and failed by 1 question. So why would there be any other almancs besides the 1981 in the exam room? I'm not sure what they were used for, but it seemed unfair to have other almanacs in the pile, when they all look the same and the only difference is the year on the cover.

**Capt_Anonymous** · September 20th, 2008, 04:56 AM

Sounds like it's the Coast Guard's contribution to the "April Fools" thread here on gCaptain...

**New3M** · September 20th, 2008, 05:40 AM

I hope not...that's pretty messed up!

**shipmate 1** · September 24th, 2008, 10:45 PM

Returns at Blue Water Books are for 30 days only. Downloading the entire almanac from a web site was not practical considering the cost of an ink. So I'll just grin and bare it. The pain is over since I now have my Masters in hand. Please be advised that anyone taking the flashing light should practice both 3 and 5 letter groups as different places test differently. Shipmate 1

**banjomate** · February 15th, 2009, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by New3M

I don't have any specific examples, but here's what happened. A classmate of mine went to retake the Oceans module of the 3/M Unlimited test at the Battery REC in Manhattan. I think you get 3 1/2 hours for the test, which has some sailings and a bunch of celestial - 3 star fix, sunlines, etc. He was doing the test, and wasn't getting any of the right answers when doing the celestial problems with the almanac that he had picked up from the back of the room. Finally he closed the cover and looked at it, and I believe it was a 1992 almanac. He was pretty confused, so he went to the evaluator to tell him that a non 1981 almanac was in the room, and the guy told him to just put it back. Now, this was nearly 2 hours into the test, and he didn't have the time to redo all of the celestial with the 1981, did what he could, guessed on the rest, and failed by 1 question.

So why would there be any other almancs besides the 1981 in the exam room? I'm not sure what they were used for, but it seemed unfair to have other almanacs in the pile, when they all look the same and the only difference is the year on the cover.

WOW!!!! This exact same thing happened to me in Toledo when I was testing for the C/M exam. I kept checking and re-checking my answers and just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong until I flipped that damn almanac over. Same thing, it was the only non 1981 almanac in the room. Also failed the test as by that time I had less than an hour to redo all the questions.