Question 1478Navigation General

The correct answer is A) estimated position. When you take a range and bearing to a buoy to determine your vessel's position, the resulting position is an estimated position. This is because the range and bearing information is used to plot a position on the chart, but there are potential errors in the range and bearing measurements that can affect the accuracy of the plotted position. An estimated position is a position that is reasonably close to the vessel's actual position, but its accuracy is not precisely known. The other answer choices are incorrect because: B) a running fix requires taking multiple bearings over time to determine the vessel's course and speed, C) a dead-reckoning position is calculated based on the vessel's course and speed from a known starting point, and D) a fix is a precise position determined using two or more simultaneous, accurate position-fixing methods, such as GPS or cross-bearings on charted objects.