Take visual compass bearings to three charted objects — a lighthouse, a headland, a radio mast — plot each Line of Position (LOP), and find where the three lines cross to establish a fix. Covers the three-bearing visual fix procedure, the cocked hat and its probabilistic interpretation, the running fix using a transferred LOP, and the USCG Nav Problems position-fixing examination module.
The visual compass fix is the most reliable non-electronic position method available to a navigator. It is tested on every USCG licence examination from OUPV to Ocean Master and forms the basis for understanding GPS error and cross-checking.