How is a position fix obtained when bearings to two known objects are used?

• A. Plotting Two Lines of Position From Bearings to Known Objects; Their Intersection Is the Fix.
• B. Using Ranges to Three Objects.
• C. Using a Single Bearing to a Known Object.
• D. Determining Position by Time and Drift.

Answer: (A)

When you have bearings to two known objects, you use those bearings to draw two lines of position on the chart, each line starting from the corresponding object along the measured bearing. The boat’s actual location is where those two lines intersect. This works because each line narrows your possible position to all points along that line, and the intersection of two independent lines gives a single point that satisfies both bearings.

If you only had one bearing, you’d still have a line of position, not a single fix. Ranges to three objects could also yield a fix, but that method relies on distance measurements rather than bearings. Determining position by time and drift is dead reckoning, not a bearing-based fix.