What is a bearing in navigation?

• A. The distance to a referenced object measured along a line from the observer.
• B. The time required to reach a reference point.
• C. The bearing in navigation is defined as the direction to a referenced object measured from a reference north (true or magnetic).
• D. The vessel's speed relative to water.

Answer: (C)

Bearing is the angular direction from your position to a referenced object, measured from a reference north. In navigation you pick either true north or magnetic north as the reference and read the angle clockwise from that north. This makes bearing a directional measure, telling you which way the object lies relative to your heading, not how far away it is. For example, if a buoy sits directly to your east, its bearing is 090 degrees (from true north). If you’re using magnetic references, you’d apply magnetic variation to get the magnetic bearing. This concept sits apart from distance (range), which would tell you how far away the object is, or from time to reach a point (ETA) and speed, which describe how fast you’re moving or how long it will take to get somewhere.