Prepare for your California Boaters Card exam with these practice questions and answers. This guide covers navigation rules, required safety equipment, boating regulations, and emergency procedures.
Q: Under which condition is a person at greatest rick of developing hypothermia?
Answer: Being immersed in cold water
Q: How will a boat perform if it is loaded beyond its capacity?
Answer: It will be difficult to control
Q: A life jacket on your vessel should be sized for which person on board?
Answer: It’s intended wearer
Q: On a 15ft boat, which object is required to be on-board?
Answer: One Coast Guard approved life jacket for each person
Q: When is it a good advice for adults to wear Coast Guard approved life jackets?
Answer: When in bad weather
Q: What should be done with a badly discolored Coast Guard approved life jacket with a torn strap?
Answer: Discard and replace it
Q: When operating a boat near other boats or when entering a congested area, why should you watch your wake?
Answer: It may cause personal injury or damage.
Q: Which of the following is recommended as part of the annual maintenance program for a gasoline powered boat?
Answer: Examination of thru-hull fittings for sign of leakage or corrosion.
Q: Who has the primary responsibility for the safety of all persons aboard a recreational boat?
Answer: Boat operator
Q: In what part of the boat are gasoline fumes most likely to accumulate?
Answer: Bilge
Q: How does alcohol use affect boat operators or passengers?
Answer: Physical reactions become slower
Q: Under the influence of alcohol, what happens to a persons reasoning ability?
Answer: It becomes weaker
Q: How does drinking alcohol while boating effect other conditions related to being out on the water?
Answer: Increases feeling of fatigue
Q: What should you do first if a passenger falls overboard while your boat is at anchor?
Answer: Throw a type IV Coast Guard approved life jacket to the passenger
Q: Which is the most important factor in determining a safe vessel speed on any given day?
Answer: Traffic Density
Q: According to the navigation rules, what factor should be considered in determining a safe speed?
Answer: The state of visibilty
Q: when a power driven vessel is being overtaken by a sailboat, which is the stand-on vessel?
Answer: The power driven vessel
Q: What immediate action should you take when operating a boat if you hear the fog signal of another boat you cannot see?
Answer: Slow to minimum speed
Q: What is the proper method for lowering an anchor?
Answer: From the bow
Q: What is the primary responsibility for a vessel operator assisting a boat in distress?
Answer: Keeping his/her vessel and him/herself out of danger
Q: Where should you aim a fire extinguishers stream when extinguishing a fire
Answer: At the base of the fire and use a sweeping motion
Q: According to the US Coast Guard what are the leading causes of recreational boating fatalities?
Answer: Capsizing and falling overboard
Q: Which of the following poses the greatest risk of serious injury to a person in the water near a powerboat?
Answer: Being struck by the moving proprller
Q: Which term is used to describe a vessel that touches the bottom and gets stuck?
Answer: Grounded
Q: While water-skiing, what is the preferred form of communication between the skier and the observer?
Answer: Hand signals
Q: Who has the primary responsibility for preventing a PWC accident?
Answer: The PWC operator
Q: Which is the most stable position for a canoe paddlers?
Answer: Sitting
Q: According the the CA law, at what blood alcohol concentration level is it illegal for a person younger than 21 to operate a vessel?
Answer: 0.01 percent or more
Q: People who hunt or fish from a boat should follow the boating safety rules and practices established by which organization?
Answer: The Coast Guard and applicable state boating agencies
Q: If jumping another boats wake, what must a personal watercraft operator do?
Answer: Stay at least 100 feet away from the other vessel
Q: On a recreational boat, the location of emergency equipment such as life jackets, fire extinguisher, visual distress signals and the radio should be reviewed before departure with which persons?
Answer: Everyone aboard.
Q: According to CA law, at what blood alcohol concentration level is a person considered to be under the influence when operating a recreational boat?
Answer: 0.08 percent or more
Q: Which agency must receive a boating accident report within 10 days if an accident involves more than $500 in damages?
Answer: California Division of Boating and Waterways
Q: What is the minimum unsupervised age for operating a motorboat of more than 15 horsepower?
Answer: 16
Q: When can a PWC be operated at night in California?
Answer: Never
Q: What should you do with your float plan when you return from boat outings?
Answer: Cancel it
Q: In US coastal waters, what colors are cone-shaped, even-numbered nun buoys?
Answer: Red
Q: Regulatory and informational markers are easily identified through which features?
Answer: White color with orange geometric shapes
Q: What is the main danger of teak surfing, body surfing or platform dragging?
Answer: Exposure to lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide
Q: If too much weight is placed on a hitch, what affect can it have on the tow vehicle?
Answer: Front end will lift and make the vehicle difficult to control
Q: Motorboats under 26-feet with installed fuel tank(s) are required to have which type of fire extinguishers on-board?
Answer: Type B
Q: Which are Coast Guard approved visual distressed signals
Answer: Red meteor flares
Q: To stop the spread of aquatic nuisance species, when is the best time ti clean your boat?
Answer: When you get back home
Q: What is a common first indicator of an approaching thunderstorm?
Answer: Threatening clouds such as thunderheads.
Q: What do a red, green and white light indicate when seen together at night?
Answer: It is the stern side of another boat that you are overtaking
Q: What is the cause of most fatal boating accidents?
Answer: Operator error
Q: You man not exceed 5 miles per hour when operating within how many feet of a swimmer?
Answer: 200 feet
Q: What is the main factor to consider when planning your vessel’s approach to a dock where you intend to tie up?
Answer: Strength of the wind or current.
Q: What should you do if your boat capsizes?
Answer: Stay with the boat and climb on top of it
Q: Which is the the best precaution against carbon monoxide poisoning?
Answer: Keep fresh air flowing though the vessel
Q: Which safety precaution should be taken first by a boater operator when boating in stormy weather?
Answer: Make sure all aboard are wearing life jackets.
Q: What is the main reason operators are involved with collisions with reefs/shoals or submerged hazards?
Answer: Did not check for local hazards prior to launch
Q: Under the Department of Homeland Security, what actions should boat operators take to ensure the safety of everyone on the nation’s waterways?
Answer: Report suspicious activities to the proper authorities
Q: What is a boat operator required to do at all times while the boat is underway?
Answer: Maintain a proper lookout.
Q: When can a Navigation Rule be overlooked?
Answer: If necessary to avoid immediate danger.
Q: Maintaining a proper lookout using human sight and hearing apple’s to boats under what circumstances?
Answer: All boats at all hours
Q: According to the Navigation Rules, a risk of imminent collision exists in which situation?
Answer: The course of an approaching vessel does not change
Q: Which is a characteristic of personal watercraft maneuverability?
Answer: They allow for little steering control at idle.
Q: Which vessels must be registered with the California Department of Motor Vehicles?
Answer: Undocumented motorboats and sailboats more than 8 feet long
Q: When is it good advice for adults to wear Coast Guard approved life jackets?
Answer: When in bad weather