Question 69 RVR04 - Master or Mate of LT 200 GRT

The Correct Answer is D. **Why Option D ("After all people have been embarked") is correct:** The tricing pendants (or "gripes") are safety lines/ropes used to hold the lifeboat securely against the ship’s railing or side (the tricing position) while it is being made ready for lowering and while people are embarking. They perform two critical functions: 1. **Safety during Embarkation:** They prevent the boat from swinging wildly away from the ship's side due to motion, ensuring a safe and stable transfer of passengers into the lifeboat. 2. **Proper Positioning:** They hold the boat directly under the embarkation deck opening. If the pendants were released before embarkation (as implied by C), the boat would swing away, making boarding dangerous or impossible. Therefore, the pendants must remain secured and taut until all personnel have safely boarded the lifeboat. They are then released (either manually or automatically) just before the boat is lowered away from the embarkation deck. **Why the other options are incorrect:** * **A) After the limit switch is activated:** The limit switch is typically related to the hoisting mechanism (ensuring the boat stops correctly when recovered to the stowage position) or the davit structure (ensuring the davit arms do not move beyond a safe limit). It is not the trigger for releasing the tricing pendants during launching. * **B) As soon as the boat-fall blocks clear the davit head:** Once the boat falls (the wires holding the boat) clear the davit head, the boat is generally already positioned over the water, or close to it, and is suspended by the falls. The tricing pendants serve their purpose holding the boat to the ship's rail during the very initial stage of preparation and embarkation. Releasing them only once the blocks clear the davit head is far too late; they must be released before the boat is fully rigged out for lowering. * **C) Before the boat is lowered from the stowage position:** Releasing the tricing pendants before lowering is correct, but releasing them *before* embarkation is not. If they were released before people boarded, the boat would swing away from the ship's side, making it impossible (or extremely dangerous) to board passengers. They must be secured while the boat is lowered from the stowage position *to* the embarkation deck, and kept secured *during* embarkation.