A map places a pier to the left of a marina, but from your seat on shore it seems to be on the right. Before deciding the map is wrong, check the direction each view faces. The page and your eyes may be organising the same places from different orientations.
Mark where you are looking from
Use a public viewpoint on land and an ordinary map suitable for this learning exercise. Identify your approximate viewing position, then note which part of the harbour lies ahead. Find the map’s orientation indicator rather than assuming the top of every map points north.
On a separate sketch, label “my view from the bench.” This makes clear that your drawing is a perspective record, not a plan view. You can include a pier and two conspicuous buildings without attempting an accurate survey.
Compare relationships before distances
Ask which landmark is nearer to you and which appears behind it. A line of sight can make two separate places overlap in a sketch even though the map shows a gap. Keep that overlap instead of forcing the drawing to resemble the map.
Try turning the paper to make its orientation easier to compare, while keeping its original labels readable. Remain in the safe public viewing area; this is not a reason to move onto a pier, cross barriers or approach the water for a better angle.
Write the source of the apparent disagreement
Finish with a sentence such as “the pier appeared on my right because I was facing back toward the town.” If you cannot establish the orientation, keep the description provisional.
Our exercise on making a harbour sketch supplies a relaxed starting point. Adding the viewpoint now makes the sketch more useful later: you can recover how you saw the harbour without mistaking that personal view for navigational information.