🔍 Key Concepts

• Current triangle / current sailing (relationship between course steered, course made good, and set & drift) • Difference between true course, speed through the water, and speed over ground • Converting current set and speed into east/north components to solve the triangle

💭 Think About

• If you want your course made good to be 048°T while the current is setting 135°T, should you steer into or with the current? In which general direction must you aim the bow relative to 048°T? • How can you use your engine speed and the current speed to form a right triangle of vectors that results in a 048°T resultant? Which side of the triangle represents your ship’s motion through the water? • Try sketching the vector for the current and the desired track (048°T). Where must the ship’s heading vector start and end so that current + ship’s motion = track made good?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be sure you are using true directions for all three: desired course, current set, and heading to steer • Use 8 knots as speed through the water and 1.8 knots as current speed; confirm your resultant ground track is 048°T • After you compute the heading, compare it to 048°T and confirm that it is reasonably up-current from the desired track (not down-current)