🔍 Key Concepts

• Set and drift of the current and how it affects your course over ground versus your heading • The idea of crabbing into the current to maintain a desired track line • When a change of course is more effective than a change of speed in counteracting current

💭 Think About

• Look at the direction the current is pushing you relative to your intended track. From which side is the current setting you off your track? • Ask yourself: if you only change speed, will that stop the sideways motion caused by the current, or just change how fast you drift off? • Think about which way you would need to point the bow so that the current pushes you back onto, or keeps you on, your intended track line.

✅ Before You Answer

• Identify from the diagram whether your vessel is being set to the right or to the left of the intended track by the current. • Confirm whether compensating for a sideways force (current) generally requires a change in heading (course) rather than just speed. • Make sure the action you choose would result in your course over ground matching the original intended track, not just keeping the same heading through the water.