🔍 Key Concepts

• Leeway and how wind affects your actual track vs. heading • Effect of a set and drift (current direction and speed) on a vessel’s course made good • Using vector triangles (or current/speed diagrams) to combine ship’s motion, current, and leeway

💭 Think About

• First, ignore the current and think: with a westerly wind causing 3° of leeway, which way will the vessel actually be pushed relative to your heading? Will your track be to the right or left of your heading? • Next, bring in the current: a current of 320°T at 1.2 knots – is that setting you generally toward the northwest, northeast, southwest, or southeast relative to your intended channel leg? • Consider the speed ratio: your ship is making 9 knots through the water and the current is 1.2 knots. How large a correction in degrees would you expect for a current of that strength? Does that suggest a small or moderate course alteration from the channel’s true bearing?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be clear about what the northern leg’s true bearing is from the chart or problem context before applying corrections. • Confirm the direction of leeway correction: do you steer into the wind or away from it to compensate for leeway? • Check that your final steering course logically accounts for both: (1) a small angle for leeway, and (2) an additional correction for current, in the proper directions.