🔍 Key Concepts

• Set and drift of a current and how they affect your actual track over the ground • Using a current (current vector) to adjust a vessel’s intended course to find the course made good • Basic vector triangle: ship’s motion through the water + current = course and speed over the ground

💭 Think About

• In which direction is the current pushing you relative to your heading of 215°T? Is it coming from ahead, behind, port, or starboard? • If the current is setting 000°T, does that tend to make your course over the ground end up with a bigger or smaller true bearing than 215°T? • Think about drawing the vector triangle: which side represents your ship’s motion, which side represents the current, and which side is the resulting track (course made good)?

✅ Before You Answer

• Be clear that a current stated as 000°T is the direction toward which the current flows, not where it comes from • Confirm whether the current will push your stern to one side, thus swinging your heading and track to the other side • Before picking an answer, estimate roughly: will your course made good be only a few degrees different from 215°T, or a lot? The magnitude of the current vs. your speed should guide this.