🔍 Key Concepts

• Current as a vector that has both set (direction) and drift (speed) • The relationship between course steered, course made good, and current • Using a current triangle (vector triangle) to correct your course for set and drift

💭 Think About

• Is the current setting you toward the desired course line or away from it, based on its direction (070°T) compared to your desired course made good (350°T)? • When drawing the current triangle, which side represents your ship’s speed through the water and which represents the set and drift of the current? • Once you combine your ship’s motion and the current, does the resultant vector point along 350°T, and what heading produces that?

✅ Before You Answer

• Sketch a vector triangle with: (1) your speed through the water (10 kn), (2) the current (1.5 kn at 070°T), and (3) the desired course and speed made good • Confirm that the course steered will be on the side of the desired track that makes sense given a current from 070°T (is it pushing your bow to the left or to the right?) • Check your final course: does its difference from 350°T look reasonable for a 1.5 kn current acting on a 10 kn vessel (i.e., a modest correction, not an extreme one)?