Quote:
Originally Posted by gillygirl
I've been told that in order to have control of a boat in a current you must be traveling faster or slower than the current. Not true?
|
When you enter the current you become part of the current, your boat doesn't care if there is a current. In the channel you either move with the current or against the current. If you turn off your motor, you can see that you are part of the current because your boat will move relative to the land with the current. When your propeller is spinning you move relative to the current, just like in still water.
So if you are going toward Paugus, with the current which is for our purpose, 2 mph today, your boat will be moving 2 mph plus your no wake speed, which let's say for this example is 5 mph. So relative to the land you are moving 7 mph, relative to the water, you are still moving 5 mph and your boat still will steer as it does in still water.
Turn around and head up stream, same thing, your boat is still moving 5 mph relative to the water, but since your boat is part of the water that has a current and you are going upstream, your speed relative to the shore is 3 mph. You look at the water and it is going by at 5 mph, yet the land is only going by at 3 mph. Your boat will still steer the same.
You need to be careful when you turn off axis from the current, because although relative to the water your boat is moving the same, relative to a fixed point on the shore you are also moving with the current. I saw several people end up hitting rocks turning into Thurston's this year because they do not understand this, most of them were going faster than headway, which put them into the rocks faster and with more force.
So to answer your question, no, in the channel, you do not need to speed up or slow down to maintain control, just drive as you normally would and be on the look out for those who don't understand. If you need to go into Thurston's when the current is strong, make the turn going upstream and watch the land as you turn angling a little up stream to compensate for the moving water steering you toward the rocks.
Now if you are at the end of the Merrimack river, where the current exceeds the head way speed of many boats, the same idea applies, except that if the current is faster than your headway speed, you will move backwards relative to the land. Your boat will still steer normally and the water appears to be going by at your 5 mph head way, but let's say the current is 7 mph, then you will be moving 2 mph backward relative to the land. In that case you need to speed up to make forward progression relative to land. This isn't an issue at the lake where I have never seen the current exceed 2 or 3 mph.