Contents - Wayfarer Institute of Technology

easily from your last known position. Plot fixes for practice
frequently, and compare them to your dead reckoning
position. The hand bearing compass gives you bearings on
ends of islands, water towers or other landmarks ashore.
Make use of "ranges" as lines of position when two objects
such as the left hand end of one island and the right hand
end of another come into line. The more often you do this
when conditions are good, the less likely you are to be lost
when conditions become difficult.
Piloting a dinghy on a constant course off the wind is fairly
easy. You must be aware of leeway due to wind and
sometimes drift due to a current which you may not have
expected. After leaving your point of departure, look back
and check several times in the first half hour to see
whether the point of departure is exactly over the stern
when your heading is correct. If it is to one side or the
other, you are not making good the course you thought you
were. Usually the point of departure will appear somewhat
to windward, and the angle it is off gives you an estimate
of your leeway. You can start to correct for it right away.
True leeway is usually negligible in a dinghy on a beam
reach or better. However, if the wind has been in one
direction for many hours, there may be a surface current
on the water which gives the same effect. Naturally there
are currents to be aware of at the major rivers entering or
leaving the Great Lakes. There are often counter-currents
along the shore over many miles, as along the south shore
of Lake Ontario. There are no true tides on the Great
Lakes, but the "seiche" can cause big movements of water
due to wind and barometric pressure changes, and this
results in significant currents, particularly at a narrow
junction of two wider bodies of water.
When you are hard on the wind, piloting is much more difficult.
Allow 5° for leeway, or more if there are big waves.
The problem is that you cannot keep a constant heading.
The wind is usually shifting through at least 5° and often
much more, and it is not realistic to hold your course rigidly
when you can easily head up. Get in the habit of averaging
your compass course, and tack at fixed intervals,
making no more than two tacks every half-hour. The table
shown below gives the time to spend on each tack for different
courses to windward relative to the average wind
direction.