Posted by Adam Quinan on December 15, 2002 at 00:29:47 from 66.185.85.76 user Adam.
In Reply to: Waggle in Wake posted by Ed Kiser on December 14, 2002 at 21:52:00:
This is a topic which I have several times discussed with other sailors. None of us can really understand Ransome's apparent obsession with a straight wake. The only reasonable explanation is that an inexperienced sailor sometimes finds it difficult to sail a straight course, either due to lack of attention or skill. But this usually results in a gradual change which is eventually corrected when the helm or another observer notices. So you don't often see a straight line followed by a sudden deviation away and back which is what I consider a waggle but a gentle curve perhaps followed by a sudden correction back to the correct course. Ransome seems to know this.
[...said Dick. "I say. I'd better steer for a
bit, hadn't I?" He glanced back at their wake that showed by a big curve that Dorothea had been thinking of something other than sailing.]
It is somewhat understandable when you are sailing on a course, off the wind to try and maintain a straight wake, though it will usually be at an angle to the stern as the boat has some leeway.
[The little boat, with her white sail well out, held on her course, leaving a long line of wake astern of her, as straight as if it had been laid off with a ruler.
"They know how to steer," said Captain John.]
Then the helm has a task - to sail a straight course between point A & B or a compass course set by the navigator. Even this can be difficult if the wind is varying in direction. John's little difficulty in Swallowdale was caused by two factors, his determination to sail straight downwind to Horseshoe Bay and the sudden change in wind direction which caused the gybe.
When going into the wind, a helm who tries to keep his course straight is not doing his best to take full advantage of any slight shifts in the wind. When sailing close hauled you try and get to windward at every opportunity, that means luffing up when the winds shifts in your favour and bearing off when it goes foul. the resulting wake will be full of course changes but you will be well ahead of anyone trying to sail a straight course.
As for keeping a straight wake in shallow water that is the least of your priorities, you must try and keep your boat out of the shoals or mudbanks. That may require sailing a straight course between two marks or buoys.
[Titty, just nipping the end of her tongue between her teeth, kept a straight wake as she steered.
"That clump of weeds is pretty close," she said.]