*IF* those are the parameters (in the case I was under we were making something
less than 5 knots and we didn't bother to check how fast we were going east, we
just confirmed and tacked) ...

.... *THEN* one needs a current componant at 010 at 5 knots and a current
componant at 5 knots as well, which would be roughly (would be exact if the
original course were at 180 rather than 190) a total current at 045 of just
over 7 knots. This would be a pretty strong eddy, though I am not sure that
such does not exist.

In any event, I believe we were making about 3 knots at 190* (we were sailing,
as each of us enjoyed sailing, the owner was exceptionally experienced, we had
a long ways to go, and we were not sure we had enough fuel to motor forever),
which an eddy of 3 knots (much common in eddies) at 011 would have given us
easting enough to show on our gps's.


Say you are sailing a course of 190 and making 5 kn. An adverse current
suddenly gets you and you are now making a COG of 90. Assume the new COG is
at
the same speed (5kn) and again at 2.5 kn. What direction and speed must the
current be to produce either of these results? Can such a current exist in a
Gulf Stream eddie?