Hi Kirk,
While the article is interesting, it doesn't sound like we, as recreational boaters, will have access to anything like this for the forseeable future.
As far as planning your route to take advantage of local currents, that's been a good practice of mariners since there's been mariners. Whenever I'm going out for more than a day sail, I alway check my tide chart, the only current in my area that runs faster than 1 kt, is the tidal current going in and out of the maarina, it can run higher than 2 kts at maximum. If you're fighting that current, it can really slow you down.
I have found that since I've become an electric sailor I pay even more attention to the tidal current, since my motoring speeds are slower than when it was just fuel. For example, 20 minutes at 4kts in still water turns into 40 minutes against the current and 14 minutes with the current. Since the maximum current only lasts less than an hour, waiting for 90 minutes allows the current to slow to 1kt and will can save 13 minutes compared to the maximum flow. That's saving more than 30% of the run time to get to the open ocean.
What kind of currents do you have to deal with in your area?
Fair winds,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, Kirk McLoren <kirkmcloren@...> wrote:
>
> http://www.gizmag.com/auv-current-algorithm-system/21780/?utm_source=Gizmag+Subscribers&utm_campaign=57459459f9-UA-2235360-4&utm_medium=email
>
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