[Basic] Skill of the Week: Boating

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Tiller vs. rudder is probably worth a familiarity penalty.

It's always a lot harder than it looks.

IIRC it was in Ivan Musicant's "Battleship at War" that some technical guy (radio or radar) was a friend of a helmsman and had made some jokes about the relative complexity of the two professions. The helmsman just said, "If it's so simple you do it. Just steer a straight line for three minutes."

USS Washington was, IIRC again, in transit from Panama to Pearl Harbor in an area of low (i.e., no) IJN submarine activity so was traveling with only two destroyers as escort. The destroyers were at a safe distance, the sea was otherwise empty, and helmsman got the clearance from the Officer of the Watch so the radar guy got to handle the helm.

He thought he was doing pretty well. Then the helmsman took him to the bridge wing to look back at the wake. Looked like a piece of wet spaghetti thrown at the wall.

Every gust of wind, every wave is going to shape the ship's heading & the helmsman has to correct. Never as easy at it looks.