I just asked my daughter the blue-water sailor about this. She never
heard of Dutch roll, but thought it perhaps came from the motion of a
round-bottomed boat popular when the Dutch ruled the ocean waves
(think Henry Hudson).

She confirmed that a boat can oscillate off a set heading in certain
combinations of wind and wave. Sometimes, she said, it might be
impossible to steer 210 without moving the wheel constantly. But if
you change to 212, you can hold the course just fine.

She called the motion fishtailing

On Mon, 03 May 2004 17:04:16 -0400, Cub Driver
wrote:

It's also properly
used for the motion of a ship with a following sea.

Actually, a ship with a following sea pitches up and down, and in the
worst case is pooped.

A ship with a sea off the stern wallows, but is still pitching. It's a
corkscrew motion, say rolling to port while diving down, then rolling
to starboard while climbing up. Very sick-making.

I never though of either motion as a Dutch roll, and it is not really
similar to Dutch roll in an aircraft.

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org

all the best -- Dan Ford
email: (put Cubdriver in subject line)

The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com
The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com
Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org