Silkie wrote: nevertheless his assertion that "When moving through the water she leaves a wake which, in some unknown way, makes a following sea steeper, and this effect is greater the faster she travels." is probably the only information he offers which doesn't quite ring true.
Whaddyathink?
I would have thought that rather than the wake, it is the fact that the boat is moving tonnes of water. This must upset the waves around her in the same way as a (relatively shallow) rough bottom will do.
If you look over the side of a North Sea ferry you can see that the waves near her break much more than those further away (observations of a smoker!).
Sorry - just realised that I've misread the quote - he's talking about making the following sea steeper.
Same effect though - slow the wave down and it will get steeper - maybe to the extent that it breaks.
I thought that the internal circulation within a wave was circular such that if you cut a cross section through a wave the motion of the water would look like a wheel rolling forward.
Ash
