Dead water phenomenon receives new explanation

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by billgewater

If you consider the crew on the boat as a closed system, then if the boat slowed down then they should be reasonably aware of the event, i.e. their momentum should be conserved,

The crew notices alright. The energy is transferred to the air which then heats up. Don't believe me? Watch the crew suddenly begin to sweat as they try to figure what the heck just happened.

[mikereed100]

Fascinating stuff. We have spent a lot of time motoring around in glacier runoff and have not really noticed this phenomenon, but it's possible that I did and just attributed it to current. Also, we tend to motor at 5 knots or less and, being a cat, have narrower hulls that tend not to generate much of a wave.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by Richard5

The subject here is what is known as the 'Hall effect', named after the brothers who studied this phenomenon in a wave tank in Edinburgh in 1830.

Are you sure it's called that? When I google "Hall effect" all I can see refers to electricity.