Rudder 0°

-- fps

Power 0%

River Bus Pilot

Loading the river and the boat…

Educational simulation. Not for navigation. Independent; not affiliated with any operator or port authority.

Thames River-Bus Pilot: Tidal Stream, Air Draft and Landmark Cruise

Steer a generic river bus through the tidal stream: crab angle, hull speed, bridge clearance and mooring. Stylised reach of a London-like river. Not for navigation.

Mission

Free cruise

State--

Tide clock--

Navigator

Dashboard (last 90 s)

Blue: speed through water. Green: speed over ground. Amber: crab angle (x 0.2 kn per degree). Dashed: hull-speed limit.

Lab 1: why the boat goes sideways (crab angle)

Cross current

Speed through water

Lab 2: hull speed and wash

Lab 3: air draft and the tide

Settings

Quality

Units

Tide clock

x1 = 20 simulated seconds per real second. x30 (10 simulated minutes per second) works only while moored, so you can wait for the ebb.

Controls

W / Spower ahead / astern (S past zero = reverse, max 30%)A / Drudder left / right (self-centres) Cassist on / off: holds your track and applies the crab angleSpacedock at the target berth, or cast off 1 2 3 4camera: chase, wheelhouse, orbit, topTtide clock speedQquality High / Low Xpower to zeroCtrl+Zrestart mission?help

Touch: use the Rudder and Power sliders, the Dock and Assist buttons; drag the view to look around, pinch to zoom.

Independent numerical checks

The science

Build notes