Mark ---
On another thread I just said, "Get yourself a good pair of dividers". Sounds like you need more help than that.
On any chart you will notice that it is framed by a scale. Disregard the one on top and bottom. Use only the scale directly to the side of the area of concern. Each dark or light section represents one nautical mile.
For traveling at 8 knots I would set my dividers on 4 nautical miles. Walk your dividers from your starting point . Every two steps is about one hour of travel.
As to the currents, with a few exceptions, most will only cause you to notice a slow down or speed up in your GPS. Crossing a current is different. If the book says you have a 2 knot current, you will plot your course where you want to go and at your 8 mile point draw a line into the current 2 miles. Plot a line back to your starting point. Use this heading and the current will push you right where you want to go.
This is a lot easier for me to show than to write about. If this isn't clear let me know when you are in Anacortes and we can have a "chart session".
--- Cary ---
