track and bearing vs. course over ground and heading vector

track and course over ground are similar. Course can be a compass, magnetic or true heading. i.e. you might say my course over ground is 230 degrees true. But you wouldn't really say my track is 230 deg true. Can but not really! Track is many times referred to as past history but not necessarily. Your history track might be refer to the series of tacks and turns you made overlaid on a chart. You could still call this the course you made over ground but track is more typical. For the most part they are interchangeable. Bearing is specifically a direction to an object. e.g. the light house is bearing 120 degrees magnetic. Heading is specifically reserved for the direction your boat is pointing towards. e.g. My heading is 190 degress true - which is usually not your COG or track because of current and leeway.

So track would take into account current drift?

Absolutely. Track is the actual path that you took as you were being pushed by current and leeway.

I decided to look this one up....per Dutton's Navigation & Piloting 13th Ed..this is vintage 1970's reference material. If there are different definitions in newer edition, I'd like to see them.. My take after reading Dutton's: Track is Intention....Course over Ground is realization. However, track in normal English can be defined as the mark left by something i.e. track of a dog sled, track of a meteor. But this is not the way Dutton defines it's nautical use. So I would plan a track(*) between two waypoints and steer a course realizing a heading that takes into account winds and currents so that my course over ground follows that track. I believe many people including myself would normally use the word course here(*). Heading is the observed direction the ship is pointing. Course is the direction of travel through water. The ship could be pointed (heading) N but is moving (course) NE because the of the west wind causing the ship to drift E as well as move N. Bearing is simply a reference angle. Textbook citations: Azimuth (Zn). The great-circle direction of any plance or object from a given point... Bearing (B). Same as azimuth, but commonly used in radio finding, or in visual sights. Course (C). As applied to marine navigation, the direction in which a vessel is to be steered, or is being steered; the direction of travel through the water.... Course Over Ground (COG). The actual path of a vessel with respect to the earth; This will not be a straight line if the vessel's heading varies as she yawls back and forth across the course. Heading (Hdg. or SH). The direction in which a ship points of heads at any instant....Heading is constantly changing value as a ship oscillates or yaws across the course due to effects of the sea and of steering error. Course Made Good (CMG) the single resultant direction from a given point of departure to a subsequent position. Track (TR). The intended(anticipated, desired) direction of movement with respect to the earth.