Low Tides

[Riley Smith]

Winter brings the year's lowest tides to the Gulf Coast. Combined with the north wind, the water leaves and goes south for a few hours every day. High tides are in the middle of the night, and the lows are low enough to bring the West River bar out of the water. This week running early in the morning until about midday. This is the bar to the east of the house

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 I saw a picture of a Pascagoula icon, the Longfellow House, taken from WAY out in front of it where there is usually water the other day. Someone that wasn't familiar with how the tide works asked about it on a local board. They had only been here about a year so I can understand their dismay at finding the beachfront in that condition. There are bars all over West River and way off the beachfront too. Shallow water everywhere. Here are a couple of pics... Here's the western end of the bar.

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[Brian N.]

Tides here on the north shore of Long Island (NY) can range between 6-8 feet, with two cycles in 24 hours. That means that daily, sand bars, mussel beds and oyster beds are exposed. To successfully sail and navigate, local knowledge is crucial. If I'm late on the tide, I have to wait several hours to reenter the river from the sound. Launching and retrieving the boat is also very tide dependent. My wife and I have been to the Tampa/Clearwater/ St Pete's area numerous times, and I always wish we had those same tides on Long Island!

[Riley Smith]

We only have one tide, so that means if you get stuck on an ebb, you're usually in for a long wait. I always think of that guy I saw with the big bow rider. There was a woman aboard and she never changed positions and they were at the end of the piers looking across the bay. A big lake! Lets go to the OTHER side! Which means they got stuck right in the middle, where the bar is, which they obviously didn't know was there. There was nothing I could do but watch as he headed right into the shallowest part and proceeded to get REALLY stuck. I could tell there was major tension aboard by the woman's body language. It NEVER changed...she just sat clutching a purse. The dude was in a jam and got out to try and wiggle that big boat off. Which didn't happen but it was probably much better than being IN the boat with that mad woman. He was promptly covered in black mud with probably protected him somewhat for the onslaught to come after dark fell. I could feel the fumes from 1/4 mile away. They had to wait in the dark several hours, I'm sure being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Some folks on jet skis came after an hour or so but I still think they had to wait on the tide. That's what not knowing about the terrain will do you!!! We see a lot of boats on that bar. Very easy to get stuck with a tide that low. Stuck on a bar. It ain't fun. Been there, done that.

[Norm L.]

Brian, your mention of the north shore of LI reminded me of some jobs I had out there. One was on the Sound side at a very small oil terminal. I've also been to Orient Point riding a ferry back and forth between New London and the point. Doing surveys on some ferry boats and the day trip casinos are fun as you get a free ride and can spend time in the wheelhouse talking with the captains.
I gotten time to drive through the "high rent district". But the most memorable time was a chance to go into Babylon and the Menger shop. It had to be around 2005 just after the it closed. I got a chance to wander around inside the building seeing the last two boats not yet fully completed and several that were in for maintenance.
It was a sad visit for me as I was a Menger lover.
I've got photos somewhere but that was before full digital storage.

[Doug SC]

We have 2 tides a day here on the SC coast where I often paddle and beach camp. Yes, lots of shallow water and oyster bars exposed at low tides too. You know its shallow when you run aground in a sea kayak and have to walk it back to deeper water. I would not want to spend the night unprepared for the skeets and no-see-ums either. I am looking forward to sailing my Scamp in those waters. I know them well enough, but things change with storms on the Atlantic coast. Cape island in the Cape Romain Wildlife Refuge was cut in two about 10 years ago by a hurricane and Little Murphys Island where we camp has been eroded enough that several places where we pitched our tents to camp are now under tidal waters.

[Brian N.]

Doug - We also have storms which reshape our sailing venue, but probably not as frequently as SC. Dredging spoils have created land and connections to what were small shallow tidal islands, while storms erode other areas and create new bars and shallows. Recent storms and heavy weather blew out two earthen dams which feed into Long Island Sound, sending sand and mud into the Nissequogue river and the Sound. Since the storms were recent I have not had to opportunity to fully access how it may impact navigation from the local ramps (on the river) out to the Sound. I did go to the top of a 200 ft high bluff which overlooks the area, during low tide, to get a view. New mud flats and sand bars were evident. I'll do more observation by kayak in the spring, before sailing.

[Doug SC]

Having a high overlook is a real plus for scouting out the low tide. I don't have that here. Our high tides range from about 5 feet to about 7 feet depending on moon and sun positions. Our low tides can be as much as a foot lower on neap tides. And then the wind can change the predictions and of course flooding and heavy rain inland.

[Riley Smith]

The tides are much less here, around 2 1/2 feet at a max, and usually slow, although when the river jumps up into near flood stage, it changes dramatically. Ditto for an east wind. Anyway, as the year fades away and a new one comes, the bar comes out of the water frequently. The wildlife follows the schools of fish south, and activity dies out until the warmth comes again, although there is still plenty. This cycle has been particularly low and features that you usually don't see are exposed.

[noelH]

Lake Superior sort of has tides.  Couple times a day the water level changes a whooping 4-5cm (~2 inches).  Don't laugh to hard. Then there are seiches. Sometimes over a meter change in a blink. Remember couple time the outflow was so rapid that fish ended up flopping on what was lake bottom but now totally exposed.

Have hit a reef twice windsurfing. Dolt here did not either check the tide charts or lost track of time. Northshore of Maui. One fin lost. Luckily when it broke off I spun out hard enough to catapult me into the deeper water beyond the lumps of volcanic rock ready to turn me into hamburger. Other time not so lucky. Little nick ended up infected. Cellulitis after ignoring it for a day or so. Salt water near shore seems to be full of nasties. Have had windsurfing friends develop some nasty infections from "nicks".

[Wolverine]

Here in the Sailing Capital of North Carolina, we don't have a moon tide, but a "wind" tide. A southern wind pushes the water out of the creeks and verse visa with a north wind. Change depends on the wind strength and length of time it's blowing. Usually this time of year it is out of the north, which allows me to keep the Seidelmann at our dock. Winter is when I do all the repairs and upgrades having the boat in the backyard. Today I only have 32" at the dock. Normal pool would allow me 36". Last week we only had 26". During the summer 36 to 42" is the norm. Being a newbie here, I'm still a bit werry of keeping the Seidelmann at our dock. It draws 36" board up. Many a sailor has laughed and instructed me to just plow through the soft mud and make my own channel. At leat I can keep the Compac at our dock year 'round.

[Riley Smith]

Um...I'd get my bud with the 250 on a Ranger bass sled to rev his motor up in that spot  LOL! They manage to dig a hole at almost every ramp! Sonya's nephew was doing some wharf repair with a hydraulic pump and as a bonus, dug us a hole alongside the wharf. So, YES...you can slaughter the fish as they hang there waiting for a shrimp but it also helped with boat management in low water.