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1. 

   CleanSlate
   Member

   What do people do to keep track of the tides at various parts of the course?

   Print hardcopy tide tables for various days at various places?

   Use elecrtronics that can bring up the tide tables at any location?

   Use a mid-course average with knowledge that it will be off by an hour or two depending on where you are?

   All of the above?

   My current plan is to use my watch which can display tide information for one location.  I'll either set it to the mid-course average and mentally subtract a couple of hours for earlier parts of the course and add a couple of hours for later parts of the course.  Or I might re-set the tide-predictor at certain parts of the course.  I will also print out a one-page chart of the high-tide information for various days at various parts of the course.  I could use this to re-set my watch as needed.    

    

   Posted 8 years ago #
2. 

   Macatawa
   Member

   Personally... I don't keep track of tides.  My general plan is to go hard when the conditions are good.  If I get somewhere and the tide is so adverse that I can't make headway, I'll pull over and take a nap or eat something.  So far, I have not found this "lack of a plan" to be a problem.

   YMMV

   Posted 8 years ago #
3. 

   smittypaddler
   Member

   I may be trying to teach a fox to suck eggs, but are you aware of the rule of twelves?  From high tide to low, the approximate current tide can be determined by dividing the range into twelfths, as in 123321.  If the time between high and low tide is 6 hours, in the first hour after high or low tide the level will change by 1/12 the range, by 2/12 in the second hour, etc.   Wikipedia gives a far better explanation than mine:

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_twelfths

   Posted 8 years ago #
4. 

   ZeroTheHero
   Member

   I installed a NOAA app on my phone, Gulf of Mexico Tides,  pretty easy to use but not very helpful while I am still in VT!  Also my GPS has tide info at various locations.  Course I have yet to attempt a challenge so my advise might not be worth much.

   Posted 8 years ago #
5. 

   KayakVagabond
   Member

   I'm with Macatawa on this one. Even if I'm facing an adverse current, I'd rather be crawling ahead and moving the boat forward, rather than sitting it out -- as long as I'm feeling strong enough. After all, this is a race. Now if I was on a pleasure trip, I might decide to stop and smell the roses.

   That said,  depending on what is going on (wind, tide, etc), I'll often look at the tide/current information on my GPS to determine a route, especially if one of the options involves skinny water. Otherwise, I just deal with what I encounter and make route adjustments on the fly.

   That said, I haven't competed in an EC yet, so I might be all wet, but the above has been my strategy for my expeditions.

   Greg

   Posted 8 years ago #
6. 

   Chekika
   Member

   I've never competed in an EC, but I've watched a lot.  Tides & currents are not only important in going through a pass--you can waste a lot of energy paddling against a strong current--but tides are very important in the glades.  Lots of shallow areas.  If you are on a high tide, you can often take a shortcut and paddle or sail over flats.  On a low tide, you had better stick in the channels until you get to deeper water.  I remember years ago being camped on Highland Beach & 2 Watertribers in kayaks came in.  They set up camp, ate, and slept until about 2 am.  It was dead low tide.  I remember them leaving to the chant:  "1-2-3 pull...1-2-3 pull...1-2-3 pull..." until their voices gradually faded in the night.   At low tide, it can be a 1/3 to 1/2 mi hike through calf-deep muck in front of Highland to get to 6" of water.  Personally, I would have waited 1-2 hours for the tide to come back in.  Maybe that is why I've never done the EC.

   You can get good tides for the whole EC route at http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/index.html

   Keith

   Posted 8 years ago #
7. 

   MisterMoon
   Member

   I just printed out the tide tables on waterproof paper for selected inlets along the route. I figured it was better know if I was going attempt an inlet especially at night, I'd want to know if it was in ebb or in flood. For instance, it would be very hard if not impossible to sail into Caxambas at max ebb. Also, outgoing tides can really kick up breakers at bar crossings. Better to stay away from that stuff. 

   The stations I printed were:

   Eggmont Key, Eggmont Channel

   Anna Maria Key

   Venice Inlet

   Placida, Gasparilla Sound

   Marco Island, Caxambas Pass

   Indian Key

   Chokoloskee

   Cape Sable, East Cape

   Flamingo, Florida Bay

   Posted 8 years ago #
8. 

   GatorBaitsMate
   Member

   Forget about the tides in Florida Bay from Flamingo to the finish.

    There is one tide station on the outside near Cape Sable, and no others. There are some on the Atlantic side of Key Largo, but it is next to impossible to interpolate how they'll impact the Bay side

    We paddle Florida Bay for four months every year from Key Largo to Key West, and even when we get the tide stations from the middle Keys to the lower keys, we have to plug in the wind, which can make a very big variation.

    A strong north easterly wind can blow a lot of water back out to the Gulf and leave lots of skinny water behind even though it might be a high tide period.

   Gator Baites Mate

   Posted 8 years ago #
9. 

   Scareman
   Member

   Look at the watermarks around you. Is the water ring or is it falling.

   High water may reward "shortcuts" around oysters and shoals. Low water demands sticking to the channels or deeper water offshore.

   Look at the tide on pilings and markers.

   I want to hit Venice right, which means getting through Blackburn Pointe Bridge ok.

   I know getting into CP2 that I need be conscious and wait for help from the flooding tide, or if it is marginal to make the Rangers station by 3:30 to get camping permit before they close, then I will try like hell to beat the tide by skirting the shore where possible coming in.

   Around Flamingo, I have gone out against a running tide leaving mud banks on both sides of Tin Can, but just keep paddling. where you paddle relative to both winds and tides affects your progress. when I was in Tin Can against that running tide, I just made 1 knot in the middle, or 2.3 kts at the edge of the channel against the mud banks.

   Assess, adapt, and keep moving. Sleep on it, then continue!

   Posted 8 years ago #
10. 

    lugnut
    Member

    What MisterMoon said; in fact I print out nearly that same list. It's nice to have a (waterproof) paper memory to refer to. I use it as a guide, not an inflexible dictator.  It will let me know whether to press on to take a break to get the best tide at Indian Key Pass, or figure out how much wind will be needed to stem a tide. If there's a strong northerly or northeasterly, it's nice to know the maximum inflow at Boca Grande which can kick up a nasty chop as you approach the inlet.

    Florida Bay, as noted by others, is tough to predict. FWIW I've left Flamingo twice at low tide and had adverse currents in the channels. I've left once just after high tide and had favorable currents.

    Lugnut

    Posted 8 years ago #
11. 

    Ridgerunner
    Member

    Good thoughts. It is worth knowing the tides in some places if you are a sailboat who only rows when it's absolutely necessary. I would not try to row my Core Sound out of Chokoloskee against the full flow of an incoming tide. That's a time to eat and maybe take the first nap since Ft Desoto. I have also stalled and thrown out an anchor trying to tack against the tide through Tin Can. In our Kruger we paddled in these places. When I did it solo, I just threw out an anchor and slept at these times (don't count on getting any rest at a checkpoint.

    I kept a printed and laminated list of relevant high and low tides. Your electronics can always fail, so this is like having charts and a compass stuck in a corner for when the GPS fails.

    Posted 8 years ago #
12. 

    CleanSlate
    Member

    Thanks for all the great advice. I will set my watch (which displays tide information) up for the tides at CP2 and kind of use that as a rough approximation for the whole trip. I'll also "go with the flow" so to speak where I simply make appropriate judgments to conditions as I find them. If I can't make good headway, I'll drop anchor and rest for a few hours... If I can make good headway, then I'll go go go.

    Posted 8 years ago #

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