Tides and Forward Progress

RickB said:

Is that sufficient to speak of "boating" in your presence?

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I drove aircraft carriers in my off-time for many years... and I once stayed in a Holiday Inn Express...

Does that count?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=wm-h7YR_410

Hey Jennifer, wanna go fishin'?

I must say I am learning somethings that I did know.

Hey Rick, I understand that sometimes a tug and barge can not just pull in to a cove and anchor to wait out a storm. Have to steam in circles until the weather improves. Does that happen often?

John

True John I shouldn't be so flippant. It is interesting to learn about the different conditions in different boating locales other than the sf bay and delta. I've only had limited experience in a couple other places. None in PNW, which sounds hairy to say the least!!

Al I hate fishing. but thanks. Is that restaurant at your marina every going to reopen? Hope they got rid of all the rats.

Greetings,
Ms. Jennifer. Those that think they know it all really bother those of us who do.

All around the globe there are prevailing currents that invalidate the notion that currents and tides are in equilibrium. The entire East Coast of the US and Northern Europe is impacted by the Gulf Stream, Pacific Coast by the Japanese Current and East Coast Australia/NZ by the Tasman Current. Around the Horn there is a continual current in one direction. Etc Etc

As Murray knows, currents in the PNW can be tough to predict. George Vancouver noted variable currents 220 years ago as he sailed through the inland passages and was completely flummoxed by neap tides.

So no, tides and currents will seldom balance out. The earth's rotation, seasonal tilt, highly variable storms, seasonal winds and slippery water will insure that will never happen.

Pineapple Girl said:

Al I hate fishing. but thanks. Is that restaurant at your marina every going to reopen? Hope they got rid of all the rats.

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Geeeez!! It's not about fishing, PG!!

I don't think it'll be opening anytime soon, besides this is the slowest season. If it opens in the spring, I'll be happily surprised. I just won't order anything with peppercorns, capers or raisins.

FlyWright said:

BTW, that reminds me....my wife tells me I've got to get in shape now that I'm retired. I told her, "Round is a shape!"

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Yeah, talk about our affliction.

SomeSailor said:

We should ask Marin's dog...

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Be nice if we could but like the rest of us, he only knows what is and what was. He doesn't know what's coming although, like us, he sometimes knows that something's coming.

markpierce said:

Yeah, talk about our affliction.

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Al and Mark should do an exercise video. I can see it now. Maybe "Gangman Style". :lol::lol:

FlyWright said:

Geeeez!! It's not about fishing, PG!!

I don't think it'll be opening anytime soon, besides this is the slowest season. If it opens in the spring, I'll be happily surprised. I just won't order anything with peppercorns, capers or raisins.

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I'll bet they have to close again once all the rats are gone...

FlyWright said:

Geeeez!! It's not about fishing, PG!!

I don't think it'll be opening anytime soon, besides this is the slowest season. If it opens in the spring, I'll be happily surprised. I just won't order anything with peppercorns, capers or raisins.

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Lol ok fishing sounds great then! Just if you catch any fish please don't get any fish blood or guts on me.

Thanks for the laugh re raisins, etc.

RTF. Ya got that right.

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. SS. Newfoundlander would be the most polite term for your dog. I think Newfy is considered a derogatory term according to my sources but I guess the most PC term would be Newfoundlander and Labradorian.

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Not RT.. Newfie is quite acceptable.

skipperdude said:

Right on RT.

It is pronounced
New fund lander.
Not New found lunder
Not New found lund.

New fund land with the accent being on land not like New Englund

Not sure about the little pronouncement icons. sort of like
Illinois or New Orleans.

Some get irate if not pronounced as the locals

sd

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Yep Skip agree.. found sounds more like fun - New funlander

Is this post relevant to this seemingly endless thread? (You’re just making it longer Mike. Yeah I know.)

It’s about the PNW. Check.

It’s about tides. Check.

It has a amazing photo of recent high tides in Seattle. It's as bad as a So. FL. hurricane.

Those of you who live there are probably familiar with this, but to me it was new, and interesting, and I never saw anything about it in the media. I feel for the people who might have suffered damage.

High tide in Olalla Bay

Click on the first picture in the body of the blog.

Mike.

Sceptic said:

Is this post relevant to this seemingly endless thread? (You’re just making it longer Mike. Yeah I know.)

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Mike it turned into a Sienfeld episode about 350 posts back...

Sceptic said:

It has a amazing photo of recent high tides in Seattle. It's as bad as a So. FL. hurricane.

Those of you who live there are probably familiar with this, but to me it was new, and interesting, and I never saw anything about it in the media. I feel for the people who might have suffered damage.

High tide in Olalla Bay

Click on the first picture in the body of the blog.

Mike.

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Holy cow. Yeah saw nothing about that on the news!

FlyWright said:

Hey Jennifer, wanna go fishin'?

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Pineapple Girl said:

Mike it turned into a Sienfeld episode about 350 posts back...

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Jennifer--- this is what forum discussions are like in Bizarro World.

Pineapple Girl said:

Holy cow. Yeah saw nothing about that on the news!

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Oh, that. That happens all the time up here. The people who live right on the waterline have long since learned to deal with it. It's the price you pay for a hell of a view.

Here are two shots of typical weather up here. No big deal, it just happens and people continue on as normal. We've been on the Mukilteo-Clinton (Whidbey Island) ferry in these conditions. Nothing exciting except you have to remember to run your car through a car wash on the way home to get the salt off.

I don't like fishing either. I'd prefer to drink and pass along the beers.

A larger version of my Carquinez Strait travels this last Tuesday except the water came over my pilothouse/bridge. Haven't we all had such events?

Marin said:

Jennifer--- this is what forum discussions are like in Bizarro World.

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Interesting, I will be sure never to go there bc one discussion like this is more than enough...

xfedex said:

Hey Rick, I understand that sometimes a tug and barge can not just pull in to a cove and anchor to wait out a storm. Have to steam in circles until the weather improves. Does that happen often?

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If we got into bad weather on the outside and couldn't hide somewhere we were just stuck going slow in a sort of "heave to" heading and lengthening the tow enough to keep the wire intact but not drag on the bottom. You don't want to get sideways to "bad weather" with a barge so you just tough it out.

You ought to ask our resident tug master about how large ocean going tugs handle it. We avoided outside passages unless we knew the weather would hold but got caught often enough to know fear and learn to respect weather.

The only time we ever steamed in circles (f'ing the dog) was when we had to wait for a tide. Even that didn't happen often because we would adjust speed (over the ground) to minimize waiting or to catch a favorable tide.

Seymour Narrows was the place we spent an unusual amount of time shortened up and slow steaming or turning donuts. When the current was down enough to be safe we squirted through and let the wire out again.

As far as anchoring, on the coastal freighters we would drop the hook in some little cove or quiet spot large enough to hold us and a couple of fishing boats or a "packer" and stay there long enough (a couple of weeks sometimes if fishing was slow) to fill our holds with salmon to take south. Eric will know one of those spots - Trocadero Bay - well. A good old navy stockless did the job just fine as they do for countless ships, tugs, yachts, and other floating objects.

Baker said:

Now....I got one for y'all??? Does cross current affect your SOG at all??? On the circular slide rule, it says it does not. But I disagree.

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RickB wrote..."You guys made way more sense arguing about anchors."

Streuth... I agree. This thread only started yesterday and already gone stratospheric........most of the time it seemed most were essentially saying much the same thing only in different ways....
The best thing to come out of it all is John the Man Baker is back..! Hey John, where have you been FCS..? We missed your input.

What i learned traveling up and down the ICW is there is simply no way to avoid the tides. You may have favorable tides when getting underway but after passing the next inlet that will change.And you will pass many inlets I always figured even going against the tide was better then not going at all

motion30 said:

What i learned traveling up and down the ICW is there is simply no way to avoid the tides. You may have favorable tides when getting underway but after passing the next inlet that will change.And you will pass many inlets I always figured even going against the tide was better then not going at all

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Eureka! I've found it. Thanks Motion30. You are correct. On an incoming tide approaching an inlet on the ICW you may be slowed by 2 knots. Passing the inlet you will gain 4 knots. So, I have not been backing up as these guys have been trying to convince me. It works different on the east coast than the west coast just like boats and airplanes are different. So, there Baker and Flywright you engineers just complicate things.:lol:

I run from sun up to sun down, some day making 85miles some days 65 miles more in the spring with the longer days....of course I have a slow boat

East coast tides vs west coast tides.

A while back someone gave me a clock it tells the time and the tides.

Absoultley worthless in Alaska.

It is only good for the east coast.

I have never seen one for the west coast.

Why is that?

I have wondered about it but never bothered to look it up. Or even where to look it up

sd

skipperdude said:

I have never seen one for the west coast.

Why is that?

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Maybe because the coastline of Alaska is more than twice that of the entire US East Coast.

Never thought of that.

Any one want a west coast time and tide clock.

I don't think I will ever make it over there.

SD

Bah Humbug !

:lol: