bobofthenorth
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Tides and Forward Progress
- Thread starter Nomad Willy
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Anode
Guru
But do they spend more time going with or against the current?
Why does a duck cross the current?
Day old bread?
How small does the rock have to be?
dhmeissner
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.....A mass of small volcanic rocks nearly the size of Belgium has been discovered floating off the coast of New Zealand......
Mass of volcanic rocks floating off New Zealand - Yahoo! News
Mass of volcanic rocks floating off New Zealand - Yahoo! News
markpierce
Master and Commander
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This duck (barely visible, in front of the central bridge pier) was going downriver. (rain-swollen Grayson Creek, Pacheco (CA) which eventually flows into Suisun Bay)
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Witches float!!!!!!!!
dhmeissner
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RT Firefly
Enigma
Rats, Mr. dhmeissner beat me to it. Ya can hardly take a Sunday afternoon nap without SOMEONE stealing your thunder....
Keith
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What is the air speed of a laden swallow?
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African or European?
Keith
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What? I don't know that... AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHH!
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mattkab
Senior Member
Sorry for being late to the party, but with the holidays and work and family, the past few weeks have been hectic. This morning I have thouroughly enjoyed just browsing the internet again. This was an interesting thread, and I enjoyed all 10 pages of it. I hope I'm not picking at a healed-over scab, but I'm in a good mood and want to give one more data point on the discussion...
When I read the title "Tides and Forward Progress" and then the first sentance "From another thread Marin's friends seem to think one's progress as affected by tidal currents does not average out. ", my first reaction was "of course, I see that every day".... and then I watched the argument erupt, and was fascinated by all the directions it went in.
From my boating experience, I've never had tides even out.
I grew up in Hawaii where the current is nearly always East->West (it sits on the bottom of the North Pacific Gyre), so even as a 15 year old in a kayak I always headed east first, so that the current (and more importantly trade winds) would blow me back home when I was tired at the end of the day.
Then I moved to the Seattle area, and moor my boat in Tacoma. Vashon Island sits just a few miles off my marina:
I have "known" for some time now that the currents are always moving in a clockwise direction around the island. Now, I readily admit that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but personal experience has taught me that any time I am heading to destinations north (which is still Puget Sound destinations for us), it is worth the extra few miles to get to the west side of the island in order to head up Colvos Passage.
But these are just localized nuggets of information, and I am not a long-range cruiser so it has a dramatic impact on my 5 or 6 hour travel times. But those boats that are travelling much further than Seattle from my marina would be relatively unaffected by the current around the island -- and it would, in essence, "even out" across their trip.
At least, in theory.
When I read the title "Tides and Forward Progress" and then the first sentance "From another thread Marin's friends seem to think one's progress as affected by tidal currents does not average out. ", my first reaction was "of course, I see that every day".... and then I watched the argument erupt, and was fascinated by all the directions it went in.
From my boating experience, I've never had tides even out.
I grew up in Hawaii where the current is nearly always East->West (it sits on the bottom of the North Pacific Gyre), so even as a 15 year old in a kayak I always headed east first, so that the current (and more importantly trade winds) would blow me back home when I was tired at the end of the day.
Then I moved to the Seattle area, and moor my boat in Tacoma. Vashon Island sits just a few miles off my marina:
I have "known" for some time now that the currents are always moving in a clockwise direction around the island. Now, I readily admit that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but personal experience has taught me that any time I am heading to destinations north (which is still Puget Sound destinations for us), it is worth the extra few miles to get to the west side of the island in order to head up Colvos Passage.
But these are just localized nuggets of information, and I am not a long-range cruiser so it has a dramatic impact on my 5 or 6 hour travel times. But those boats that are travelling much further than Seattle from my marina would be relatively unaffected by the current around the island -- and it would, in essence, "even out" across their trip.
At least, in theory.
I grew up in Hawaii, too, and did a lot of boating there, mostly fishing 30 or 40 miles off the north coast of Oahu. But we never paid any attention to currents, just wind. So it wasn't until I moved to the Puget Sound area and started boating, first as crew on a co-worker's racing sloop, then with our own trailer fishing boat, and then for the last 14 years in both the fishing boat and the Grand Banks that currents became a significant factor in my boating. To say that the action, strength, and effect of the currents here came as a surprise is an understatement.
Over the years our boating has taught us a lot about the currents in the areas in the San Juans, Gulf Islands, and southern Queen Charlotte Strait that we frequent, so we have a degree of local knowledge.
But mainly what we've discovered about the incredibly complex patterns and behaviors of the currents here and up the coast in BC and SE Alaska is how much we have yet to learn.
Over the years our boating has taught us a lot about the currents in the areas in the San Juans, Gulf Islands, and southern Queen Charlotte Strait that we frequent, so we have a degree of local knowledge.
But mainly what we've discovered about the incredibly complex patterns and behaviors of the currents here and up the coast in BC and SE Alaska is how much we have yet to learn.
Last edited:
mattkab
Senior Member
HAH! That's exactly where I was (only not 30-40 miles off shore, more like 0-3
) Born and raised (18 years) in Haleiwa Hawaii.Off-topic:
Here's a vid I made a few years ago of a fishing trip on our neighbor's charter boat (most productive day of fishing ever for us).
Deep Sea Fishing.avi - YouTube
I lived there for some 25 years. When we moved to Hawaii I was just a wee lad and there were only four hotels in Waikiki- the Royal Hawaiian, the Moana, the Surfrider (brand new), and the Halekulani which back then was just a collection of bungalows The boat I fished on was kept in Kaneohe Bay.
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