I wonder if this is what happened to me, long time ago (I think on a 1990 trip around).
I stopped for the day on a rock outcropping on an island near the Pic River (Canada).
I pulled the kayak well up. Took out camping equip (note: empty forward bulkhead, still fully loaded rear bulkhead - closest to water)
There was a storm on the Michigan side overnight. I woke in the morning to discover my kayak gone.
Long story made short - the kayak luckily floated nearby and was bouncing off some rocks near shore.
Yep u r lucky! I had 1 disappear when i took out at the Detroit River in Windsor once…had nothing to do with tidal anything…i had to go a bit of distance to retrieve my vehicle so i could put my kayak on it…i had an uneasy feeling…i kept looking back…i had seen a guy hovering around…i looked back 1 more time and it disappeared…i ran back abd found it! I hid it…then i ran to my car and drove down and picked it up…it just about got stolen that day!
I think I’ve been kind of lucky over the years.
Problem with doing an extended trip is that you must leave the kayak to resupply in town occasionally.
The worst I had was done while I was asleep (camped on the beach).
I left a very heavy gear bag outside the tent (not in kayak).
In the morning it was gone.
I imagine the thief had a tough time carrying this heavy bag back with them.
And then unpleasently surprised when they checked out their ‘loot’.
What was in the heavy bag? - water.
(though it was a bit of a loss to me - the drom bags were kind of expensive)
We get wind driven water in the St Johns River here in Jacksonville. When there is a nor’easter blowing the water gets blown into the river. The high tide is higher and low tide higher when that is happening.
The longer the fetch or higher the wind the more the effect.
I’ve been more concerned about the higher temps (and nasty humidity) on the St Johns the past few days.
Even the pre dawn hours are quite uncomfortable, bring back those 40deg Jan days.
I paddled Lake Huron extensively, and paddled from Superior to Montreal one summer. While I have not experienced it, I understand that Superior does have enough mass and volume to create slight tides.
Since the gravitational force of the moon, and to a lesser extent the sun, cause a high tide in bodies of water facing the moon and in the reverse side of the earth. Large bodies of water like the Great Lakes are influenced by tides, but the effect is minimal and only measured by inches. Wind and air pressure also contribute to tides. Tides are lower at the equator and higher further away from the equator. The Bay of Fundy in Canada can be as much as 53 feet between high and low.
The extreme tides in the Bay of Fundy are largely the result of the surrounding geography which tends to funnel the water into the bay. The tides in the rest of Maine are closer to 10’ on average, which is much higher that the mid-Atlantic that are closer to 2’ in most areas.
Rasins…Did Suwannee River from Cone Bridge to Big Shoals SP last Saturday. It was HOT. But we were able to paddle in the shade. Water was cool. The take-out was a steep bank and hill about 50 yards up the hill. Lots of tired over heated seniors slugging boats up the hill. The 70 degree days sounds pretty good.
Correct. The bay is 170 miles long and the tide cycles tend to build against each other. Chesapeake Bay is 200 miles long and it does the same thing. The Chesapeake tidal cycle is compounded by a stong outflow from the many outflowing rivers that add fresh water (Susquehanna, Patomac, James, York, Sassafras, Bohemian, Northeast, Chester, Wye, Rappohanoc, Chester, Nanicocke, Pocomoke . . . ).
Similar to the Long Island Sound at 110 miles long, which is oriented east/west, with Fundy oriented west/east, so how they fill/empty from storm systems will be different. The Chesapeake is more north/south. The earth’s rotation actually changes salinity consentration on the eastern and western shore. I believe that is the reason Wye river crabs are more highly prized over other areas.
Those are some big lakes.
The salt water on the West Coast, especially Washington, BC and Alaska can have a tidal range of 25 feet in a day. In the archipelagos and islands created by glaciation, huge amounts of water travel through narrow channels and between islands. Tidal rips can be as high as 12 knots. The navigation buoys are under water. Large whirl pools can form with hidden logs in the them. Standing waves of 4 feet can appear in the channel out of nowhere. The only way to travel in that country is with a tide table.
Long time paddler of the upper four Great Lakes and a hydrologist who knows a thing or two about seiche and set-up.
One overlooked hazard w/ regard to rogue waves coming for your boat is freighters. We paddled the St. Mary’s River area quite a bit back in the day and passing freighters sent waves that would run shockingly far up the beach and did move our boats around before we came to appreciate the need to get boats FAR up on shore, regardless of the weather.
Seiche & setup existed, but weren’t too bad on the upper three Great Lakes, but oh boy look out on Lake Erie. NOAA operates lake level gauging stations around the lake and it isn’t uncommon to see wind blow water so that the lake stage is 5 to as much as 15 feet higher in Buffalo as it is in Toledo. Once the wind stops, it all sloshes back and forth across the lake as a seiche. And the bathymetry is really flat and gradual on the Michigan side. The waterline can shift 1/2 mile or sometimes more over a few hours.