Sorta seems like I asked this but I can’t remember.
Where do you guys go for your tide tables? I’ve looked at several different sites and found different times for the same location. A local fishing store had free charts for the whole year and the location I had in mind and they too were different. The difference ranges from 15 minutes or so to almost an hour.
It depends on the station they use
Most harbor areas have tide measuring buoys offshore and in the harbor. Depending on the tidal flow, a distance of a mile in location can mean anything from 10-30 minutes difference in tidal peaks. You need to know the exact location of the measuring point.
I use this here site…
http://www.tides.info/?command=view&location=beaufort
it’s set for Beau-fort but you an go to the bottom and git anywhar.
Obtaining tide charts
I get my tide charts for Savannah, GA area from a local news station’s website. In addition to the time chart, they provide “tide correction data” for commonly used boat ramps and popular areas. For instance, at one of my favorite put-ins the high tide is 45 minutes after high tide at the mouth of the Savannah River and 1.0 ft lower. You may be able to get tide data from www.weather.com for your area, but I would suggest looking for the info from a local source and then looking for tide correction data so you know exactly when the tides are and what the corrected depths are. Good kuck.
Addendum
I just linked here from www.necky.com. This is useful in many ways. Enjoy.
http://www.noaa.org/marine.html
north American tide tables booklet provi
tide velocity also
Lots of places to go
I use a few web sites, and for the east coast I have a copy of Eldridge tide and pilot book. for crossings like hells gate, woods hole, etc. it is great!
My GPS will do for the average day but I always check it.
A TERRIFIC SITE
with stations aplenty all over the place, and they’re frequent enough down here that you don’t need to adjust for a majority of Bicayne Bay sites -may you be so lucky in your area as well!
http://tbone.biol.sc.edu/tide/sitesel.html
The really neat thing is that you can have the info present graphically, and can contril the presentation as well temporally as well as graphically. The graph is useful because the slope of the line will correspond the tidal flow, so you’ll have a fair idea of better times to paddle, or when -if youy’re going to be paddling regardless- when the going will be tougher.
It’s a great site, and it makes it a LOT easier to know beforehand what, and when, and where to expect tidal variations and tidal flows as you
Paddle On!
-Frank in Miami
Garmin GPS Map-76
Cheers,
JackL