ICW Tides

[All U Get]

Yesterday we left Southport NC heading south and I was tracking the tides so we could get under the fixed bridges, air draft, and over the thin spots, water draft. As we finally ran up the Little River the currents were pushing us along. We had a high tide behind us at about 2 pm. The next two fixed bridges in SC don't have tide boards so we guess the height by looking at the pilings, etc., for amount of scum and barnacles. The tide switches somewhere here to become Low Tide at about 1 PM. My shorts were in a twist but we made it under with room to spare. We pulled into Barefoot Landing thinking high tide but it was low tide, the range is about two feet instead of the 4-5 we just left during the day yesterday.
I might be the only sailor who thinks there should be a big red post in the water to let those on the ICW know that it's now low tide instead of high. I'll do better in the morning when we leave at mid tide and drift down the Waccamaw River.

All U Get

 

[Chris Patterson]

The tides swing here around 4 1/2' feet for sure. What's the "hard read" is figuring when those swings happen in the ditch. I'm sitting here tied up on the upper reaches of the Cape Fear at the moment, no more than thirty miles north of Southport, and about five miles north of Wilmington, and the tide differential is more than four hours. Evidently takes a while to slosh all that water up and down these rivers, sounds, and even long passages of the ICW.

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

You might want to give WX-tide 32 a look. It lists over 100 points for NC alone, several in the Cape Fera river area. Was very helpful when I traveled there as I was most times able to find a point fairly close to me, even when in the ICW. Price is right too as you can download it free on the internet.

 

[All U Get]

I talked with a few boaters and there is a feeling that the water has been lower than normal for the lunar cycle. No problems as we sit here waiting for the rise so we can get away from the docks. We had been doing so well.
All U Get

 

[Ron20324]

Here is a blog of a boat a bit ahead of you. Their postings should help you out. http://www.sheetmusic323.blogspot.com/

 

[Barnacle Bill]

You can always go on the outside and make a lot more time getting to the warm climates until the butter melts.

 

[Tom J]

We always compared the tide list on our chartplotter to the Coastal Pilot listings, and for the most part, they matched. Several times, though, we could not find any listing for the location we were in, and finally we realized there were no tides in those areas. Weird, but true.

 

[Chuckbear]

I wouldn't go outside anywhere until maybe Friday. Welcome to the Intracoastal Waterway. Our chartplotter has a tides program that will give us the state of tide for our current position. It won't help a lot farther down the waterway. A good tide table like WX32 will certainly help, but there are some area that do not show up in the tide tables and nearby tides can be significantly different. Many times the wind plays a factor in the tides and no tables will help you with this. I can't remember how high your mast is, but unless it exceeds 64 feet, you aren't going to have a problem on fixed bridges until Miami. I say 64 because there are a few bridges with 64 foot clearances that were suppose to be 65. So no problem unless you hit a astronomical high tide. Chuck

 

[All U Get]

I wouldn't go outside anywhere until maybe Friday. I can't remember how high your mast is, but unless it exceeds 64 feet, you aren't going to have a problem on fixed bridges until Miami. I say 64 because there are a few bridges with 64 foot clearances that were suppose to be 65. So no problem unless you hit a astronomical high tide. Chuck

It's been a little rough outside for a week and doesn't seem to end for a while. The mast is 63 and 15 inches of hardware on top of that. We like to see 64.5 or better and that is about what we've had so we slide under the fixed bridges. Strange wind this morning drew down the water so we were high and dry by the time low tide came at 1100 am. However by 1200 it filled in and we were afloat and running with current toward the Waccamaw River. We pulled into the Osprey Marina in less than three hours.

All U Get