Comprehending Tides

Tides occur every day. They happen all around us and they are a constant.  

I grew up in Puerto Rico where the tide was only around 1 foot. Every so often, we would get a "Rip Tide" as we called them where the tide would go really low and the reefs would come out of the water. My sister and I loved it because we could run across long expanses that used to be covered by a few inches of water at low tide. (This is when we found the really cool seashells) 

Then I moved to Baltimore, MD where I started living aboard. The marina I lived in had floating piers and the tide was only about 2 feet. During severe winter storms, the tide would go out several feet, but this was an anomaly.  

The thing that really kept me from comprehending the tides was the fact that I was tied to a floating pier, so the relationship from deck to pier was always the same, no matter the tide. The only time I noticed that the tide was up or down was when I walked the gangplank from the pier to the parking lot. As you can imagine, this was a very small portion of my day and it never really sunk in how powerful the tides really are. 

Then we went cruising and always anchored out. We have anchored in places with profound tides, but it never impacted us since we were anchored. I simply set enough scope so that we would be 7:1 at high tide and ignored the movement of the water from there. When we would go ashore, we would carry the dinghy up the beach and lock it to a tree. The most we would notice of the tide is how it affected the distance we needed to carry the dinghy from waters edge to the tree. 

We are now in Carolina Beach, NC tied up to a marina near Snow Cut. The tide here is around 5-6 feet and the piers are floating. I figured that we would simply float up and down with the tide and the relationship from pier to deck would remain unchanged, but this marina has a rock breakwater. 

We arrived at the marina during high tide and the breakwater looked like a very insignificant structure. It was a mere collection of stones sitting a few inches above the waters surface, with each stone creating a wake as the current pushed through. 

Then I went out at low tide to walk around the marina and what I saw completely blew my mind! 

The tiny stones that broke the surface were only the tops of giant boulders that are now completely exposed! Worse yet, the boulders are taller than I am! To think that so much water passes through this waterway on a daily basis is incredible. The sheer number of gallons of water that need to flood and ebb this waterway everyday is unthinkable!  

Tides truly are a force of nature! They occur regularly and they occur quietly, but they should not be underestimated as they are a constant powerful force that happens beneath our keels everyday. 

ICW Bridge Etiquette

While transiting the ICW, you will encounter many bridges that need to open for you to pass. The bridge is controlled by a single person who has to operate the entire bridge and manage the flow of cars and yachts through this transportation intersection.

Bridges monitor VHF channel 13, and will always respond when called upon.  It is a good idea to call the bridge when you are several miles away that way you can adjust your speed to arrive at the next opening and reduce the amount of time you need to hover at the opening while you wait for the bridge to open.

When calling a bridge, they don't care what your boats name is, so don't bother telling it to them. Simply identify yourself as "North-bound or South-bound" and "Motor or Sailing Vessel". So if you are on a powerboat heading North, you would be "North-bound motor vessel" and if you are on a sailboat heading South, you would be "South-bound sailing vessel." 

When you call the bridge, call them by their name, and the name is written on charts. 

Calling the bridge is simple, you simply get on VHF Channel 13 and say "This is South-bound sailing vessel calling Surf City Swing Bridge." Then you wait for them to answer "This is Surf City Swing Bridge, go ahead." 

At this point, you can ask them what their opening schedule is. "What is your opening schedule." And to this, they will respond with the times they open "We open at the top of the hour" meaning that they open at 10am, 11am, noon, etc. 

With this information, you can simply set the bridge as the destination on your chart plotter and adjust your speed so that you will arrive about 10 minutes before the bridge opens.  

At this point, you can radio the bridge back and let them know what time they can expect to see you. Sometimes, you might not be able to make the next opening and letting the bridge tender know this will be helpful since they won't hold the bridge open for longer trying to let you pass through and hold up traffic only to find out that you are not even able to make the bridge in time.

When you get to the bridge, radio the tender and ask if you are close enough or if they want you to wait even closer. This lets them know that you are there and ready, and they will usually radio you again right before they open it so you can get into position. 

Once you have made it through the bridge, radio the tender to let them know you have cleared the bridge and thank them for opening the bridge for you.  

Above all else, remember that the bridge tender is a person and they are a kind person. If you are unsure about protocol, just ask! They appreciate honesty and kindness over tempers and egos. Don't be afraid to ask a question you have, and always be nice to them so they will be nice to you too! 

Mooring vs. Marina

When we leave the boat for an extended period of time, say a week or a month, the question always arises about how we should leave the boat. Should we build a mooring or should we tie up in a marina? 

While the cost of tying up for a night is very expensive, the cost for a monthly slip is not so horrendous (if you shop around). We have found that most marinas will price their slips so that the break even point between daily transient rate and monthly rate is around 10 days. This means that if you tie up for 9 days, it will be cheaper to pay the daily rate. If you tie up for 11 days, it will be cheaper to pay for an entire month.  

When we leave the boat for an extended period of time, we factor this cost into the decision. Usually, for us on a 45 foot sailboat, the cost is somewhere around $500 for a month.  

When we leave the boat, it will be alone and in a foreign port where people don't know us, and don't know our boat. We worry about our boat since no one would be watching it, and since if something were to happen to the boat and we were called, we would be about a day of travel away so we wouldn't be able to get to the boat in a timely manner to fix any problems that might arise. 

If we could find the perfect protected anchorage, with a friend close by that would keep an eye on the boat and check the bilge periodically for us while we are away, we would feel more comfortable leaving it on a mooring. Since we are going home to visit family and work (to earn money that will keep paying for us to cruise), the price of peace of mind comes into question.  

At my job as a dentist, I can earn $500 relatively quickly. This means that I will be able to pay for the marina with ease. I will also be more relaxed about the boat because I know people in the marina will be watching over it. It will also be plugged in so the batteries will stay charged up and it will be out of the way of other boats that might bump into it in an anchorage. 

All in all, the price of peace of mind makes it feel like $500 is worth it for us. We can tie up and comfortably leave the boat in the marina until we get back. When we return, she will be tied up and ready to keep cruising. If $500 seems a bit steep of a price, one last point to consider is this: Is $500 worth ending your voyage? If something were to happen, say the anchors drag or someone hits you and you sink while you are away, your entire adventure would end with that incident. Is that worth $500 to you? 

Even in places where the prices seem ridiculous to tie up, a few miles away there will always be a reasonable marina. We were anchored in a harbor where the best price we could find was $4,600 for the month; so we kept looking and found a marina 10 miles away that wanted $450 for the month. The answer you seek is always out there, you just need to find it! 

Transportation Over Land

When you make landfall, the first thing you will want to do is explore the area and see what's out there! The problem is that when you arrive by boat, your land based transportation options may seem rather limited.

The first and most obvious option for getting around would be to walk. While this is effective, it only gives you a few miles of exploring available to you and it can be rather slow going. When we first set out cruising, we felt that walking distance meant a few blocks, but now we feel completely normal setting out on foot to a restaurant that is two miles away! This means that we think it is normal to walk two miles for a meal on the town, and then walk two miles back to the boat when we are stuffed. It's amazing how cruising will change your perception of the world you live in. 

Your next available option is to use a bicycle. If you carry your own on board, then you can easily bring it to shore in your dinghy and then set off as soon as you make landfall. If you don't have your own bike, you can always rent one or borrow one from a local chandlery. In towns that are more boater friendly, they will usually loan the bikes to cruisers for free; in less boater friendly towns, the bikes are usually available for a fee or not available at all. 

The last option available it to hop in a car and go from there. Cars can be had by renting or by making friends with the locals and grabbing a ride with them when they offer one to you. While it may seem odd to grab a ride with a total stranger, we have found that people in small towns are very courteous and will usually offer you a ride without you ever needing to ask about it. It is also very common for people to offer you the use of their car! While in Hatteras, we had many people come by the boat and tell me that they didn't need their car today and that we could take it for errands if we needed it. Mind you these are people that we have never met before and they didn't know us either! 

Getting around may seem like a challenge, but the truth is that you will have plenty of time! If it takes all day to walk to a store and back, then that is all you will get done that day. The next thing on your list of stuff to do will simply get taken care of tomorrow and cruising life continues on at its relaxed pace. 

Measuring your Mast Height

Knowing your mast height is very important when you go cruising because you will encounter bridges and it would behoove you to know if you will fit under said bridge! If you hit a bridge, your chainplates and spar will suffer considerable damage that could easily cause your yacht to become a "total loss" according to your insurance company.

Measuring your mast height is very simple, or complicated if you want to take it to the next level. All you need to do is attach a messenger line to the main halyard and run it up the mast until the halyard reaches the shiv. Simply cleat off the halyard so you can pull tightly on the messenger line and carry out the measuring process. 

Now, all you need to do is to take the other end of your messenger line and lead it down to your waterline. With the messenger line pulled tight, you will create a straight line from your mast head to the waterline next to your boat. Without you realizeing it, you have created a right triangle that will aid you in your further calculations. 

If you want to keep your measurement simple, you can simply mark the end of the messenger line (where it got wet as it met the waterline) and measure the distance to the masthead shiv. This is a slightly longer than true mast height measurement.  

If you want to take it a step further, you can now use the triangle you have created to calculate the rest.  The messenger line is the hypotenuse of the right triangle. Half the beam is the base of the triangle, and the mast height is the unknown.

Using Pythagoras's Theorem, you can solve for the unknown mast height. Pythagoras's Theorem is: 

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

a is the height, b is the base, and c is the hypotenuse. 

the equation could then be reworked to fit our needs as: 

a^2 = c^2 - b^2

and then further broken down into

a = (c^2)^(1/2) - (b^2)^(1/2) 

This could be again simplified using the actual boat measurements into the following equation:

Mast Height = (Messenger Line Length ^2)^(1/2) - ((Beam/2)^2)^(1/2) 

If you feel like indulging your mind a bit further, you can now factor in the height of the mast above the shiv by using a wooden dowel. The dowel is attached to the halyard and tied in a a guesstimated height above the line. When the halyard is pulled up all the way, the dowel will point up and above the mast head and it can then be evaluated from a distance. The top of the dowel should be the same height as the top of the antenna on the masthead. If it looks a bit taller, simply scoot the dowel down on the knot. If the dowel looks a bit shorter, simply scoot the dowel up on the knot. 

When you finally set the dowel so that it is the same height as the tallest item on your mast, simply add this distance to your messenger line (or true mast height if you calculated it) and this will be your actual mast height clearance.