Our thanks to AGLCA Forum contributor, Tom Hale, for allowing Cruisers’ Net to share his article on currents and tides with our readers.

Subject: Currents and Tides
The issue of tides and currents in estuaries is a bit complicated. A few years ago I researched this for an article for Chesapeake Bay Magazine. The article won an award from the Boating Writers International. What the article describes and explains, is that the time of slack current is out of phase with the timing of high and low tide. On the Chesapeake it lags by three hours. The time of maximum flood current is at the time of high tide. And max ebb is at the the time of low tide. I know it does not make sense, but read the article. I gave the article to AGLCA and it can be found in the member resources section.
In researching this article I also looked a quite a few other estuaries: Hudson River,
Delaware Bay, Cape Fear River, Winyah Bay, Tampa Bay and San Francisco Bay, Each estuary is different but they all follow the same pattern that slack water does not occur at the time of high or low water.
Navigating the coastal waters, a current table is just as important as a tide table.
Tom Hale

CLICK HERE FOR TOM’S ARTICLE ON CURRENTS AND TIDES