Fishing Frenzy

Whenever you are boating or kayaking on Cape Cod, it is important to know how to read a Cape Cod Tide Chart. This will help you determine not just the timing and the levels of the high and low tides, but what direction the tidal current is moving at all times in between. Understanding what role tides and currents play will make your journey safer and much more enjoyable. In extreme cases, it could even be a matter of life and death.

It is important for boaters to know how to read a tide chart because there are boat ramps on the Cape that can only be used when the tide is at a certain level. What's more, obstructions such as sand bars and rocks, which might lie deep beneath the ocean at high tide can cause serious harm to boat at low tide.

Kayakers, on the other hand, will find that some of the tidal rivers and salt marshes that the Cape is so famous for simply can not be paddled at low tide. Water levels can drop surprisingly quickly when the tide goes out - sometimes by as much as several feet in the space of a couple of hours. Countless novice kayakers have started their trips without taking the tide into account and have found themselves having to carry their kayaks out for miles because the river they were kayaking became too shallow to paddle.

Tides rise and fall depending on the gravitational effect of the moon and the sun. The moon causes tides to rise when it passes over a certain point on the globe as well as when it passes underfoot (on the other side of the earth). And, because it does each one of these things daily, there are two high tides and two low tides every day.

If this entire "tide cycle" took exactly 24 hours, high tide and low tide would occur at the same time every day. But it actually takes a little under 25 hours for the moon to completely orbit the earth so a high tide that takes place at 6am one day will take place a little under an hour later the following day.

But for kayakers paddling under their own steam, the timing of high and low tide is not the only thing to worry about. The direction a tidal current is moving in at any time in between high tide and low tide is also an important consideration. A tidal current that comes with and incoming tide is know and a flood current, while an ebb current is one that flows when the tide is going out. The short period of time when little or no current is evident is called slack water.

In the waters around Cape Cod, the currents can be surprisingly strong, so much so that paddling against a current can take a great deal of effort. Add in the possibility of a 10 or 15 mile an hour headwind and a kayaker could find themselves exhausted, or worse, before their trip is over. Kayakers should therefore use a tide chart to time their trips so as to take full advantage, where possible, of incoming and outgoing tides.

Let's say low tide is at 6:00am and you plan to paddle inland on a trip you expect will take about three hours to complete. You can save your arms by paddling with the tide provided you leave before 9:15am. By 12:15am, it's going to be high tide and pretty soon after that, the tide will start to go out. You will then have a six hour window in which to paddle back using the ebb current to propel you along the way.

Because Cape Cod is a seaside community, you will find that local tide charts are published in all the local newspapers and magazines. There are also several boating websites that publish them online. You should make a point of seeking one out and using the information contained in it whenever you plan on spending time on the waters of Cape Cod.