Tides are the result of Centrifugal forces caused by the gravitational attractions between the Moon, Sun, and Earth, in combination with the Earth spinning on its axis and the Moon circling the Earth in the opposite direction of the Earth's spin. The moon rotates on its axis in exactly the same length of time that it circles around the earth. The moon takes approximately 27.3 days to circle the earth.

A tide is the vertical motion or rise and fall of water. Tide tables give the daily predictions of the times and heights of high and low waters.

There are many explanations and descriptions of tidal movements, reasons, and suppositions as to why tides occur. Actually much of the terminology refers to the same three tidal phenomena:

Spring tide, Neap tide, and Vanishing tide.
 Spring tide, the best fishing tide, is an extra high tide occurring semi-monthly at the time of the Full Moon and New Moon. It brings an extra high- highwater and lower low water. The Sun, Moon, and the Earth are in a straight line over a given point on Earth.
Waters 200 miles away will experience a different tidal occurrence because the moon will not be directly over that geographical position.

Neap tide, the least desirable time to fish, is a smaller tide, occurring monthly at the time of the Moon's first quarter and last quarter. There is not much difference between high and low water. The celestial bodies are not in phase with each other creating less gravitational pull on the water even though the centrifugal force from the spinning Earth remains the same.

Vanishing tides are when the highs and lows are indistinguishable in a mixed tide.

Are you familiar with the current news items?

**When the tides are in full swing, the Flood Current will flow from the sea into the harbors, rivers, and bay waters. (Rising tide)

**When the tides are lowering, the Ebb Current from the bays, rivers, and harbors will flow in a down-stream direction toward and out to the sea. (Fallen tide)

**Ocean currents from the Gulf, rivers, and bays are independent of tidal currents. Littoral drift refers to the shoreline current and its affect on moving shore line sand.

**Currents are horizontal movements of water. The average current flow of a tide in a confined area is approximately 6¼ hours and then it stops, reverses direction and flows for approximately the same length of time.

**Slack water is the condition where there is no current in the water. The water is in a stationary condition just before and after a tidal change; such as an Ebb or Flood current.

**Did you know that tidal, current, and wind speeds, in nautical terms, are measured in knots and a knot is 1.15 miles per hour?

Wind Speed   and   Wave Heights Ft.

Knots--0-1     Mi./hr--0-1    Wave height--0
   Knots--1-3      Mi./hr--1-3   Wave height--1/4
   Knots--4-6      Mi./hr--4-7     Wave height--1/2
Knots--7-10    Mi./hr--8-12   Wave height--2
Knots--11-16  Mi./hr--13-18  Wave height--4
Knots--17-21  Mi./hr--19-24  Wave height--6
----All figures are approximate----

Wave heights may vary considerably due to location,
ocean currents, and wind gusts.