There has been some near death SUP related incidents in recent news and we see a lot of folks will say something like "You Gotta check the tides!". It then dawned on us that a lot of folks don't really know what that means. Not to worry - it isn't straight forward and it certainly isn't common knowledge how tides work. So here we GO!

In an effort to try and help out folks that don't know or perhaps cement that knowledge in those that are aware we are starting to release an email thread on the second Wednesday of every Month to help each other learn, grow, and ultimately be proficient SUP folk.

Now we realize that a lot of you may not live anywhere near an ocean but this is still really cool information to have in you back pocket whether it is used on vacations or just to show your trivia prowess at the local pub. So... What is a TIDE? Well, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration describes a tide as very long-period waves that move through the ocean in response to the forces exerted by the moon and sun. Basically a huge slow moving wave the goes up and down the globe. - What does this mean for you in a specific location? - These long period waves bring is unfathomable amount of water and when they reach our shores you will see the water level rise and fall with the ebb and flow of the tide. It happens so slowly that many just look at it as an up and down motion of water much like the chart above shows (chart courtesy of www.tide-forecast.com. But that's where the trouble begins in terms of safety and how you plan Paddleboarding sessions. While it is important to understand the water level, what the chart above doesn't show is the unseen currents associated with the tide. To illustrate this we'll use our favorite (and most extreme) example of tidal currents: Skookumchuck Narrows (google it).

Above you'll see a zoomed out image with Skook highlighted and another zoomed in showing the Skookumchuck inlet circled in red. You might notice that the inlet below the tiny channel circled in red is entirely land locked. This means that that massive area of water raises and lowers with the tide. But the ENTIRE volume of water is fed through that tiny channel circled in red. This is where the tidal current comes into play. That area of water will raise at the same (or similar to) time as the surrounding ocean. That means that all that water volume gets "squeezed" through that tiny channel at a phenomenal pace (you really have to see it to believe it), thus, creating tidal current. You see, the water level doesn't simply rise and fall. It FLOWS in and out. Or as we say EBBs and FLOWs. Ebb indicates retreating water (away from shore) and flow indicates incoming water. It is this lateral water movement that fills the areas and causes the level to rise.

PRO TIP - The area of land that gets exposed between low and high tide is called an Intertidal Zone.

Now that we understand a bit more of what a tide is. How can we apply that knowledge. Well, in the case of planning adventures you now understand that there will be currents involved with ocean paddling depending o what the tide is doing. A typical paddler is not going to paddle faster than 4kn (4.6mph or 7.36kmph) so you can use that as a starting point. If you leave the shore and find yourself paddling against and tidal ebb to get back to shore your typical paddling speed relative to shore will be reduced by the tidal current. This is why it is important to understand the tidal forecast and plan to return with the tidal flow.

- But Sea Gods, how do I know what kind of current I am in for? -

Glad you asked.

The Government tells you. For Free. Both USA and Canada provide tide and current tables for free online. But they aren't immediately easy to understand if you're not familiar.

First lets talk about Tide Tables. They're actually pretty simple once you understand it. Above you'll see the Tide Table for the Vancouver BC area with May 9th 2023 highlighted. There are 3 columns of numbers. The 1st column is the time. The second column is the water level above sea level in meters and the third column is the water level in feet. With this in mind you'll see the 1st tide level at 2:08am at 3.5m or 11.5ft above sea level. This is the first low tide of the day. Then at 6:20am it is the first high tide at 4.1m or 13.5ft. and so on. Easy Right?! This information is published for the entire year with pretty amazing accuracy so you can use this to plan trips far in advance.

Next let's talk about current tables. These are a bit more confusing and they often are not shown in the same locations as the tide tables. This is because this table applies to certain areas of particular tidal current danger. In this case we are showing the Current Table for Active Pass. A busy ferry lane in the Gulf Islands of BC Canada. Rather than showing the high and low tide times it shows the time when the current changes with the turn of the tide and the time of expected highest current. Again - three columns and we are looking at May 9, 2023 highlighted in yellow. The First column is the time the tide turns. So at 1:57am the tide turns from an ebb to a flow - we know this because of the "+" symbol in front of the third column number. The second column shows another time of day. This is the time of the highest expected current for that tidal exchange. So we can see at 3:52am we can expect the highest tidal FLOW current for this exchange. Finally the third column shows the speed of that tidal flow. The "+" symbol indicating a flow and the speed of the current is 1.3kn. We can then see that the next tidal turn (from a flow to an ebb) is at 5:44am with the highest current at 9:40am at a speed of 4.4kn (faster than most paddlers). Crazy huh? As with Tide Tables these are pretty accurate for the entire year so you can plan well in advance.

What is a Tide - It is the Ebb and Flow of water in the ocean due to long period waves cause by outer space (gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun)

What is Ebb - It is the term used to indicate water retreating from shore

What is Flow - It is the term used to indicate water coming into shore.

What is a tidal current - it is the flow speed of water cause by the ebb and flow of the tide, made worse by bottlenecks in channels like the glorious Skookumchuck Narrows.

Where can I find More Information - the government provide yearly charts and tables to help you plan you adventures - or you can reach out to Sea Gods and we're happy to help!

What Is a shameless plug - Well that is what you're about to read below!

We sincerely hope you found this information as useful and interesting as we do. The ocean is a beautiful place but it is important to understand it so you can have safe and successful adventures! Happy Paddling Everyone!

Now for the Shameless Plug - If you're gonna go on a paddle adventure it might as well be on one of the reddest SUPs known to man! Much Love Everyone!