Not only an excuse for a party
Yesterday, with uncertainty about today’s weather still hanging in the air, Rebecca and I took advantage of the “calm before the storm” to lay down to sleep on our boat’s trampoline under a bright full moon. That is, until the rain drove us back inside of course. August 2012 is a unique month in that there will be two full moons, the second one, what is called a blue moon, will take place on August 31st. As I understand it there will not be another blue moon until 2015!
In addition to the increased visibility that a full moon in a clear sky affords us, it has another significant effect for boaters. That being, it alters the height of the tides.
Even most non-boaters are familiar with the concept of high and low tides. The range of these tides is not constant though, nor is the time that they occur each day. When the moon is full, as it was yesterday, the high tide is at its highest point for the month and the likewise, the low tide will be at its lowest. This larger spread is referred to as a Spring Tide. Conversely, when the moon is half way between full and new, what is referred to as a Neap Tide occurs, and the spread between high and low tides will be its smallest in that particular month.
In areas where there is a large tidal swing, many boaters need to pay close attention to this, especially when attempting to navigate shallow channels or entrances. In Grenada, where there is only a foot or so difference between high and low tides, this isn’t super significant but even with those small values, we can still see the affect that the moon has on the water.
Taken this morning. Calm before the storm?
A very informative post, learnt some interesting new things and given me some more things to read up on. Thank you! Looking forward to your next post.
Hi Sarah. Glad you enjoyed it.
Nice pic! If I were on Facebook I would “like” it. 😉
20 people on Facebook already do. 🙂
Tide is about 7′ to 8′ here in the coastal areas of North Carolina and South Carolina. It makes a BIG difference! One needs to be very careful.
No kidding. We came down the ICW!
Mother Nature, in the form of the Moon, is a very powerful force.
Maternity ward medical staff have told me that the floor fills up on full moons.
As that old Fleishmans margarine ad warned: “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature”
“Maternity ward medical staff have told me that the floor fills up on full moons.”
Hopefully we won’t have to deal with anything like that. 🙂
I find it strange that a “full moon” has any greater effect than other stages.
Why? Well, isn’t the moon constantly orbiting the earth? Isn’t the fullness based on the angle of the sun’s reflection off it? High tide is when the moon is over head, low tide is when the moon is on the opposite side of the planet, correct?
looking for a real answer.
Hi Cameron
“Spring Tides
When the moon is full or new, the gravitational pull of the moon and sun are combined. At these times, the high tides are very high and the low tides are very low. This is known as a spring high tide. Spring tides are especially strong tides (they do not have anything to do with the season Spring). They occur when the Earth, the Sun, and the Moon are in a line. The gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun both contribute to the tides. Spring tides occur during the full moon and the new moon.
Neap Tides
During the moon’s quarter phases the sun and moon work at right angles, causing the bulges to cancel each other. The result is a smaller difference between high and low tides and is known as a neap tide. Neap tides are especially weak tides. They occur when the gravitational forces of the Moon and the Sun are perpendicular to one another (with respect to the Earth). Neap tides occur during quarter moons.”
Source: http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/
oooh, I just got “cruisered!” nice answer!
When you started talking about the effect of the full moon on boaters I was thinking an entirely different direction!
I can only imagine. 🙂
Here in my little corner of Maine the average tide is around 20′ above mean low water. Yesterdays tide was 24′ I think, and the low was a minus 1.8. We ALWAYS take the tide into account. We see the occasional dingy, tied up at high tide, hanging from it’s painter at low.
Glad to see that Ernesto has given you guys a miss… Phew!
Several boats here yesterday either touched bottom, went hard aground or came very close to it.