​A rising tide (or water level) floats all boats

[Guest]

Rising tide or water levels can be similar to wind in lost gear hazard.

Thinking about the floated away booze box rescue on the Blown Away thread I was reminded that I have had my own boat and gear difficulties with rising water levels.

I have paddled up to my truck parked on a coastal flood plain. All the way up, until the bow kissed the bumper. The water was half way up the wheels, and I could have unlocked the door and dry footed into the driver’s seat. I am more conscious of where I park nowadays, but on the coastal plain elevation is sometimes hard to come by.

I have awoken in the morning to discover wind driven tidal waters lapping at the gunwales of an over turned canoe. I have since become more conscious of moon phase and available elevation in camp on tidal trips. And I tie my boats down with bow and stern painters pulling in opposite directions, usually set upright with full storage or spray covers (salt water is nasty for gunwales and etc).

The tidal episode that stands most vibrant in memory was setting up my tent on the narrow sandy beach of an island in the Everglades. There was not a lot of tent site choice amid the sand spurs, nor a lot of slope to the shallow beach.

I awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of lapping waves. Lapping waves that sounded awfully close. Opening the tent door I discover the Gulf of Mexico now a whopping 12 inches from my tent vestibule.

It was almost high tide (I had tide charts and a watch). It was the night of the new moon. I packed up everything in the tent, made ready to evacuate and sat watch as the water rose another few inches before slowly receding. Thankfully, there was no wind blowing waves ashore.

I know DougD has had rising water adventures, from underwater tents to spending a night in a tree. Let’s hear ‘em.

 

[snapper]

Well, my experience had nothing to do with tides. It was all about an unexpected dam release. I was with my Dad and bunch of his buddies on a spring canoe fishing trip on the Upper Delaware River; just below where the two stems join in Hancock, NY. Both the East Branch & West Branch of the Delaware are dam controlled but the flow is usually consistent and easy to gauge. Anyway, we'd floated/fished our way downstream all day and eventually set up our camp on a gravel bank on the PA side of the river. It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed good company and a nice campfire. About 11 PM we all crawled into our respective tents for the evening. Before we went to bed we made sure our boats were fully out of the water and pulled up for the night. The next morning we woke up to hear, "hey guys...our boats are gone and the river is within 6" of the tents." The person making this proclamation was the group joker so everyone thought he was kidding. That was until we crawled out of the tents, only to see he was serious. Not being sure how to proceed, we decided to break camp, make breakfast and figure out a plan of action. While we were eating a small motorized jon boat was making it's way upstream. The gentleman in the boat called out, "Hey...Are you guys missing some canoes?" We assured him that we were. He told us they were washed up in a small rapid about a 1/4 mile downstream. Thankfully they were on our side of the river so we tied them together and hauled them back up to pack up and continue fishing for another day. We never really discussed what we would have done had it not been so easy but I'm sure we'd have figured something out.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[yellowcanoe]

For years we managed an AMC camp in Knubble Bay. We were one of the closer caretakers of the cabin which was rented out to private parties. There are many stories of the I guess illiterate guests who did not read the rules about tying up the canoes that came with the cabin.. With twelve foot tides dragging onto what you think is good enough is not an option. And similar to Western towns for horses we had paddlecraft hitching posts
About twice a year we got a call from the Boothbay USCG office to tell us that one of our canoes was adrift with the tide and where we could get it.
They were old Grummans,. eventually rivets were shot and they became leaky. One was so unseaworthy we used it to complete composting of the honey pot contents, which were mostly proecessed in cedar chips by this time. We tried a plastic pool for a compost container ( duh) which melted. The canoe was perfect. Just to make sure it stayed put it sported many skulls and crossbones and had DO NOT USE written all over it

We went to check on the well there one day. DO NOT USE was on a cruise along with two paddlers from Mass inside...They fit the definition of massh*** perfectly.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Now, that's funny!