How do you get your tidal info?

Casio tidal wristwatch??? - set to Dover of course, and the relevant tidal atlas'.
WXtide as a download from bluemoment or elsewhere, printed out at the beginning of the season. plotter, and CMap on laptop, position of Sun during sp/neap. Lots more sources than I need - - so no excuse.
OK, now I've said it . Now watch this space for reports of my latest grounding.
 
Boatie or Navionics on the iphone
Offshore navigator on the laptop
Easytide on the web
The club alamanac
The marina tide clock on the pontoon (which they sometimes remember to update)
Reeds

For some reason I never believe it unless I get it from two sources.
And I still hit the bottom embarrassingly often.
 
As I dont buy Reeds EVERY year (I have has this conv with Neville Featherstone), there is a need to get tidal information.

Skipper Stu has said on another post he buys Belfield. But why?

I use our boat yard printed one for local times.

I use WXTide 32 freeware for planning and carry a printout from the software on board for each of the days and destinations I am going to.

Also, I can use Admiralty EasyTide for 7 day predictions, but never buy their service (which I think should be free anyway).

I have tidal stream atlases too, but I have just moved to PC on board with C-Max cartography, so a new era dawns....

How do you get by?
Pwllheli and area free with the marina hand book, Belfield because I can have it on my phone (used to have it on my Ipaq). Its cheap enough for 3 years, it is dead handy on passage, no messing, look up the nearest port and it gives it to you immediately, also will calculate all sorts of tide related things, ie tell it where you are and depth of water at that given time and it will calculate whether you will touch at low water.Plus hes a yottie, hes one of us!
Stu
 
As I dont buy Reeds EVERY year (I have has this conv with Neville Featherstone), there is a need to get tidal information.

Skipper Stu has said on another post he buys Belfield. But why?

I use our boat yard printed one for local times.

I use WXTide 32 freeware for planning and carry a printout from the software on board for each of the days and destinations I am going to.

Also, I can use Admiralty EasyTide for 7 day predictions, but never buy their service (which I think should be free anyway).

I have tidal stream atlases too, but I have just moved to PC on board with C-Max cartography, so a new era dawns....

How do you get by?

I use the licensed version of this www.pangolin.co.nz/tidecomp.php

Rather cheaper than any Pilot and lasts 120 years and, providing you have a computer, it gives world tides at your finger tips.
 
As per Ditchcrawler's response, I too use Belfield, a group of us buy it and it works out at about 11 quid each last time, I think, for a 3-year timespan. Handy having it at home on the desktop for planning, also on board on my lappy if I take it.
Also I've taken to using the CA Almanac instead of Reeds, it's a two-year almanac and comes with the first year's printed tables as a separate item, and you get a copy of the second year's tables on request.
 
There are so many sources of free tidal information now in the public domain, I seriously question the reasons for buying Reeds anymore. I have recently been using Wiley Nautical internet almanac, it has most of the information you need including tides. I do feel though that the reference information at the front of Reeds is priceless.
 
Be like me ... move to a non-tidal region ! It really makes all the difference, you can go sailing whenever you want ...

Or on internet are so many freebies now ... OK based on Proud Data not UKHO - but it works fine :

CTide
PTide
WXTide
etc. etc. etc.

Belfields I have to say I like as it not only caters for PC but also PDA and really when you look at price - is it that expensive ?

Of course you could buy a PBO Almanac and get loads of info as well as tides for most places in UK !
 
Immingham (nearest port for me) today....

Easytide

LW HW LW
06:14 12:53 18:35
2.5 m 5.6 m 3.0 m

utide

LW HW LW
06.06 12.49 18.29
2.57m 5.51m 3.05m


Close enough for me, I've known Easytide to be 30mins out compared with actual tide!

If you read the small print, even easytide is but a prediction based on observation. The actual conditions on the day cam make noticable differences as you have observed. Two of the major influences not considered in the predictions are pressure and wind. These cam both make significant differences to both time and hight of the tide.
 
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