My marina is adjacent to a bridge so I can only leave at a low tide unless I want to contact the bridge operator and have it opened. The hours are limited and the bridge is persnickety and does not always open leaving me trapped until the next low tide.
I have a tide clock at home which is extremely convenient, especially when I have to load the boat. It is much easier at a high tide! But I also found it very convenient to simply add the tides to my Outlook calendar. I set it up as a separate calendar so I can choose to view/hide it, so it doesn’t clutter my calendar. Another option is to set up a Gmail account (on top of your regular email) and use that as a separate calendar. I also find it convenient to use my Gmail account for manufacturers’ newsletters and notifications that I don’t want cluttering my regular email.
And yes, many apps provide tide information but I find it super convenient to simply add it to my calendar.
Here are the steps:
- Go to https://webcaltides.org/ and select the tide station you would like to add to your calendar.
- If you don’t know the name or ID number of your station, visit https://tides.gc.ca/en/stations
- Once you have entered the Keyword or ID, hit search, and your Tide Station will appear below.
- Click on the .ICS webcal dropdown menu and choose the calendar type (download, google or Apple).
- Once the file has been downloaded, double-click on the file, it will ask if you want to add it to your existing calendar or open a new calendar. I would suggest opening it as a new calendar so you can view/hide it and your main calendar doesn’t get cluttered.
- As a bonus, it also includes sunrise/sunset.
Knowledge is power!
