About Tides

Surfers, sailors, anglers, and other ocean enthusiasts have the tides to thank for the rhythm they provide to their lives. While it may be a beautiful timepiece, a tide clock is also a valuable tool for keeping us in touch with what is happening out at sea. If your job or passion requires you to obtain tidal readings on a daily basis, having a tide clock is a non-negotiable. This type of clock provides you with accurate stats without all the complexities. 

Perhaps you don’t need a tide clock for work but would find comfort in learning about tides to prevent flooding. This is especially relevant for those who live near the water and whose homes are prone to coastal flooding. Read on to learn more about tides and how to use tide clocks to benefit you in your everyday life. 

The Importance of Understanding the Tides

Using a tide clock and understanding how tides work is incredibly important for a variety of reasons. Knowing what times to expect the water to ebb and flow or having an idea of how strong the tide will be may impact whether or not you decide to go fishing that day, participate in water activities, or need to board up your house in preparation for a storm.

What Is a Tide Clock?

What appears to be little more than a beautiful clock with moving, animated hands is actually a valuable tool for anglers and those who live near the water. Although it has the word “clock” in it,  tide clocks actually don’t display the current time. Instead, they are timers of high and low tides based on the location to which you set them. 

To put it simply, a tide clock is a nautical tool used to understand the flow of the tides in your area and to provide a gauge for how much time you have before the next tide is expected to take place. 

Setting Up Your Tide Clock

Now that you understand the value of having a tide clock on hand, the next step is to set yours up so it is ready for use. To set up your tide clock properly, follow the steps below:

  • Use online or newspaper listings to determine when the next tide will be in your location. 

  • Set the tide hand in accordance with the number of hours until that next tide. 

  • For the greatest accuracy, set the clock to the high tide during a full moon, though this is not mandatory.

Mechanical tide clocks, like Tidepiece’s clocks, will work for any location with two regular high and low tides. Bear in mind that they do not actually detect the changing of the sea level and must be set once for the user’s local time. Given this, they can be used at any distance from the sea and do not need to be near the ocean to function.

Accuracy of Tide Clocks

While there is a little mystery behind tide clocks, these devices do quite a decent job at predicting the tides with great accuracy. A tide clock should be calibrated at the exact hour of high tide or low tide, ideally on the day of a full moon. The tidal clock will show the least amount of error for the entire month if it is set properly on the day of the full moon. Tide clocks are at their most precise during a lunar month (29 days). While there may be slight intervals, it is best not to reset the tide clock as this could disrupt its functioning. Instead, allow the clock to correct itself in the following tide cycle.

Uncover more about tides by using your very own tide clock. Shop for yours at Tidepieces today.

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