lowest sailable tide @ 3rd ave?

[YippieYo]

Hey all,

I sail 3rd quite a bit, and have dealt with fun mud-hikes back to the launch, but I'm not sure who knows what is a reasonable number for the lowest sailable tide at 3rd?

I'm trying to plan ahead to Wed. afternoon and it's looking like it will be hitting low tide right around when I will likely get over there (Wed 5:04 PM - 0.63 feet).

Thanks in advance.

[DonORiordan]

Some of us generally use 2 feet as the "time to get the hell out" marker at 3rd ave. The mud there is pretty bad if you get caught in it. I've had one experience I intend to never repeat.

Also...the lowest you can get away with is also a function of your fin choice
and board volume. If you are on a high volume board (that you can comfortably shlog close to the launch where the mud is at its worst and the water the most shallow, and by comfortably I mean
(a) you won't fall off and
(b) you won't be execessively sinking the tail and driving the fin into the mud

AND

you use a small dumpy freestyle fin (e.g. 20 cm or even smaller)

Then you can get away with a lot less water than someone with either a big 30cm + slalom fin or tiny sinky board regardless of fin.

Our group tends to ride 105L freestyle boards with correspondingly small freestyle fins, and so we can "stretch it" more than most. Still I'd say 2 feet is a good guide.

D

[benpfree1]

You can also use the guide at http://www.poulton.net/windsurf/wrpt.color.html#tides

For example, for today (4/14) this guide says third ave is "safe after" 2.5'

[tannoco]

Let me just second what DonORiordan said. I got stuck in the mud a few Fridays ago and it was NASTY! Basically I got out at dead low tide and so first I had to walk about 200 yards from where I stopped sailing. That was okay because it was a sandy firm bottom, although there are submerged rocks that you can't see even in 30cm of water (because it's so murky) so you are constantly stubbing your toe and tripping. Then the last 20-30 meters was mud that made me sink in up to well above my knees. Think walking in heavy, deep powder snow. I eventually had to resort to crawling accross the mud on my knees so I could get out. I was exhausted and everything was covered in muck. Like Don, I intend never to repeat this.

[beallmd]

been there-done that too. Coyote is a little better in extreme low tides; at least it is doable. I spent some time this weekend with binoculars at 3rd trying to draw a mental map of where the sand bars are.

[YippieYo]

Thanks for all the tips. 2-2.5 feet sounds like a good rule of thumb...

i was reminded again about the low-tide mud at 3rd when I had my first session this year. my sail head and clew were nice and crusty from the last session of last season - a month-long spa treatment of sorts for my gear. i just don't want to think about what kind of stuff is in that mud either.

i was hoping that google earth could help show the sandbars, but it's all fuzzy in the water.

anyway, it looks like Wed. won't be great anyway.

[DonORiordan]

Tannoco has remined me of just how bad it was. You can't walk, and end up resorting to crawling on your knees (spreads your weight over a larger surface area, you tend to sink less). Seems like everyone figures this out naturally without actually thinking about it. And its a frickin' MISERABLE
experience. Like I said earlier, I will never to that again.

I also heard from someone else that Coyote isn't as bad (the mud isn't ask sinky/deep for some reason), which was also echoed somewhere above in this thread.

Apparently one the guys had an interesting mud experience yesterday also at Embassy Suites/upper coyote area. His "technique" for getting back in the shallow water (or maybe it was exposed mud at that time, I'm not sure), was to sail with both feet in the straps, and ass in the mud/water, and let the wind (which was pretty dang strong yesterday) just drag him + gear thru the yucky stuff.... pretty innovative.

Here is a fin to try on extreme low tide days: http://www.mauifin.com/fin_info.php?id=7
(or just saw a regular fin down to size). The one in the URL above comes as small as 16cm, intended for Vulcans/Spocks etc.

As for the sandbars at 3rd, my experience on low tide days has been
that you can spot them if you look at where the water is peaking up into small waves. The water pattern is noticeably different where the sandbars are, and if you are on a small fin you can actually see enough to remind yourself to slow down/get out of the straps/unhook just in case you snag the fin, but usually you can sail right thru. If your fin is small enough, and you pay attention. There is a big sandbar that runs approx parallel to the channel out fairly close to the channel...very easy to spot this one (and if you go there at low tide today it will probably be fully exposed is my guess, so that you can "learn" its approximate location. If you don't pay attention to the wavelets/whitecaps (yes, sometimes these little waves actually *break* over the sandbar), and just scream thru on a big fin, you will no doubt hit it. Not good.

There also used to be a smaller sandbar in closer to the launch. However, with my small fin I never notice that one anymore. Its rare that the water is low enough for the wave action to happen (if it is, you are guaranteed the mudfest event afterwards anyway so you don't want to be out there), but again folks with longer fins may need to take note.

To finalize
(a) smaller fins (plus bigger boards) give you more options to "push the tide envelope
(b) you can spot the sandbars while sailing along if you pay attention to the wavelets
(c) don't push it too far. Its is *not* worth the resulting mudcrawl effort, as some of us can attest to...you have no idea how tiring/sapping that effort can be unless you've experienced it.

Have fun, and C U on the water.


D