Time for Tides

The facts that while the East Loch follows the usual pattern of having two tides in every 24-hours whilst the West Loch
may have four or even five tides in the same time - or, in bad weather, seemingly have no tides at all, was noted by
James Watt, in 1771, when he carried out surveys of possible routes for canals between the lochs and between Loch
Gilp and Loch Crinan.

According to Watt “the spring tides in East Tarbat flow 10’6”; in West Tarbat only 4’6”, or, in very extraordinary
tides, some 2’ higher.

“The tides in the West Loch are most irregular; sometimes neither ebb nor flow; at other times ebb and flow twice in a
tide and the quantity of false ebb is about 1’. The mean height of tide in The Firth of Clyde is greater than that of West
Tarbat.”

Today, large ships are encouraged to use The North Channel’s system of separation lanes, outward bound ships taking
the outside lane but for small vessels sailing round the long barrier of Kintyre has always been dangerous and time
consuming.

A fair tide could double a boat’s speed, a contrary tide might keep a boat stationary, making no headway, for 3 or 4
hours. ‘The Mull’ is an area of conflicting tides and it does not take a lot of wind to raise a high and confused sea,
very trying, sometimes treacherous for large and small craft alike. Inshore currents often run back in the opposite
direction to the main tide’s own direction further adding to the confusions. Local knowledge matters.

A small boat, only able to do 4 knots, can make the 36-mile trip from Red Bay to Gigha in only 6 hours provided she
sets out at the start of the ebb tide and too provided she avoids the inshore eddies and currents.

Here, for the simple reason that many modern almanacs, textbooks and even simple computer software programs are
‘dumbed down’ and omit any simple explanations of how tides operate, it may be useful to understand a little about
our local waters around The Clyde, Kintyre and The North Channel.

So, to a short lesson in primary science !

For anyone wanting a simple check on tides, high water at Full Moon and on the day after the astronomical date of the
New Moon is around 12 noon, or midnight, at East Loch Tarbert and about 2 ½ hours later at the West Loch !

In another words, if a New Moon is predicted to fall to a Saturday, with its first crescent being visible the next
evening, the Sunday, then high water will be about 12 o’clock on the Sunday, about 1 o’clock on the Monday and a
little before 2 o’clock on the Tuesday - times may be read as a.m. or p.m. as the moon’s cycle is near 29½ days long
and thus times return near exactly every 59 days. In general, “o’clock” can be read as either a.m. or p.m..

On the ‘Sunday’ following that when the first crescent of the new moon should have been visible, the time of high
water would therefore be around 6 o’clock and on the ‘Sunday’ after that at around 12 o’clock again, this time the
moon being full etc. etc..

The New Moon is highest in the sky, above the observer’s location, at noon and its first crescent can usually be seen in
the western sky, after about 6 p.m. on the following evening - the moon’s crescent shapes appear reversed if one is in
The Southern Hemisphere, south of The Equator.

With the New Moon taken to fall on Day 0 (Day Zero), it follows that the first quarter will appear highest in the sky,
above the observer’s position, on Day 7 about 6 p.m.; the Full Moon on Day 15, about midnight and the last quarter on
Day 22, about 6 a.m.. If the astronomical time of the Full Moon is after 2 a.m., then the actual Full Moon falls to the
following night.

Some time elapses between the time of the moon’s passage across the sky and the actual time of the tide that it actually
occasions. On average, the tide occasioned will be about 1½ days after the time of the moon’s transit and, just to
complicate matters further, in some parts of The World may be up to seven days later or even occur before the moon’s
passage across the sky.

The Clyde is an ideal place to watch the correspondences between the moon’s transits and high water times, new
moons, full moons and their respective high waters all fall neatly to around 12 o’clock, noon and midnight. Other
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phases and high waters following as suggested in these principles here.

Spring Tides, when tide heights are highest and tide streams strongest, occur about two or three days after both new
and full moons. During the 1st and 3rd quarters of the moon, the interval between successive high waters is less than
the usual average interval of 12 hours 25 minutes. This acceleration of tide times is known as priming.

Conversely, Neap Tides, when tides heights are lowest and tide streams weakest, occur in the 2nd and 4th quarters of
the moon phases. This time the intervals between successive high waters are slightly longer than average and this is
caused by lagging, due to the sun’s effect, rather than an effect of the moon.

Sea Level is measured from The Ordnance Survey Tidal Observatory at Newlyn, just south of Penzance.

Tides radiate around nodal points, where there is neither any rise, nor any fall in the height of the water and, while
there are three tidal nodes in the North Sea - off the southern coast of Norway, off the Low Countries and at the
southern end of The North Sea, midway between the south-east of England and The Continent, we have our very
own tidal node at The Otter Rock, just south-west of Islay, near Port Ellen.

Replaced by a reflective radar buoy in 1960, the unmanned Otter Rock Lightship maintained its station on the tide
node from 1907 until yet again breaking its moorings on January 9, 1958 and eventually running ashore, its light still
flashing continuously, just beside The Inn at Muasdale, on the west coast of Kintyre. The Coastguard, R.A.F. and
Civil Aviation Authorities were quick to demand immediate action and the light switched off as it was now angled
skywards.

The light tower itself was removed before the end of February and the hull of the lightship dismantled in the early
winter of 1958 by a Dunoon scrap-merchant, a man called Johnstone or Johnson, who found the wreck very
conveniently adjacent to the local hostelry, where he set up a tent encampment right next door.!

Thus to the general pattern of tides radiating from the tide node of The Otter Rock, flowing in through The North
Channel, into The Irish Sea and the Clyde and flowing up the west of Kintyre.

The pattern is easiest demonstrated by following the times of High Waters on the day of the first crescent of the New
Moon and the day of the Full Moon as listed here - the times may be read as a.m. or p.m..

Portrush 6.08, Ballycastle 6.25, Red Bay 10.31, Mull of Kintyre and Belfast at 10.35, Liverpool 11.17, Dover 11.24,
Dublin 11.32, Stranraer 11.43, then Campbeltown 11.45, Burnt Island in The Kyles of Bute 11.50, Rothesay 11.57,
Ardrishaig and Inveraray 12 o’clock, Port Glasgow 12.09, Greenock 12.17 and Glasgow 12.49.

London Bridge 1.58, Gigha Sound and Sound of Jura 2.22, West Loch Tarbert, Kintyre 2.30, then Crinan 4.49 and
Port Ellen 5.00. And, for the curious, High Water at Rockall, way out in The Atlantic, occurs about 3.30 !

The difference in the time of high waters at any two locations founds the time constant e.g. high water at
Campbeltown is 21 minutes later than at Dover and using a Dover Tide Table one simply adds 21 minutes to Dover
times to find the corresponding high water times at Campbeltown.

A most useful - and very cheap - reference is Old Moore’s Almanack. It gives High Water times for London Bridge
and, for general purposes, one need only subtract 2 hours for high water in the Clyde or add 20 minutes to find high water
times off Gigha.

At Dover High Water, the tidal streams from Mull and Colonsay set into The Firth of Lorne; on the west side Islay,
they are N’ly; between Islay and The Mull of Kintyre, they set through the Sound of Jura; in Kilbrannan Sound and
The Firth of Clyde, N’ly; south of the Mull of Kintyre and Islay, W’ly. On the northern Irish coast, the stream is
W’ly with an outset from Lough Foyle and an onshore set in the area north of Malin Head.

An hour after Dover High Water, the tidal streams in The Clyde and Kilbrannan Sound turn S’ly and at The Mull of
Kintyre they turn W’ly. The stream is too W’ly on the north Irish coast.

2 hours after Dover High Water the set from The Mull of Kintyre to Canna and Kylerhea becomes N’ly and inside The
Mulll of Kintyre they become S’ly. The stream is too W’ly on the north Irish coast.

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3 hours after Dover High Water, from Loch Bracadale to The Mull of Kintyre, the stream runs N’ly into all the bights
and bays except Tobermory, from which it sets out. East of The Mull of Kintyre, the stream sets S’ly. The stream on the
north Irish coast is E’ly from Tory Island to Sheephaven and W’ly from Lough Swilly to the eastward.

4 hours after Dover High Water, from Benbecula to The Mull of Kintyre, the stream continues to set N’ly, except again
at Tobermory, where it continues to set out. East of The Mull of Kintyre, the stream continues to set S’ly. On the
north Irish coast, from Sheephaven to the west, the stream is E’ly and from Lough Swilly to the eastward is W’ly.

5 hours after Dover High Water, the tide stream sets N’ly from The Shiant Isles to Kintyre but is now S’ly in The
Clyde, Bute Sound and The Firth of Lorne. On the north coast of Ireland, westward of Malin Head, the stream is
E’ly; east of Malin Head it is W’ly.

6 hours after Dover High Water, the stream from Cape Wrath to Coll and Tiree is N’ly but south of Coll and Tiree is
S’ly and at The Mull of Kintyre it now turns E’ly as too is the stream on the north Irish coast.

It is now about Dover Low Water.

5 hours before Dover High Water, there is an area of slack water off Coll and Tiree from which streams set both north
and south with the south bound stream setting through The North Channel but, inside Kintyre the stream is N’ly. On
the north Irish coast, the stream is E’ly and through The North Channel.

4 hours before Dover High Water, the streams continue southbound through The North Channel and N’ly inside
Kintyre. The stream continues to set E’ly on the north Irish coast.

3 hours before Dover High Water, the streams continue southbound through The North Channel and N’ly inside
Kintyre. On the north Irish coast, streams from Sheephaven set W’ly to Tory Island and E’ly through The North
Channel.

2 hours before Dover High Water, the stream is N’ly from The Shiant Isles and S’ly from Skye through The North
Channel and N’ly inside Kintyre. On the north Irish coast, streams run eastward and westward from Malin Head.

1 hour before Dover High Water, the stream around Colonsay turns into The Firth of Lorne; around Islay, it turns
into the Sound of Jura and around The Mull of Kintyre, it turns into Kilbrannan Sound and The Clyde. On the north
Irish coast, the streams continue to set both E’ly and W’ly from Malin Head, except offshore where the W’ly stream starts
north of Tory Island.