Well Guys, I Hate To Be "Negative" But...

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Looks like we're heading for a negative low tide...

 

[Jim Pa]

Mike,Can you explain why the negative tide is bad,and what it means.Some of us land lubbers do not know the beach terms.Just by looking at the picture of the graph I would think that it would take everything out to deeper water.Is that correct????
Thanks in advance

 

[Joe G]

They are very, very GOOD! With the tides abnormally low, you get a chance to hunt out much further, out to where all the people were swimming in deep water and losing all their goodies

 

[GraveDiggerMax-VaBch-Va]

this would be a great time for u to get your ankels wet

 

[scoutingbear]

Joe is right. For us beach lovers, we would rather see a low tide than a good looking lady in a bikini. Right guys

East coast does not seem to get them the same as we do on the West. Today's low tide was -1.7. I think many on the East dream of tides like that.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Actaully Jim, I was being "tongue-in-cheek" on that one. A negative low tide is a GOOD thing. If you look at what the chart is showing us, the "negative" part is that which is represented in red. And in this case we can see that the tide is actually "negative" on the low and "positive" on the high. Which simply means that it's coming in higher and going out further. Which is good news, because it will usually result in items being deposited higher in the wet sand and allowing the low-tide hunter to get further out than normal without going into the water more than usual. In the chart, the tide is negative by about a 1/2 foot, which means sea level is a 1/2 foot less. But that can mean the water actually recedes quite a bit further. So if the water's edge, for example, is usually at a certain place at lowest low tide, it may be several feet further out on a 1/2 foot negative low. Now if you have a water machine a regularly get IN the water, then this won't mean too much. But for folks who do mostly wet sand and a little shallow water, it means you get to hunt a little further out than you normally do. So there would likely be more targets to be had, since they tend to settle to the lowest spot. At a negative low tide it may be easier to get into the "shell crush" line which is normally still under water or further out during a normal low tide.

 

[Sand Shagger (NMB)]

n/t

 

[Sand Shagger (NMB)]

We get those, but only once a year. -1.6 back in March or April.

 

[Sanddigger]

n/t

 

[Sanddigger]

n/t

 

[MaineDigger]

Some nasty T-storms up here cleared the beach tonight at about 7:00. That plus a minus tide could make for a good day, but we'll see. Packing up my gear, starting the morning run @ 2:30. Might even get a few washouts from tidal flooding..... Niiiiiiice.

 

[Walter L.I.]

n/t

 

[Jim Pa]

Thanks Mike ,I'm sure your fast and good reply will help a lot more people than just me


jim pa