Stu,
I don't think that I made myself clear and I'm sorry for that.
At least twice while I'm in the
Bahamas this January (shot days) I will need to time my passage over a shallow area (or I run aground) and at the same time hopefully do it while still allowing me to complete the entire passage in daylight.
In truth, the daylight is not a absolute necessity in both of these passages but when coming into an unfamiliar anchorage having light is always wise if possible.
Here's one example. I have a passage that is 45 nm. Almost right in the center the
depth is too shallow for my
boat, but with 2 feet of tide I should be able to make it. Actually the
depth is shallow for about 10 nm and this section is in the center of the 45 nm.
The closest tide station is
Nassau or at least the one that people recommend using for the Comer Channel is
Nassau. But the couple of online posts conflict when the high tide at Comer Channel is relative to Nassau.
This is important because if the high tides at Comer Channel were the same as Nassau and those are say 0500 and 1700, I would have to depart my anchorage at about 0300 to go through the channel during the high tide. The 1700 high tide is no good because I would be arriving in a shallow anchorage in the middle of the night.
But what if the high tide at the channel is 2 hours after Nassau. Then the high tide is at 0700 and I could leave at dawn from my anchorage.
So knowing the tide at Comer Channel (a specific point) can help me plan. Or knowing the correct offset from Nassau would be as good.
I've read very differing accounts of the offset. I posted a thread asking about the offset at Comer Channel on this forum and got no replies. Its not a popular passage.
Obviously I can arrive in
Thompson Bay and hopefully someone in town will know the offset. I've even emailed one business in
Thompson Bay asking if they could help me, but have not gotten a reply (they might be closed because it is the very low season).
The other location where I have a similar problem can be
solved by passing through the shallow area and
anchoring before getting out into the unprotected
Atlantic Ocean. That would require another day and I'm trying to plan a trip so that while my wife is with me we can get to a couple places before she has to fly home. Otherwise an extra day here or there would not matter. I do have a few bad
weather days built in, but I'd hate to use one up just because of the tide.