Canadian current tables on line: where?

[francois.lavoie]

I found on the net canadian tides table. Canadian current tables on line: where are they?


Here is the site where they would be. No current tables.
https://charts.gc.ca/publications/tables-eng.html


Thanks for sharing the info.

[LittleWing77]

Here's the Montreal water levels and tides from our Fisheries and Oceans Ministry:

Tides, Currents and Water Levels
https://www.waterlevels.gc.ca/eng/find/zone/7

Bonne navigation!
LittleWing77

[NaClyDog]

Not sure where you are looking but I see Complete publication, Tide tables and Current tables on that link for the following locations;


Vol. 1 Atlantic Coast and Bay of Fundy
Vol. 2 Gulf of St. Lawrence
Vol. 3 St. Lawrence River and Saguenay Fiord
Vol. 4 Arctic and Hudson Bay
Vol. 5 Juan de Fuca Strait and Strait of Georgia
Vol. 6 Discovery Passage and West Coast of Vancouver Island
Vol. 7 Queen Charlotte Sound to Dixon Entrance


The data is available for 2019, 2020 and 2021.

[francois.lavoie]

Sorry for the way I formulated my question. The tide tables are available. I wrote no current tables. Maybe I should have wrote:


No speed current tables (water flow speed). Do you know where they are?


Thanks.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by francois.lavoie

Sorry for the way I formulated my question. The tide tables are available. I wrote no current tables. Maybe I should have written:

No speed current tables (water flow speed). Do you know where they are?

Thanks.

Downstream current for each area of the St. Lawrence Seaway is marked directly on the charts and is provided as a range. For example, just after the last Montreal lock is written "2-5 knots".

The downstream current's speed varies because the International Joint Commission (IJC) https://ijc.org/en is constantly monitoring and adjusting water outflow from the Great Lakes.

It's quite a balancing act they do in preventing flooding in Montreal + excessive shore erosion - balanced by not impeding commercial shipping traffic with too much downstream velocity.

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

[Nicholson58]

We had Navionics on an IPAD. The current and tide was crazy simple to see and use. Slide bar on a selected data point was interactive so you could see, predict the current speed, direction and depth instantly and int the future. Timing an arrival or selecting an anchor location was simple and never failed to be correct. We bought paper charts but never used them.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

We had Navionics on an IPAD. The current and tide was crazy simple to see and use. Slide bar on a selected data point was interactive, so you could see/predict the current speed, direction and depth instantly and into the future. Timing an arrival or selecting an anchor location was simple and never failed to be correct. We bought paper charts but never used them.

Very cool, Nicholson!

We had Navionics as well, but I didn't know that it incorporated the current data. Thought it was just tide. (Although not much tide up at Montreal! It's all downstream current there. )

We used both charts and Navionics (this was in July) and found that the charts were worth their weight in gold going through the Richeleau Rapids, and at many other crucial nav points.

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

[Nicholson58]

Wing, just touch on a current or tide marker on the chart. You will get an interactive screen with data for that point.

[LittleWing77]

Thanks, Nicholson! (As the Navionics was on the Owner's phone, I didn't interact with it much.)

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

[deblen]

Originally Posted by francois.lavoie

Sorry for the way I formulated my question. The tide tables are available. I wrote no current tables. Maybe I should have wrote:


No speed current tables (water flow speed). Do you know where they are?


Thanks.

Speed of tidal current tables are only provided for certain locations in Atlantic Canada per the following list:
https://www.waterlevels.gc.ca/eng/data/currents/2021


Better layout :https://www.waterlevels.gc.ca/Conten...013_public.pdf



Cheers/Len

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Very cool, Nicholson!

We had Navionics as well, but I didn't know that it incorporated the current data. Thought it was just tide. (Although not much tide up at Montreal! It's all downstream current there. )

We used both charts and Navionics (this was in July) and found that the charts were worth their weight in gold going through the Richeleau Rapids, and at many other crucial nav points.

Fair winds,
LittleWing77

Here in British Columbia, Navionics currents info is often wrong (or even missing) compared to official CHS currents.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by sv_pelagia

Here in British Columbia, Navionics currents info is often wrong (or even missing) compared to official CHS currents.

I am not surprised. On our transit Lake Michigan to the east coast by the St Lawrence we often found the Canadian navigation aids in error. We were told that all Canadian navigation data was Canadian Hydrographic. No other sources existed, I believe by statute. We bought big paper bedsheet charts and had Navionics on the Simrad and IPAD. By the miracle of single source, they all agreed exactly. They were pretty good in commercial navigation lanes and major harbors. There were huge errors in the places private vessels travel. Depth read on our boat varied often by 2:1, sometimes much more. Currents and tides were mostly good. We almost lost the boat hard aground at an inlet along the north coast of PEI. Motored in, got way stuck, tide not according to the data, used strong wind lots of sail and maximum engine to drag ourselves free. Lesson was never believe CH data.

[TrentePieds]

Francois:

I would think that what you are looking for is this sort of thing:

https://www.tides.gc.ca/eng/data/currents/2021

DFO publishes these tables for waters that have significant TIDAL currents that are of PRACTICAL importance for seafarers. I believe it is not considered necessary to publish tables for waters that are NOT tidal.

Since you are in Montreal, you will be far above the point where the St.Lawrence is tidal - therefore no speed of current tables. Just so with the Fraser River. No speed of current tables at, say, Mission B.C., but there are tables for water LEVEL.

If I were in Montreal and I really wanted to know how fast the river flows, I'd just go out on the river, lie dead in the water, and time myself between two obvious ranges as I was borne down stream. Et voilà! The standard SDT calculation would give me the current's speed. It would even be more accurate that the DFO's predictions :-)!

TrentePieds

[sv_pelagia]

Originally Posted by Nicholson58

I am not surprised. On our transit Lake Michigan to the east coast by the St Lawrence we often found the Canadian navigation aids in error. We were told that all Canadian navigation data was Canadian Hydrographic. No other sources existed, I believe by statute. We bought big paper bedsheet charts and had Navionics on the Simrad and IPAD. By the miracle of single source, they all agreed exactly. They were pretty good in commercial navigation lanes and major harbors. There were huge errors in the places private vessels travel. Depth read on our boat varied often by 2:1, sometimes much more. Currents and tides were mostly good. We almost lost the boat hard aground at an inlet along the north coast of PEI. Motored in, got way stuck, tide not according to the data, used strong wind lots of sail and maximum engine to drag ourselves free. Lesson was never believe CH data.

Maybe I should clarify: Navionics was incorrect, CHS was far better. (Of course, here in BC currents DO change depending on weather, rivers runoff, etc, so CHS slack timings also off. Tide levels less of a problem.)

For British Columbia, from experience, I put more trust into (up-to-date) CHS products and DON'T trust Navionics.

[Mike OReilly]

There is a really wonderful tidal currents tool for the St. Lawrence and the whole Gulf:

https://slgo.ca/en/ocean-forecasts-application.

It requires an active Internet connection, but is pretty low data demand. We used it extensively while comind down the River and crossing the Gulf.