WHERE'S THE RAMP?

WHERE’S THE RAMP

… that’s some high tide …

May people, especially those living in Florida, love to boat. Whether powered by wind (sailboat) or engine, there seems to be something especially enjoyable about being on the water. I include myself in that category.

Like other boaters, we regulate our water time according to the weather, especially the tides.

A strong wind is fine for sailboats, providing that is that it isn’t too strong. You want to be able to control your sails. No wind? Well, then! At least all sailboats have some small engine to take them where they want to go.

While a fairly strong wind is great for sailboats, it doesn’t help those who have smaller motorboats. The smaller the boat, the more likely it’ll get tossed around like an inflatable beach ball. A less strong wind is much better. And, yes, it does depend on the strength of the wind. If your boat is even close to yacht size, you’ll be fine in a strong wind. Hopefully, you won’t run into water that’s too choppy.

And of course, the water level is another topic.

Low tides can be a nightmare for any boater. If you have a sailboat, the last thing you need to experience is your keel smacking against a rock that you couldn’t see. Hey, it’s IN the water but the water is just low enough for your boat to hit bottom. Yikes! A damaged keel is an expensive repair.

Even boating in our smaller fishing boat can see problems with low tides. Sand bars! No, sand bars aren’t little shacks where you’d pull up and order a cold drink. The sand bars are raised sandy areas that you won’t see while the tide is high, but they can still be high enough for your boat to get caught on. Then you find yourself sitting on the bar while waiting for the tide to come in and allow your boat to rise with it so you can float off the bar. (Been there too many times.)

If the tide is low enough, you might experience more problems than just getting stuck on a sand bar or a broken keel.

Depending on where you live, your waterfront property might have rip rap or a seawall. I’ve seen seawalls fall because of not enough canal water to keep them upright. Yes, they are placed deep in the canal sand but without water to keep the sand tight enough to hold the seawall, the sand loosens and the seawall calls. Most areas place caps atop the seals to help them together but even then, they can crack and break apart. I’ve seen that happen. Ironically, during the last hurricane, the rain pounded so ferociously, and the wind blew so viciously, the caps on several seawalls broke apart and the seawalls fell. Our city is still repairing them.

Of course, then, you have the other scenario: extremely high tides. We have a ten-foot elevation in our area and yet, we’ve seen tidewater rise and flow three-feel onto our backyard. Our downtown area has a tendency to flood. I’m talking about a small six-inch puddle on the streets. I have pictures of the flooding reaching almost knee height and that’s almost seventeen inches from ground to just below my knees.

Many of our city streets will close because of the flooding and it’s all because of extremely high tides.

The boat ramps in our local parks end up completely underwater rendering them dangerous to use. Two of our parks have water rise above their seawalls and where one park that has a beach area, the high tide shifts the sand and pushes it about six-inches high in the parking lot.

Boating? Oh heck, the high tide pushes your boat so high, half the time, you can’t even reach the hull to swing your feet over it to board the boat.

There are many boaters who use the public mooring sites in the harbor. I wish I had five cents for every boat that has broken loose of its mooring line because of the high tides and end up floating into the mangroves only to be rammed by oncoming tides. (There is still one sitting in the sandy area of a group of mangroves just waiting for its owner to salvage it or at least call a wrecking crew and have it removed.)

Living in Florida and watching the different weather is fascinating, though. We’ve seen dark clouds filled with water heading toward our house only to break in half, with each half going around our area and then find each other and get back together a few miles further south.

We’ve been able to sit and watch the rain hit the ground, inch by inch as it approaches where we are. Rain has poured heavily across the street while we sit in sunshine, completely dry.

I’ve seen one side of the harbor demonstrate rough water with violent waves and the other side, with water so calm it almost looks like a mirror.

As of right now, it’s calm, just a slight breeze, and sunny but I see a few rainclouds building up. Maybe we’ll get a drop or two tonight.

But knowing Florida, maybe not.