Dive planning: Edmonds UWP current limits?

[Matt S.]

So how much current is too much at Edmonds Underwater Park? Every time I look it seems like there is at least 1 kt worth, or at best +1 kt moving into -1 kt over an hour or two.

For example, this Sunday, current moves from +1 to -1 from about 1430 hrs to 1630 hrs. (Well, that's Admiralty Inlet, I don't have the EUWP correction factor with me.) Tide is about +9 ft at 1500 hrs. That doesn't sound like a bad combination to me... Am I off base?

Thanks for the help. I need to figure this out and make a web page that calculates & displays Good Dive Times for our local sites.

 

[gomi_otaku]

EUP is pretty sheltered by the Ferry dock. If you encounter current, it's pretty manageable. I'd say tide height is a limiting factor, if it's not more than 4-5 feet then you'll be walking halfway to the outer border. You don't want to have to dig a hole to hit 30 feet.
check out the UWS Edmonds website, they do fun dives there all the time.
gomi_

 

[TSandM]

Matt, pick up a copy of Puget Sound Tidal Current Charts, published by Starpath School of Navigation (www.starpath.com).

There are multipliers and time corrections for currents at different sites -- You cannot just take the current speeds from Bush Point and apply them directly to a given site.

Over time, I've gotten lazy, and I don't always even get the book down any more. Small tidal exchanges pretty much equal small currents, and if the tide is high and not changing much, Edmonds will be lovely. Very low tides are horrid there, and big exchanges CAN produce significant current that isn't something you can't swim against, but is annoying, and raises the risk of ending up in the "forbidden zone" around the ferry.

 

[Matt S.]

I have been using the current corrections in Northwest Shore Dives. (Do you have to correct for tides the same way?)

What's a small tidal exchange? Less than 10 ft? Less than 5 ft?

 

[gcbryan]

I have been using the current corrections in Northwest Shore Dives. (Do you have to correct for tides the same way?)

What's a small tidal exchange? Less than 10 ft? Less than 5 ft?

The corrections you are speaking of are just timing corrections for slack. For accurate current figures you have to use a current station close to your dive site. For the day you are mentioning the max current around mid-day is .19 knots.


A small exchange would probably be 4 feet or less, large would be 12 ft or so and moderate would be in the middle.

 

[Matt S.]

Thanks

 

[thelawgoddess]

well, a little late, but ... i'm rather current averse and i don't think a "+1 kt moving into -1 kt over an hour or two" would deter me. low tides also haven't deterred me - it's still just as far to get out there; you're just walking instead of swimming.

 

[nwbrewer]

If you hit it right, a +1 to a -1 can be perfect, ride it out the first half, ride it back the second half, you're essentially diving the slack. A 1 knot current at EUP is fairly managable. I've done it on days it was a around 2knots, and that wasn't a lot of fun, but it can be done.

Jake

 

[Pez7378]

Because Im not as smart as the rest of you, my calculation goes something like this...........

Dive at EUP = Plan on being tired

Ive seen some rippin' surface currents that weren't so bad once submerged, but it was necessary to hang out at the bouys to catch our breath before descending.

Good luck in your quest for the answer. And once you figure it out, maybe you could explain it to me.