TideView

[ChillyWaters]

Anybody used the TideView software and have any comments on the effectiveness of it to predict currents.

I'm not looking for something to all-out rely on, but somethnig to help judge my dives when I try new locations.

- ChillyWaters

 

[naclydogg]

I've checked it out at a few places and it seems to work not too bad for big areas. For example. I think that it shows the big back eddy at ten mile point on a flood tide. I can't remember if the program is based on a computer model, or real observations.

 

[MarkH]

Anybody used the TideView software and have any comments on the effectiveness of it to predict currents.

I'm not looking for something to all-out rely on, but somethnig to help judge my dives when I try new locations.

- ChillyWaters

Personally I don't trust anything other than the Canadian Hydrographic Service Tables anymore. I have the "Current Atlas" and have used a few online "graph-type" current predictors and they all seem to be considerably different than the official tables. Sometimes slack for Race Passage is as much as a few hours different. You can always tell the divers that use these online programs at Ten Mile Point. They are the ones showing up an hour or so after the official slack and then declare Ten Mile is a dive with "extreme and tricky" currents. It would be interesting to pick a few dates and compare the official tables with the slacks on Tideview. It might be similar, but that would suprise me.

 

[naclydogg]

I would think that all the programs would use the info from the official tide and current tables. The tide View program that I am thinking about is the one with the arrows that show current direction and velocity. The program that I use for tides and currents always seems to be right on the money

 

[ChillyWaters]

Personally I don't trust anything other than the Canadian Hydrographic Service Tables anymore. I have the "Current Atlas" and have used a few online "graph-type" current predictors and they all seem to be considerably different than the official tables. Sometimes slack for Race Passage is as much as a few hours different. You can always tell the divers that use these online programs at Ten Mile Point. They are the ones showing up an hour or so after the official slack and then declare Ten Mile is a dive with "extreme and tricky" currents. It would be interesting to pick a few dates and compare the official tables with the slacks on Tideview. It might be similar, but that would suprise me.

I often use the online xTide current tables:
http://www.dairiki.org/tides/monthly.php/vic

I've never once been let down in terms of 10 mile -- the only place I know how to tell officially.

That said, the Hydrographic Service Tables are shown in PDT while the one online is PST. If someone didn't read the fine print, they could find themselves off by an hour!

I did two sample dates comparing the xTide program with TideView for 10mile and they matched up fairly well.

- ChillyWaters

 

[ChillyWaters]

I would think that all the programs would use the info from the official tide and current tables. The tide View program that I am thinking about is the one with the arrows that show current direction and velocity.

Yup, the one find on www.dive.bc.ca...

The program that I use for tides and currents always seems to be right on the money

And what program is that?

- ChillyWaters

 

[naclydogg]

Cap'n nav program

 

[ChillyWaters]

Cap'n nav program

At $430US it's a bit pricey for me.

I'll give it a go for 30 days, then we'll see how easy to convert for ongoing use.

$430 is fine for boaters, but not for rec scuba divers. I think I'll get a drysuit first!

http://www.thecapn.com/download.htm

- ChillyWaters

 

[MarkH]

I often use the online xTide current tables:
http://www.dairiki.org/tides/monthly.php/vic


- ChillyWaters

I checked some numbers from that program with the numbers from the Canadian Hydrographic Service and they are pretty close. There is mostly just a 10-20 minute difference, which I don't think is a huge deal.

 

[MarkH]

That said, the Hydrographic Service Tables are shown in PDT while the one online is PST. If someone didn't read the fine print, they could find themselves off by an hour!


- ChillyWaters

And, no, I didn't fall for that. My CHS tables are corrected for daylight savings time.