When do you cast off?

[dougweibel]

Originally Posted by Clivevon

TIDES ????

Yes, tides. Sometimes you are in an anchorage you cannot leave at low tide. Sometimes you want to arrive into an anchorage you cannot enter at low tide. Sometimes an anchorage is comfortable for entry/exit in the dark at high tide, but at low tide you need to be able to see coral/rocks/obstructions.

This is certainly not a consideration in most cruising areas, but it is sometimes quite important.

[Clivevon]

More about tides: in most areas, on a 24 hour passage you will have 2 tides pushing you one way & 2 the other, so that cancels out OK, as long as the passage will be exactly 24 hours (hard to know if you're planning on sailing not motoring).
But often - not always, but often - there is going to be some sort of tidal issue on a 24 hour passage (called "tidal gates"). Could be about depths but could also be about the rate of the tide (speed of tidal flow) at one or more points on passage.
I would very preferably avoid trying to enter or leave Portsmouth Harbour entrance against a strong spring tide for example. Similarly its best to go up the River Seine estuary to Honfleur with the tide under you.
The state of tide may well dictate what time I wanted to pass any headlands en route, to avoid overfalls or to choose an inshore or offshore route (which will affect my passage distance so also my passage time.
In the English Channel, many ports have lock gates or drying channels so passing in or out is dictated by the state of the tide.
So to answer your question, when choosing what time to cast off to go anywhere, absolutely the very first thing I am going to look at is to see what the tides are doing that day...
Sounds like its different where you sail ??

[capt.rob]

Many boats like mine with a deep draft need to sail with the tides, That is not an option in this poll.

[dfelsent]

It’s a more interesting question if the passage is 18 hours. Then, for me, the answer is leave a 9:00 at night so as to arrive mid afternoon.
Another choice would be to leave earlier, say about 17:00 and arrive just after noon.
Weather will drive that decision for me.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by Clivevon

More about tides: in most areas, on a 24 hour passage you will have 2 tides pushing you one way & 2 the other, so that cancels out OK, as long as the passage will be exactly 24 hours (hard to know if you're planning on sailing not motoring).
But often - not always, but often - there is going to be some sort of tidal issue on a 24 hour passage (called "tidal gates"). Could be about depths but could also be about the rate of the tide (speed of tidal flow) at one or more points on passage.
I would very preferably avoid trying to enter or leave Portsmouth Harbour entrance against a strong spring tide for example. Similarly its best to go up the River Seine estuary to Honfleur with the tide under you.
The state of tide may well dictate what time I wanted to pass any headlands en route, to avoid overfalls or to choose an inshore or offshore route (which will affect my passage distance so also my passage time.
In the English Channel, many ports have lock gates or drying channels so passing in or out is dictated by the state of the tide.
So to answer your question, when choosing what time to cast off to go anywhere, absolutely the very first thing I am going to look at is to see what the tides are doing that day...
Sounds like its different where you sail ??

Actually, if I have to sail into Portsmouth New Hampshire, just up the coast from where I'm based in Boston, I want to be thinking first and foremost about the tides in the Piscataqua River. Same with the smaller York Harbor, just up the coast. That thing is small, but quite gnarly to approach in the dark in any flow, especially in an onshore wind. (ask me why I know.)

We have a couple of "tidal gates" around here... if you're going around Cape Cod in a keelboat, Pollock Rip is closed for a few hours a day, especially in an onshore wind.

And of course the Cape Cod Canal, if you don't want to go around; they won't let you in against the current, which reaches 5 knots.

There's also the consideration of Buzzards Bay, as you spill out of the Canal. Since you're going east to west, you're heading straight into a bay that opens to the stiff sea breeze from the southwest. Then you get like 10 miles of standing chop.

You go through the Canal east to west in the morning. Similarly, in a northeast wind, you go through the canal west to east in the AM.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by capt.rob

Many boats like mine with a deep draft need to sail with the tides, That is not an option in this poll.

There should've been an "I sail with the tide" option!

The boat I'm most likely to be sailing next season draws 7 feet.

I'm not likely to enter any port that's less than 10 in the channel at MLW, but that's just me.

Currents are more the issue for me than depth.

[psk125]

Some other time -- it depends upon the tide and the direction we're headed.

[fxykty]

Tidal gates were not mentioned in the original post and as I’m on my mobile so I have no poll showing.

But same answer as before - leave early enough so that the next day’s arrival is at a reasonable time. Tidal gates change this as it is the next tidal gate that determines when to leave. And if tide at the departure port is an issue then that overrides all other criteria - you can only leave at certain times.

I’m not sure what tiredness and all the rest have to do with this question. Start fully rested, have a plan for watch changes, encourage each person on board including yourself to rest when they need to. It’s not rocket science. And in the worst case it is not that difficult to stay up for 24 hours, as long as you start rested.

[JPA Cate]

It seems clear to me that some of the decisions are seasonally dependent, as to when and at what time the inland hot air rising starts to suck in the sea breeze. Also depends on what on earth the tide is doing at that time, because, obviously wind-against-the-tide conditions in strong weather can be uncomfortable. And with the tide against one at 2 or more knots, progress is VERY slow.

Our preference is for arriving when the tide is going towards where we want to arrive, and also that the sun is not in our eyes to blind us. This could mean arrival before dawn, or after dusk. Risks to take, depending on harbor and radar. After one has retired, one could also choose to wait 3 days, so conditions would improve, but very hard for weekend warriors, who must get home sometime Sunday night.

Ann

[arcticmonkey]

Hmm... what first started out as a simple question blossomed... when its convenient... to when you wish to arrive... I preferred to arrive mid morning
people are leaving (sailors are notorious late departers)

[lo2jones]

The question should be, what time do you want to arrive at the destination. Anything less than 36 hrs, it is pretty easy to guess when you might arrive, when you need to arrive…before your favorite lunch place closes, etc. Weather…

[Cynara]

We planned on us taking 24 hours to go 100 miles. Sometimes we did 80 and sometimes 125.

We almost never picked Anchorage more than 50 miles and planned on making it in 10 hours.

We would usually leave in the morning. It is very hard to sit around and just wait.

We avoided entering an Anchorage in the dark. If the sun was setting we would hang out offshore