Docsflies - Articles

A few months ago, while preparing for my annual Martha's Vineyard trip, I contemplated purchasing a tide watch. I knew these watches existed, but until I studied them, my knowledge was limited to a cursory glimpse from a catalog. Like many fishermen, I'd print tide tables from the Internet or grabbed a table from a local shop, usually opting to fish two hours prior to high tide to an hour or so after high tide. It wasn't until I gave it more thought with safety in mind that I warmed-up to the idea of spending more money for another watch.

In the past, tables I'd printed or picked-up would inevitably become lost, either in the shuffle of the place I was staying or tucked away, hidden in my vehicle. Either way, far from me when I needed it. After all, you just need a general idea of when high tide is right? You can just watch the tide come-in? As they say, this is all fine and dandy, but try it when it's pitch black, or when you've been fishing around the clock for several days and the tides begin to swim together. And, practicality isn't digging a tide table from underneath your chest pack and from the inside pocket of your Gore-tex jacket at 2:00 am. Knowing when high tide is, the tide's height and its direction can improve your fishing odds, not to mention, save your life.

Imagine this, you own a tide watch with a graphical display of the tide's height. You fish a particular stretch of beach during the day and come to realize that a certain spot produces time and time again but becomes treacherous at some point. You check your watch and benchmark the tide's height and return the following evening to fish the same spot safely. There's no question of whether you are putting yourself at risk. There's no question of, "is it going to get worse?" You know the outcome and wisely put yourself out of harms way.

Tide watches can also aid you in driving to your favorite spots. If you drive the beach looking for holes, sloughs and troughs, then you know certain spots are only accessible at low tide. The convenience of a wrist tide table helps immensely in getting you and your vehicle on and off the sand safely.

	Nixon	Casio	Rip Curl	Tide Shark
Web Site	nixonnow.com	casio.com	ripcurl.com	freestyleusa.com
Web Site Navigability	Good	Poor	Good	Good
Model	The Lodown	G-Shock Tide Surf GL 150	ATS Digital Tidewatch	Shark Tide
Online Manual	Yes	No	No	Yes
Water Resistant	100 meters	200 meters	200 meters	100 meters
Pre-programmed Tide Charts	145 Beaches World wide	10 Locations	0	128 Beaches World wide
No. of Personal Tides able to set	1	Unknown	2	1
Tell Tide Direction	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tell Tide Height	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tide Chart Predicted out to	10 years	2039	99 years	15 years
Calendar	Yes	Yes	Yes, 100 year calendar	Yes
Moon Phase	No	Yes	Yes, 100 year moon phase	No
Sunrise/sunset	No	Yes	No	No
Time	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
24 Hour Time	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dual Time	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes
Alarm	Yes	Yes, 3 alarms	Yes	Yes, 4 alarms
Countdown Time	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Chronograph	Yes	Unknown	Yes	Yes
Light	Yes	Yes, Electro luminescent	Yes, Day Glow Electro luminescent	Yes, Electro luminescent
Band	Polyurethane	Polyurethane	Polyurethane, Stainless steel or cloth	Polyurethane
Color	Black, Blue, Green, Grey	Black, Blue	Stainless Steel, Black, Blue	Black, Silver
Cost	~ $120	~ $90	$90 for cloth or polyurethane $160 for SS	~ $100

Personal Choice:

Rip Curl's Stainless Steel ATS Digital Oceantides watch was my choice. I chose this watch for the following reasons:

1. The stainless steel provides a classic look that fits in well with the workplace environment.

2. Two programmable tides, the most programmable of any of the watches.

3. Ease of reading. The watch provides a large easy to read and easy to understand tide chart.

Check Rip Curl's Oceantide watch out on Amazon

This purchase gets my highest recommendation. The watch has a clean look, is easy to use and performs as expected. This watch is now part of my elite list of products I've discovered through the course of my life that leave me feeling as if I should buy a second as a backup. It's a feeling that this product is perfect and could never be improved upon, even with an updated model.

Finally, how cool is it to have a daily tide chart of Dogfish Bar and The Gut on your wrist?

Free Downloads

Galleries

Archives

Books

Site