Bramwell Brown Tide Clock, Instruction Manual

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Low Water returns to that average 6 hours and 12½ minutes,
as it will do within every lunar month, the Tide Clock will correct
itself again. As all semi-diurnal tide clocks work in the same
way, these monthly variations are to be expected of any
t ide
c lock.
Please note, your clock will also not account for Spring and
Neap tides when High and Low Water are more extreme.
Throughout the month your Tide Clock should remain a useful,
practical guide to the condition of your local tide. If, however,
you are having difficulties with getting it to synchronise with local
tide timings it is
not
useful to keep changing the settings. Try
setting the clock to High Tide at a full or new moon to ensure
maximum accuracy.
Finally, please remember that not every coastal location has a
standard semi-diurnal tide. In such locations, other factors such
as the shape of the coastline are coming into play and no semi-
diurnal Tide Clock will follow that
exact same unusual pattern of
tidal flow in and out.
One example on the British coast is the Solent area where the
effect of the water moving around the Isle of Wight causes
different tide patterns on the nearby coast. There are still two
High Waters each day, spread approximately 12 hours and 25
minutes apart (so it is still semi-diurnal, as everywhere else on
the British coast), however the ebb and flow of the tide either
side of High Water may be a more uneven pattern.
Tedious But Important Formalities
At every childhood trip to the beach, like many of us, we were
told that we mustn’t swim too soon after munching our sandy
sandwiches. Whether there was any good reason behind this
alleged extreme danger or whether it was simple parental swim-
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