Part of becoming full time live-aboards is learning to be constantly aware of the moon phase and its influence on tidal pulls.  The recent Wolf Moon on the night between 1 and 2 January 2018 was a Supermoon. A supermoon exists when the full moon coincides with the moon’s closest approach to Earth in its orbit.  Supermoons exert a greater influence over tides, making high tides higher and low tides lower than normal.  Supermoons also make the moon appear a little brighter and closer than normal, although the difference is hard to spot with the naked eye and this one was shrouded in cloud cover so it was easy for us to overlook until the next morning at low tide!

We came on deck to see the lowest tide we have ever seen in our marina, including during Hurricane Irma.  Boats were laid over all around us and we were aground as well though just barely.  We were grateful that we had reversed our docking from a stern-in to a bow-in posture a few weeks ago so that the business end of our boat was in deeper water and it was mostly just the bow keel that was aground.

The sailboat next to our was heeled over so much that its mast was almost over our flying bridge but her owner wasn’t much concerned, declaring that, “These things are made to do this and you just sleep in the V-berth because it is hard to fall out of a V-berth!”  Gotta love the attitudes of folks who have lived aboard for 15+ years. Nothing fazes them!

One man who is on the Loop commented that, “This is the first time I’ve ever been hard aground while in a slip!”  I guess there is a first time for everything!

The next Full Moon  is on January 31st. It has no given name, which makes it a Blue Moon. However, this next Blue Moon may appear to be red from some perspectives.   It will also cause a total lunar eclipse, so it is known as a Blood Moon.  Click here to see an animation of a total lunar eclipse.  Chicago, LA and San Francisco will enjoy the best view of the next total eclipse in the USA.

We have scheduled our departure to coincide with a high tide falling and so should enjoy a swifter departure down the Anclote River on 1/6/18! Paying attention to tides also pays dividends in reduced fuel usage!  Happy New Year! J&J