On Halloween night we had a good idea of exactly when we should be able to cross Mud Bay to return home after celebrating in town. Days before, I’d used tide plotting software to pinpoint our crossing times, based on the 13 foot tide mark, the highest water we can comfortably cross the creek in the bay in regular rubber boots. As the night unfolded, we realized we’d be finished early. We looked at the tide book, and saw that the difference between the nearest high tide and the next low would be 12 feet—perfect for calculating the tide in our heads, using “the rule of the twelfths.” We calculated that we could cross a half hour early, so when we finished trick-or-treating, we drove to the bay.
When we hiked down to the beach, we knew immediately that something was not right. We hit water way too soon. Soon, we waded to our knees in our hip boots, which meant that when we stepped down into the creek, we’d be up to our waists, or deeper. Continue reading