What's the big deal, jaxie? You just have to look in the Coast Pilot, I gave the
link in my first post:

"The maximum recorded current is 4.3 knots, southerly, through the lock and tide gates
at peak flow when the gates are open. At the railroad bridge, the current has an
average speed of 1.5 knots, but it has been reported that greater speeds may be
experienced. (See Tidal Current Tables for predictions.) At times of high southerly
current i.e., when the gates are open, there exists a dangerous eddy system extending
from the south end of the lock southerly for approximately 200 yards. Tidal currents
throughout the entire canal can be dangerous; caution is advised."

Large height differences are not that uncommon. The Cape Cod Canal has 9 foot tides
on the Cape Cod Bay end, and 4 foot on Buzzard's Bay, and they're out of sync. There
is frequently a 6 foot difference. Closer to your care facility, Hell Gate can have
three feet of difference across a rather short distance.

This is the way the ocean works, jaxie. If you understood the tides, they wouldn't be
so scary.


"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
As for the tidal difference, Peconic Bay at the canal and Shinnecock Inlet
(about
three miles away) are almost exactly out of phase. An hour ago, Peconic was
high,
about 2.5 feet, and the Inlet was low, at 0.5 feet.

THREE FRICKIN' MILES with a height difference of TWO FRICKIN
FEET?????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????
???????????????????

jeffies, have you any idea just what the current is when you have a two foot
difference in height over two frickin' miles?

obvously not.