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10 Oct 2011

Tide heights in the Thames area

Published tide height predictions for Thames (Rocky Point) have changed significantly. We have provided clarified tide book pages and a conversion chart, plus a detailed explanation below.

There has been a lot of press and public frustration lately with regard the updated Thames tide heights, as shown in OceanFun Publishing's latest Coromandel - Bay Of Plenty - Raglan tide pocketbook.

Firstly, we need to assure you the Thames figures in our book are indeed accurate and agree with official sources.

As we source all of our data from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ), we endeavour to keep our products current with the latest available official information. LINZ routinely reviews the tide information for all places in New Zealand, and updates tide prediction information as it obtains new and more reliable raw datasets from tide gauges.

Most of the time, these updates result in tide time and height changes which are not noticeable by the general public.

The Thames (Rocky Point) prediction figures were previously based on data collected in 1978, so an update was timely, and this was done earlier in 2011. It so happens that the new information resulted in significant changes to the predicted tide heights, and this has caused inconvenience to the public.

In our normal course of work, we primarily focus on the integrity and accuracy of our figures, and this focus led us to overlook the significance of the Thames height changes to boaties and other tide table users. For this we sincerely apologise to everyone for not providing more warning in our book, as well as to the general public.

It is important to note that the new figures do not mean the tidal water levels are changing. This has nothing to do with global warming or tsunamis. It simply means a new and more accurate set of numbers is being used to describe the tide heights.

It is indeed confusing, and it may take people some time to get used the new figures.

To this end, we have made available a revised version of the tables, showing both the old and new heights. If you wish to continue to have a reference to the old heights, we suggest printing these in the highest quality you can, and sticking them into your books. We have also provided a height conversion chart which may be used instead.

We apologise for the inconvenience, and will be more aware of source information changes in the future. Please feel free to email us at [email protected] for more information.


Note that OceanFun's online graph is unaffected at this time, and continues to show the old figures. However it will in time also switch to the new heights and times.

Our other tide site, tidespy.com, has already changed to use the new calculations, and will continue to show the updated figures.

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