Dove a harbor in Norfolk last week. Noticed something weird about the current patterns.

Roped up at the old pier near the container terminal. Water was moving different than my tide charts said. Anyone else notice the currents shifting faster near big ship traffic?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mason2d ago

Oh man that's actually super interesting lol. Were you seeing like a weird rip current kind of thing or more like the water was just pulling harder in one direction than usual? I've heard those big container ships can basically create their own mini currents when they're maneuvering, especially if one just passed through. Did you notice if the timing lined up with any specific ship movements?

price.alice2d ago

Have you tried just moving to a different spot along the shore when that happens? I had a similar thing happen to me once at a beach near a shipping channel, and what worked was just walking maybe 50 yards down the beach before going back in. The current was way less strong there and I could swim fine. It's like the ships passing through just mess up the whole water flow in a small area but if you move a bit it goes back to normal. Kind of a pain but beats fighting a weird current you didn't sign up for. Did you ever figure out if it was the ships or just a weird natural thing?