Best Time to Depart

The Best Time to Depart panel sits on most route detail pages. It looks at the tidal current along your route and shows you which departure times give you the most help and the least fight. Pick a better time and a passage can take less effort and less time.

Setting It Up

At the top of the panel are three controls:

• Depart or arrive — choose whether the time you pick is when you leave or when you want to get there. Pick “arrive” if you have a fixed arrival, like a marina reservation or slack water at a passage.
• Time — the time you want to plan around. This is the center of everything the panel shows.
• Speed — your cruising speed in knots. Use the stepper to nudge it up or down. Your speed changes how long the trip takes, which changes the current you meet along the way.

Change any of these and the panel works out the currents again.

The Recommended Window

Below the controls is a recommended window card. It pins to the best departure the panel found. The card shows a two-hour window to leave in and a short summary, such as when you would arrive and how much of the trip has the current with you.

This card stays on the best option. It does not move when you click a different bar to look around. It updates only when you change the date or the speed.

Picking a Time From the Bars

The “Pick the best departure time” chart shows a full day of departure options, one bar per hour, centered on the time you entered.

• A bar that rises above the line is a departure where more of the trip has the current pushing you along.
• A bar that drops below the line is a departure where more of the trip fights the current.
• The best bars are tinted to stand out. The worst bars get a warning tint.
• Hover a bar to see its exact time, how much of the trip is with or against the current, and how long the trip would take.

Click a bar to select it. The map and the rest of the panel update to show that departure. Clicking a bar does not change the recommended window card above.

The Numbers for the Bar You Picked

Three cards below the chart show the details for the bar you selected, not the recommended one:

• With current — share of the trip where the current pushes you along
• Against current — share of the trip where the current pushes against you
• Net — the overall balance of the two

These move every time you click a different bar, so you can compare options quickly.

The Per-Segment Table

Below the cards is a table that breaks your chosen departure into pieces. Each row covers a stretch of the route and shows:

• The distance range, in nautical miles
• The time window you would be in that stretch
• Whether the current there is with you, against you, slack, or unknown
• Your speed over the ground in that stretch

The first few rows show by default. Use the expand control to see the rest. Each distance cell is a button — click it to jump the route playback to that point.

Timing a Passage at Slack

On routes with a strong-current passage, the panel adds a second tab: “Time a passage at slack.” It only appears when the route actually has such a passage.

This tab works backward from the passage instead of from your start. It lists each strong-current station on the route and, for each one, the times you could cross it at slack water. Pick a crossing and the panel tells you when to leave to make it, then scrubs the map to that moment. Change your speed and it works out the new departure time without losing the crossing you picked.

Use this tab when the safe slack-water window matters more than the overall trip time, such as Deception Pass or Dodd Narrows.

Tips

• Start from the recommended window, then use the bars to see if a nearby hour is almost as good but fits your schedule better.
• For a return trip, flip the route direction first. The best departure time is usually different going the other way.
• Watch the net number, not just the bar height. A small net gain can still save time on a long leg.

Related

• Current Overlays
• Slack Water & Passage Timing
• Route Planning
• Tide & Current Stations