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I live in Ontario and sail in the Great Lakes so we do not have to deal with tides. Last year I bought a FoxCub 18 which is an English boat with twin keels for tidal sailing.
I was over in the UK in January it struck me how much the tide effects sailing. When the tide is out you are not going out sailing or returning. In Ontario we have sailing lessons five nights a week starting at 5:30 pm. The tides change by about an hour a day so that would not be possible in tidal waters.
I would be interested in hearing how people cope with tides, how you plan trips when there are times when you can't sail against the tide.
A lot of people with small boats do not like to have motors but rowing against the tide can be a lot of work.
I was saying to my friend that I would like to take my boat down to the Bay of Fundy some time and he said I was nuts.
So that is something that is on my bucket list but I would like to learn as much as possible to be prepared.

'Time and tide wait for no man'

growing up with tide in Puget Sound means my perspective is 'it is just there'. to this day when on a lake part of my brain wonders where the tide and current have gone.

get tide tables. learn how to use them. get local charts and learn how they note sea level. ie, NOAA charts use mean lower low water.

look for a current prediction chart. learn how the chart predicts water flow based on tide.

find local knowledge. the above tide and current charts are not perfect ... really guesses. wind direction, rain, snow melt (to name a few) can change currents and tide to conflict with predictions.

how i 'deal with it'. first is just adjusting departure and arrival times. much better to go with the current than against. yes, i have left an anchorage/harbor very early to 'catch the tide'; i have also slept in, or seen the local sites, to catch a late tide.

be aware how tide and wind interact. current against the wind can make for uncomfortable seas. again, ask around and read guide books for local knowledge.

Thanks Dave
The charts I have are lake charts. I will have to get a chart for the ocean and study it.
Stan

Tides are one of those forces you cannot control.. but can also be a big help if you learn to use them. Here in New Jersey we do not get big tides.. usually around 4 feet, twice a day.

If you plan your departure just right, you can ride the tide right out of the inlets and into the ocean, makes for a fast, if slightly wet ride out.. and again, if you time it right, you can use it to get back in.

While I have never done it myself, supposedly if you leave Cape May just before mean low water, you can ride the incoming tide all the way up the Delaware to the Delaware and Chesapeake Canal, a distance of some 60 miles, which is quite a "shortcut" in a slower boat like my Sea Sprite... if you are really good, you can then ride the ebbing tide right down the canal and into the Chesapeake itself.

This is where my Father and I differ in sailing. He would be one to crank up the engine to full throttle to fight the tide.. I just choose a different place to go

If you have a smart phone you can download the app "Tides Near Me". It gives high & low tides, sun rise & set, and, moon rise & set.

Someone I use to talk to, talked about the tides in the Bay of Fundy. My impression and the pictures I have seen those are not tides to be taken lightly. If you go there you are going to spend a lot of time cleaning your boat that is a very red silt. We got strawberry plants from Nova Scotia and they had that silt on the roots and it stuck to every thing. There are nicer places than the Bay of Fundy.

Bay of Fundy is upwards of 50 feet.. that is a -lot- of water