Tales and History of the Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book

Lecture: Tales and History of Eldridge Tide Book

August 6, 7:30 PM , Redfield Auditorium at WHOI

Presented by the Woods Hole Historical Museum

Free

Tales and History of Eldridge Tide Book

Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book is a necessity for most Cape Cod mariners, who would agree that it is the “most trusted guide for East Coast waters, since 1875,” as advertised on the tide book’s cover.

 On August 6,  current and fourth generation publishers Robert Eldridge White, Jr., and Linda Foster White will speak at a Woods Hole Historical Museum talk, “Tales and History of Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book,” at 7:30 PM in the Redfield Auditorium at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution on Water Street.

 In 1854, George Eldridge of Chatham published Eldridge’s Pilot for Vineyard Sound and Monomoy Shoals, the precursor to Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book. Its contents include a section titled “Dangers,” as well as personal observations and compass courses and distances. Sixteen years later, he published another book, Compass Test and asked his son, George, Jr., to move to Martha’s Vineyard to market the books to sailors there since “the number of ships passing through Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds was second only to those plying the English Channel,” according to the Eldridges.

Young George would sail out in his catboat to the many schooners waiting for a fair current to pass through the sound. He was frequently asked by sailors what time the current turned to run east or west. He began to keep a chart of his observations. In 1875, the first tide book was published.