July 3rd Tides

The pandemic has pretty much squashed any July 3rd and 4th fireworks shows, as large gatherings are a COVID-19 breeding pool.

This includes the bonfires you see along the Irish Riviera on July 3rd.

I'm not sure if bonfires-with-permits are allowed. I'm just too lazy to check.

Sometimes, one must live outside of the law. Aristotle himself noted that "It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen." Howard Zinn told us that "Civil Disobedience is not our problem, our problem is Civil Obedience."

David Dellinger taught us that "There is a heady sense of manhood that comes with advancing from apathy to commitment, from passivity to aggressiveness. There is an intoxication that comes from standing up to the police at last." I should add that Dellinger is the author of "From Yale To Jail."

Remember that America itself was born by people who stuck a middle finger up at the leading authority on the planet, and that is exactly what July 4th is about.

I'm not here to tell you to break the law. My advice is to stay in. However, if you opt to be more Wolf than Sheep, it is our duty to tell you what the bonfire tides are.

Green Harbor, which also covers bonfire-crazy Duxbury Beach.... 10:49 PM, winds out of the NE.

Nantasket... 10:39 PM

Ballston Beach... 10:50 PM

Horseneck Beach... 7:34 PM

Nauset Light Beach... 11:12 PM

Scituate Harbor... 10:46 PM

White Horse Beach... 10:28 PM

Padanaram... 8:20 PM

Sandy Neck Beach... 10:32 PM

Mattapoisett Harbor... 7:36 PM

Falmouth Harbor... 10:21 PM

Wychmere... 11:29 PM

West Island... 6:34 PM

As you can see, we have two different tide ranges, South Shore/Cape Cod vs South Coast. You could also call it Too Early vs Too Late.

If you are hanging out at Padanaram (which sounds like a level of Hell, but is actually the nice part of Dartmouth), you have an 8:20 PM high tide. It will stay that height for an hour before slowly beginning to drop down towards low tide. Even efficient hooligans won't get the fire set up til 10 or so, at which point the bonfire goes from being a family-friendly event to a band of roving drunks with explosives.

Conversely, a Duxbury Beach reveler would have to start their bonfire well before the 10:49 PM high tide. This bonfire would be extinguished by the sea by the time it got dark. The downside increases if the tide extinguishes the fire before the larger pieces of wood burn down, which creates hazards for both the bathers and the boaters.

The bonfire pictured above is from Duxbury, during another 3rd with unfriendly tides.