Waterfront talk for the lowest point of the tide, used when timing work that needs maximum exposure: pier inspections, outfall repairs, clam digging and work on the bottom section of a tide staff. Its counterpart is dead high. Because the stand at low water can be short, crews usually arrive an hour early to work the last of the fall and the dead low together.
Dead low's at 0612, so the piling crew needs to be on the beach by five to get the cut done.
Also heard as
- dead low water
- bottom of the tide
Related terms
Stand
The pause at the top or bottom of the tide, when the level hangs nearly still before turning.
Top of the tide
High water, or the short period around it, as dock workers and boaters say it.
Minus tide
A low tide predicted to fall below the chart datum zero, shown as a negative number in the tide table.
Low-low
Shorthand for the lower low water of the day in places with mixed tides.