Spoken shorthand on mixed-tide coasts such as the US West Coast and Alaska for the lower of the day's two low waters, with high-high for the higher high. The low-low is the one that matters for digging, launching and checking moorings, since the other low may hardly drop. People also say the big low or the good low for the same thing.
Low-low is late afternoon this week, so that's when we check the mooring chain.
Also heard as
- lower low
- big low
Related terms
Higher high water
The taller of a tidal day's two high waters, the one that matters most on mixed-tide coasts.
MLLW
Mean Lower Low Water: the average height of the lower of each day's two low waters, used as chart datum in the United States.
Mixed tide
A tide with two highs and two lows a day of clearly unequal heights, combining semidiurnal and diurnal parts.
Minus tide
A low tide predicted to fall below the chart datum zero, shown as a negative number in the tide table.