Piscataqua River Boating: Tides, Currents and the Bridges

The Piscataqua is home water for Kittery and Portsmouth, and on the right tide it's a gorgeous ride from Fort Point up past the shipyard and under the bridges. On the wrong tide it's work. This page collects what the official sources say about the river's current, its bridges and its hazards, so you can plan your day around the tide instead of fighting it.

Not for navigation. This is a planning summary, not a chart or a pilot. Use current NOAA charts, the U.S. Coast Pilot, live NOAA predictions and your own judgment on the water. Facts as of November 3, 2026. Every one links to its source below.

The current is the story

NOAA's U.S. Coast Pilot 1, Chapter 9 (edition dated November 1, 2026) is blunt about Portsmouth Harbor and the river:

• "The tidal currents are strong, and special care is required especially in the restricted sections of the channel above and below the bridges."
• In the cove on the northwest side of Fort Point, the current "is reported to frequently flow counter to the current in the harbor for a period after slack water."
• "The strong currents in the narrow channel make the approach to and passage through the bridges very difficult." The largest vessels are usually taken through at or near slack water.
• Up the river, the maximum average current off Nobles Island and off Dover Point, at the entrance to Little Bay, "amounts to over 4 knots on the ebb."
• Abrupt changes in the river's width, depth and direction "cause hazardous crosscurrents." For deep-draft ships, this limits navigation to about 1.5 hours either side of slack water.
• Some buoys "are reported to tow under sometimes in the strong currents," particularly Buoys 13 and 16 near Dover Point.

For a small boat, that means timing matters more than horsepower. The Coast Pilot itself points you to NOAA's tidal current predictions for the times, directions and speeds at specific spots. Here they are.

Live NOAA predictions (open these, don't trust a copy)

We link straight to NOAA rather than printing times, because printed times go stale the day after you read them.

Tidal current predictions (NOAA CO-OPS):

• Portsmouth Harbor, Gangway Rocks (LB 13)
• Henderson Point, west of
• Memorial Bridge
• Sarah Long Bridge
• General Sullivan Bridge (Dover Point / Little Bay)

Tide predictions (NOAA CO-OPS):

• Fort Point, New Castle (8423898). Station home.
• Portsmouth (8423745)
• Seavey Island (8419870)
• Dover Point (8421897)
• Outside the river: York Harbor (8419518) and Hampton Harbor (8429489)

High and low tide aren't the same as slack current, and on a river like this one they can be well apart. Check the current prediction for the stretch you'll be in.

The bridges: Memorial and Sarah Mildred Long

Both downtown bridges are vertical lifts. Clearances from the Coast Pilot's structures table, above mean high water:

When they open (33 CFR 117.531):

• Memorial Bridge opens on signal. From May 15 through October 31, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., it need only open on the hour and half hour for recreational vessels and commercial vessels under 100 gross tons.
• Sarah M. Long Bridge main channel draw opens on signal. In the same period and hours, it need only open at quarter of and quarter after the hour for those vessels.
• Public vessels, commercial vessels over 100 gross tons, and inbound ferries and commercial fishing vessels are passed through as soon as possible.

On the radio: the Coast Pilot says the bridgetenders monitor VHF-FM channel 16 and work on channel 13, and that arrangements for bridge openings are made on channel 13.

If you're waiting for an opening, remember the current doesn't wait with you. Hold position well clear of the span, and don't let the river set you down onto the bridge.

Henderson Point and "Pull-and-be-Damned"

You'll hear both names around the harbor, and they often get mixed up.

• Henderson's Point stuck out into the river off the south side of Seavey Island in Kittery, where the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is today. The Navy blasted it away in a planned explosion on July 22, 1905, after years of excavation. The date comes from the Portsmouth Athenaeum's collection and a 2023 New Hampshire Magazine history.
• Pull-and-be-Damned Point was a ledge off Goat Island, New Castle, on the opposite shore. The New Castle town historian quoted by New Hampshire Magazine says the name is often wrongly applied to both sides. The magazine reports it was only partially removed, about 90 years later.
• The two ledges made ships zigzag through a sharp bend, and the squeeze made fast water. Rowers would pull with all their might and get nowhere. The rock is mostly gone, but the bend and the current are still there.

Today the Coast Pilot lists restricted areas at the west end of Seavey Island, from Henderson Point along the shore to the combined highway and railroad bridge across Back Channel (33 CFR 334.50). There's also a Naval Shipyard regulated navigation area with a security barrier (33 CFR 165). Give the shipyard shoreline the room the chart shows.

Back Channel, Spinney Creek and the upper river

• Back Channel, between Seavey Island and Kittery, is "limited principally to small craft" (Coast Pilot).
• Spinney Creek, about 0.1 mile above the I-95 bridge, forms a cove that the Coast Pilot calls "a snug haven for small craft out of the strong currents of the river."
• Above Dover Point, the Coast Pilot says traffic is "confined to yachts, fishing boats and other small craft." It also notes that the tributary channels are "narrow, crooked, shoal at the heads and unmarked," so local knowledge is needed to navigate them.

Weather and charts

• Marine forecast: NWS Gray/Portland's coastal waters zone ANZ154, Coastal Waters from Cape Elizabeth, ME to Merrimack River, MA out 25 NM. Read the text forecast or the point forecast page.
• Cold water: read the NWS cold water safety page before an early- or late-season run.
• Charts: find and download current NOAA charts for the harbor and river in the NOAA Chart Locator / interactive catalog. The Coast Pilot index has the latest edition of every volume.

Putting it together

1. Pick the stretch you'll be in: the harbor mouth, the bridges, or the upper river.
2. Open the NOAA current prediction for that stretch and note the slack and max times.
3. Plan any bridge transit near slack, and know the opening times if you need a lift.
4. Check ANZ154, and see the Seacoast boat-day planning guide for the pre-departure checklist.
5. Launching? See the Seacoast launch ramps guide. Need a yard? See the Seacoast yards list (public listings, unconfirmed).

Sources (read November 3, 2026)

• NOAA Office of Coast Survey, U.S. Coast Pilot 1, Chapter 9 (PDF, edition dated November 1, 2026): Portsmouth Harbor and the Piscataqua River, including the currents, bridges table, VHF notes, restricted areas, Back Channel, Spinney Creek and Dover Point.
• Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 33 CFR 117.531, Piscataqua River drawbridges.
• NOAA CO-OPS tidal current predictions and tide predictions (station links above).
• National Weather Service, Coastal Waters forecast ANZ154 and cold water safety.
• NOAA, Chart Locator / interactive catalog.
• Portsmouth Athenaeum, Henderson's Point collection items.
• New Hampshire Magazine, "Pull And Be Damned!" (April 12, 2023).