There's another musical contribution to the discussion here: Wait for the Tide. By the way, I'm curious to know who added the chords, since as far as I know the song hasn't been recorded. And the chords aren't quite right, either.

I'm not going to add anything to the scientific aspect of this debate because (a) I think the answer is Yes, and (b) I can't prove it. But I didn't read carefully enough to see if anyone mentioned that tides do NOT depend solely on the moon. First of all, there is a significant solar component to the tides, and second of all, there is an even greater effect of local geography.

For an extreme example, it was believed for centuries that the level of the Pacific was about 20 feet higher than the level of the Atlantic, based on observations at the isthmus of Panama. For this reason, many otherwise intelligent and well-educated people thought that construction of a canal there would lead to terrible flooding and was doomed to failure. It wasn't until 1850 that the survey for the Panama Railroad (forerunner of the canal) found that the tides on the Pacific side of the isthmus are very large (up to 20 feet), while on the Atlantic side, about 50 miles away, they're negligible. This is what led to the mistaken belief. Mean sea level on both sides, is, of course, the same. (My source for this is the wonderful book "Brave Companions" by David McCullough.)

Aloha,
Mark