I couldn't find an Anchor Buddy that I thought was the right size for tidal changes. I bought +100 feet of floating yellow braided poly rope and used a fid to run 40 feet of shock cord through it. I got the shock chord from the bargain basement at Cabellas (they also sell the Anchor Buddy, but I thought hey, I can make one), so my material costs were about $12.
If set right using my spare anchor off of the stern, I can step off at the beach with my bow anchor, place it above the high tide mark (if necessary) and have the boat get pulled back away from the beach about 60 feet. I'm usually not gone for more than an hour, so complex tide calcs aren't required. I also tend to only use about 20 feet of the elasticity, but I wanted the extra if needed. Good for a little snooping, hiking, clam digging, etc. I also used it at Lake Powell to stern tie to the beach. It fits on a spool about the size of a coffee can.
Mark
