Has anyone who's been surfing off VA Bch during the past week experienced any flu-like symptoms? I've been out almost daily, and toward the end of the week, the water has been a reddish brown color and more fishy smelling. I know there's been upwelling as well as a sand replenishment project along Sandbridge which mucked things up. I normally don't get sick this time of year. I had been looking forward to getting out this morning but feel like crap.
I was there 2 weeks ago. Yes, I was honking for a week. I almost posted something on here similar to your query. 'Cause the water was disgusting, as you say the replenishment is churning a lot of crap up from the sediment; and I just think that VB is very polluted water. The city would never say anything negative about the water quality, though. BTW, did you ever wonder where all those hundreds of thousands of turistas go to the bathroom...? Seriously....the only public loo is at 1st Street, and Croatan has a nice facility. But other than a stray port-a-potty, I've never seen anything else. Yet another reason the summer water in VB is sketchy & disease-bearing.
Not since it got warm have I got any flu like symptoms; but last year I had a major issue when surfing daily at Sandbridge around the S-turn. That same week is when VB issues the warnings about Sandbridge (mainly north side) and North end area of VB. Best advice is to load up on Vitamin C daily and stay away from erosion heavy beaches (Sandbridge due to the erosion project and Northend due to the Bay). Also if you were out yesterday after the storm it might be why your feeling all wacky. Especially if it feels more like congestion and "swimmer" ear. Surfing after a nice rain storm can lead to surfers ear really quick.
Thanks, guys. Been dragging ass all day. Tired, sore throat, head & muscle aches, etc. No one I know has any kind of bug, so I thought it might've been the water. I surf the Dam Neck area mostly. I was out early yesterday AM and started feeling bad towards evening. Back in Sept 2008 there was a "Nasty Water" thread on SI that covered a similar situation in detail.
Could of been the combination of the cold water coming in and the rain the night before that contributed to your condition. Side note: How is Dam Neck. Only surfed there once a few years back and get finding myself in the "officers" area. I live right off the base but normally drive north to Croatan or south down to Sandbridge. Wouldn't mind surfing at Dam Neck since its just a mile to the beach from my house.
I'm now starting to hear about a bug that's been going around. I'm hopeful it's that and not from the water. But the beaches around Dam Neck and northern portion of Sandbridge have been kind of nasty looking (reddish brown) and smelly (fishy or rotten egg) at various spots.
DN is similar to south Croatan or northern Sandbridge. The best break is often near the south gate or where DN becomes Sandbridge. No facilities there though. That's where the sand pumping was occurring. Last Saturday AM I surfed at DN vice Croatan. I first stopped at Croatan, but it was filling up very quickly at 7:30. I should've gotten there by 6AM. Crowds aren't a problem at DN and parking is free all day. Still have the 10AM-5PM/6PM surfing restriction except for two spots: near the cottages/officer's beach and by the south gate. Getting on base is the issue. Need proper military/government/contractor ID and a vehicle decal. Although they're doing away with decals beginning this week.
This is your BINGO right here. I was out just north of the replenishment yesterday and still in the soup, but those 50 or so kids that were right on top of it...they're going to have a lousy 4th of July this year. The waves were much better right there but they'll be paying for it with their health this week.
ok lets put our thinking caps on here for a moment. Wtf are you worried about the dredging pipe for? It's just murky because of the churned up sand. I think it's cool , the wave faces get black like Hermosa or something. Tourons pissing in the water.... lets see a human can hold about 40oz of urine, there are 17,543,940,979,332,434 gallons (I f**king googled it) of water in the atlantic. Do math, report back. You should only be concerned after times of heavy rain. And no, not because it;s colder than the ocean (wtf???). It's because of the runoff from the streets, dumps, yards, parking garages, dumped into the ocean through the storm drains. This crap is usually oily so it hangs out right on the surface and doesn't mix up with the other waters. You can get some very, very , very nasty sh*t from surfing after a good rain. Things get really serious if you involve a rivermouth. I hope you crackers start feeling better.
This isn't the be all and end all of water related problems but........ Wear earplugs. I'm totally cereal. Especially if you are a core winter shredder. Kids, start wearing earplugs. I wish I did when I was a children. I just started a year ago, but all my sinus and ear problems have decreased by at least 90 % . And spit alot in the water. Not only does it make you look cool and dangerous, you don't want any seawater gettin in ya. Don't swallow any of that stuff. Ya know what it is that I be sayin' ?
So sayeth the expert. Another vehement opinion posturing as fact. The runoff is deadly, yes. VB has constructed several runoff pipes that most people aren't even aware of. The one up by the Wyndham, for example. The runoff from the filthy streets goes straight into the ocean, only a few hundred yards out. Whoever is spending a couple hours out there in that water has a much higher chance of picking up a staph infection, for example, than someone from Roanoke who takes a dip in the ocean & retreats to their frying towel. But as far that being the only thing anyone should be concerned about, as you claim, uh no. Sorry, sportini, but fecal matter, for example, has a long 'shelf life' in the ocean, esp when several hundred thousand humans are fouling a finite stretch of ocean. And churning up sediment is a solid way to release all sorts of previously-inert toxins, none of which are good for humans. But hey, enjoy the illusion. Darwinism never fails to cull the herd.
I had a Dam Neck lifeguard come by my work the yesterday and I asked her if she heard anything about people getting sick and all related to the water. She hasn't heard of anything; but they split their guards between the pool and the ocean duty and unlike VB lifeguards they don't go in the water as much it seems. Also my daughter is coming down with some bug as well. We think its just an ear infection but I'll find out in about an hour when I get back from the pediatric doc. No dawn patrol this morning for me She hasn't been in the Ocean since last Tuesday though. I stay in the active reserves so I can have base access and class 6 discounts I didn't know we could surf (outside of the time restrictions) up and down Dam Neck. Oh I'll be hitting that up and checking it out. Side note: Besides all the humans in the Ocean we should also worry about all the fish too... little bastados pooping and ejaculating all over the place. We all know the Ocean is salty due to whale splooge right (JUST KIDDING).
So this post-rain runoff at rivermouth breaks, how much after rain do you need to watch out for and for how long before any crap gets diluted back to safer levels?
Great. A choice between rare swells and health hazards. Ever seen the Simpsons episode where they put a dome around Springfield and when the fish jumps in the polluted radioactive pond it surfaces with 12 eyes and has mutated into a whole new creature? We will turn into The Hills Have Rides.
What's the worst that could happen, end up growing an 11th toe? Man that would be awesome, think about all the things you could do with an 11th toe...
Might want to read up on what happened to Timmy Turner... http://www.ocregister.com/articles/turner-370049-says-waves.html
