Death at oregon inlet

agreed about vb lifeguards. Its just 16 year old punks that are too stoned to care who lives and dies. You can be damn sure they have an eye on your girl while your out surfing though...

Once upon a time (and in some parts of the world still are) ocean life guards were life long watermen willing to die for you, now they are just minimum wage workers, and you get what you pay for.

 

I've been really impressed with the OCMD lifeguards. When the shorebreak is rough and the rips are strong, they blow the wistle about once every few hours and make everyone gather around so they can show everyone the bad locations in the water and where to avoid swimming. 1 minute of communication and education on the beach every few hours is really beneficial and most everyone on the beach really appreciates their services.

I do agree that more education is needed about what to do/not do in heave shorebreak/shoredump waves. Many broken necks have occurred. Nothing scarier than being a novice bodyboarder and being on top of a 4ft. wave and staring facedown at dry sand. I found out the hard way, but luckily just got beat up, sand in my trunks and scraped by shells pretty bad. Many aren't so lucky.

 

i surf year round and guard til October 12th in OCMD.

we pull stands off the beach the final weekend of september and switch to 911 response (10 guys stick around).

we purposely try not to be seen so the public don't think we are actively guarding anymore.

during september (and it's already started, end of august) we drop from ~90 stands to 60 to less than 30 and even less after that!

in another week we will be appoximately 4-6 streets apart from each other (about a quarter mile). we need binos to read semaphore from each other. that's when **** gets legit - hurricane swells and someone in a rip halfway between your stands - full on sprint, fins on, sprint swim and by then a distressed swimmer can be 100 yards out at the head of a rip...

that's when it's such a relief to have a surfer/sponger in the water responding before you can get there..!

 

i know a kid hes about 14 or 15 who actually broke his collar bone this year in shorebreak as he was exiting the water...hes done for the summer

 

damn, I'm just getting into more serious body boarding and I'm trying to make it out both days this weekend. read through this thread found in pretty helpful. I consider myself a strong swimmer and feel pretty confident since I'm wearing fins and attached to something that floats but I did not know the actually possibility of people getting hurt leaving the water.

 

Watch your gullies between the beach & sandbars. LBI surfer was bit coming in after a surf session a few years back. Also, towards evening last summer while swimming w/ my kids, a shark meadered thorough a deep gully 10 minutes after we got out of the water only 15 ft from the beach. We watched it for 25 minuted before it disappeared.

 

http://www.wgmd.com/?p=9272&cpage=1

I don't know if anyone has heard this yet. 4 men needed rescued around 8 tonight in OCMD. 3 made it out, but one is still missing.

 

its a very small chance but it happens

 

Solid Post, cape. I'll do my part for you.

Yes, 4 go in but 3 came out off 20th st in OC tonight, right in plain sight of thousands of vacationers on the boardwalk. I saw as dozens of onlookers just stared and gasped as they knew a life just went missing in front of them. Of course the rumors spread what was happening but I'm sure most could figure it out. And unfortunately, I don't think that most of them were thinking it could have been them or a loved one. A tragic consequence of the American contingent.

 

cool stuff

Red flags all wknd in many areas of Virginia coastline.

Watched 3 body boarders circle a struggling swimmer who was caught in a rip in VB this wknd. The spongers held the dude up & calmed him down (he was def not going to make it until the guard got out to him) until the VB ocean guards got to the fella & pulled him in to safety.

Well done, guys. Whoever you are. Much respect.

 

Good job!!

Good job guys. All surfers, BB, SUP'ers have to accept their role as lifesavers. We are a critical link between the guards on the beach and the people in the water.

 

Personally, I think you need your head examined to get in the water anywhere around Oregon Inlet. That place has always had crazy currents. Although most people who have never spent much time there wouldn't really know better.

I was in Corolla from Monday - Sunday this past week, and I saw some of the craziest rip currents in my 30+ years of surfing. Every 300 yards or so you could visibly see the churned up sand sucking back off the beach. Tons of swimmers in the water. I will say that the lifeguards were calling people in when they got fairly close to the rip. Every couple of hours they'd call in a big group and hold a rip education session. Corolla has anything but a gentle break if the swells have any size to them. Seems like the drop off of the first sandbar is super steep. Swells roll in, hit that bar, and jack up fairly big and get a pretty hollow face. I saw a few guys on logs who were obviously beginners get late takeoffs and get the hell pounded out of them. To whoever said it earlier - I agree - the Atlantic ain't no joke.

 

...after season is just like after hours - swim, surf at your own risk - if you are foolish enough to go it alone (and sadly enough, I have - in February a few years ago!!!) - then just know the risk you're taking and make your decision and livewith it, or die with it!

 

i was surfing during senior week this past june in corolla, NC. it was a small day, maybe 3ft, but there was a huge rip in between bars right next to where me and my buddies were. i saw a swimmer standing in the mouth of it and i was waiting for him to get pulled out, a few seconds later he lost his footing and was getting pulled away from the beach. i started paddling over to him as he was trying to fight it. i think the guard stands were like 1/2 mile apart at this point in the year. i basically sat there with him laying on my board until the guard got out there and brought him back in. people need to learn how to spot the rips and stay away from them.

 

I'm always alone. I probably only get a couple sessions a year when there's actually someone I know in the water. Most of the time there aren't even swimmers/strangers in with me because my beach is so quiet

 

I know what you mean - when we first got a place in Dewey 11 -12 years ago, nobody surfed it, cuz on any given swell, it was about 1/2 foot smaller than any other nearby spot - so I would sacrifice a little size, but have it to myself - I wouldn't even see another surfer for 3-4 blocks up or down the beach - I walked out on the beach and had it to myself, and it was great, but then again, 10 years ago Dewey had nice bottom contours and a pretty wide surf zone - however, numerous beach "replenishments" destroyed that bottom, and I haven't surfed out in front of our condo but maybe, three times in the last 5 years! - A friggin shame - so wherever you are, try to fight the replenishments - if you can!

 

yep, I used to surf Harvey Cedars in LBI alot. one of the best breaks on the island until last year. those motherf•••ers with their homes on the dunes built the beach all the way out into the fricken ocean. now there isnt even a ripple left to ride