Rip Tides

you use them to get out threw the waves. Say the waves a big and you need a faster way out. look for a rip and paddle out in it. pulls you right out and yes it is easy to paddle out of them. just never paddle against them.

 

the more rip during a big swell, the better. helps you stay out of the impact zone and brings you out into the lineup much faster

 

Very true, and probably not at all the expected response for the guy who posed the question.

 

man you should just stay out of that place, very dangerous and you could drown.

 

great advice!
know how to spot rip currents, they are your friends, not foes.

how to spot rip currents:
a rip current looks like a small river on the water’s surface flowing away from the beach. they are sometimes brownish and foamy and can flatten incoming waves making the sea look calm. once past the breakers the current will disperse frequently forming a mushroom shape.

http://www.loving-long-island.com/image-files/multiple-rip-currents.jpg

 

like these guys said, rips can help you get out in the lineup... They can also mess up the wave quality if a rip is running through a nice clean wave face... But all in all, almost anywhere you have a beach break and big surf, you are going to find rips. You'll get use to them.

 

I agree with most of the posts here. Learn to visually recognize the rip currents (not tides) and use them to your advantage. Many beginners flounder in the wash of the impact zone because they don't know where to paddle out. Look for a stream of stuff collected in a line almost perpendicular to the shore and you will find the rip. It also helps to wait to paddle out in between the sets, assuming the period is long enough.

 

I've never been stuck in a riptide w/o a board, but I'd like to practice, actually... you know, swimming in rough water w/o my board. Feel it's something we, as surfers, should all be comfortable with, just not sure how to get there. Don't want to be too dependent on the board. Reading about rips in the paper makes me feel like I'd get sucked out hundreds of yards, and even on my board, I've never had that experience.

 

I learned to surf near Sydney and now, coming back to home in New England, I find it much more difficult to find the rip and I feel like finding the rip has a lot less to do with paddling out, that people paddle out all over the place here. Anybody else feel this way? Could just be the beaches I go to.

 

can someone explain why it feels easiest to paddle out next to a jetty?

 

because there is usually a rip there. the swell comes in from an angle, breaks, and the water will channel back out next to the jetty. it'd be a lot easier to explain w/ a diagram or something

 

WTF?

 

wait, what?

just saying i've never swam inside a riptide. and even when i've been on my board in a rip, i don't get sucked out uncontrollably.

 

I just didn't get the "but I'd like to practice, actually... you know, swimming in rough water w/o my board. Feel it's something we, as surfers, should all be comfortable with, just not sure how to get there" part of your post. Also, when your on a board, you won't get sucked out uncontrollably because your on top of the current, not in it.

 

Well, not like I'm looking forward to getting stuck in a rip w/o my board, but we've all experienced broken leashes.

Just want to be ready, in case it happens, that's all. Think Keanu Reeves in North Shore, working out and ****, so that he can get respect in the lineup, with Warchild et al.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT63Nq2ZTOU&feature=related

 

try surfing ocean beach in SF at 10 ft++

 

I second that motion, your honor. Ever surf Moss Landing? Similar happy paddle out situation in the same cold, murky, sharky Norcal paradise. God I f#%$ing miss that place!

 

when i did lifeguard training they would put you in super strong rips. you would have to let it suck you out, then swim back while pulling someone on a buoy