the news and all that said that there is a big rip tide I dont feel anything. and two people already drown but they were probably swimming against it. but its sad that those people died, you dont really think in panic.
Coming from someone who surfs a lot or is even in the water a lot. You don't notice it. The news says that to warn all people because most people wouldn't know what to do. Rip tides usually only take you out to where you're getting anyway, so I usually paddle out in them. Its just a quicker paddle. As for the people who died, there is already a topic on them
rip currents - good for surfers (gets you out to the lineup), bad for bathers who dont know what they are doing.
Excelent comment. I lived near the ocean all my life (Puerto Rico) and started reading on the risks of Rip Tides or Rip currents only recently. Was actually wondering how come I haven't been swept away into a "near death" experience even though no one taught me much about it when I was a kid. I started bodysurfing when I was around 4 years old (over 35 years ago!) and have been involved in most ocean related activities since. That includes snorkeling, scuba diving, deep sea fishing, most board related activities (surfing, boggeing, windsurfing, kayaking, etc....). The only lessons I remember from elders were to be careful with the undertow (not the same as Rips) and to be respectful of the sea when waves get out of control. I really can't remember once being swept away by a current but perhaps instinctively I did the right thing of never swimming against it.
Rip Current is actually the proper word. Technically......Rip Tide really means nothing if you think about it. Although, Rip Tide has made a name for itself which means the same as Rip Current. I have no idea how or why someone would call a Rip Current a Rip Tide. What is a "rip current"? It is a narrow, powerful current of water running perpendicular to the beach, out into the ocean. These currents may extend 200 to 2,500 feet lengthwise, but are typically less than 30 feet wide. Rip currents can move fast, often 5 miles per hour or faster. Rip currents are caused by the shape of the shoreline and often occur suddenly. They are scary because they catch you off guard. One minute you're floating or splashing happily in the surf, the next you're being dragged out to sea at top speed. They occur in all sorts of weather and on many of beaches. Unlike violent, crashing waves, you probably won't notice a rip current until you're being whisked away. A rip current occurs when the receding flow of the ocean becomes concentrated in a particular area. The most common cause of this is a break in a sandbar where the water rushes through at a low point. Rip currents can last for several minutes or hours Is a "rip tide" the same thing? No. There really is no such thing as a rip tide. Tides are the rising and falling of water levels in the ocean caused mostly by the moon’s gravitational pull. Tides change gradually and predictably every day. Is "undertow" the same as a rip current? Rip currents are also not undertow. Undertow is a current of water that pulls you down to the ocean bottom. Rip currents move along the surface of the water, pulling you straight out into the ocean, but not underneath the water's surface. If you are in shallow water, a rip current could knock you down, and if you thrash around and get disoriented, you may end up being pulled along the ocean bottom.
Surfers and BBs know that they are out there, and know how to use them. We also know, usually, where they are - next to jetties, groins, piers. And also if you go to the same break over and over again, you begin to know which conditions will cause inshore holes, where they are going to form, and pretty much when they are going to "rip" open - pun intended. Seaward rips are good to get us out to the lineup. I hate what I call "the treadmill" - longshore currents that send you carreening into the jetty if you aren't careful. I've been smashed into the jetty a few times. Then again, those were probably VAS days I should have either stayed home or gotten out and gone home. ROFL. Last week I was out on a day that turned into VAS in the afternoon, and the currents picked up. You could feel them tugging at your ankles when you were walking out. There was decent shorebreak that day, and I had a sick closeout barrel and ended up in a current with a bodysurfer who was freaking out because we couldn't touch the bottom, and the waves were about stomach high. I felt really bad for him. We just floated around until there was a good suckout, a decent sized wave and we were back on shore. He couldn't paddle sideways because of the "treadmill" and not having any fins on, so I hung out with him and let him hang onto my board. I think it's also a matter of knowing your limits. Before heading out, I say to myself - "if I lost my board and fins in these conditions, could I make it back to shore?" Yeah, that's the worst possible scenario, but it can happen, yanno? Sure, the winds switch sometimes, but people go out in wave heights not suitable for them. It worries me to no end when people I know and care about head out in certain conditions when I KNOW that they would never be able to make it back to shore in one piece if they lost their equipment. Panicking, being out beyond your limits/scope, and fighting the current all lead to drowning - it's very sad.
from here http://www.bestplaceshawaii.com/tips/hints/surf_warnings.html I have understood the way stuff works for years. I just added this to prove that the word "rip tide" makes no sense. Even though it is used as the same as rip current. Here is another... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_current A rip current is a strong surface flow of water returning seaward from near the shore (not to be confused with an undertow). It is often called a "rip tide" or "riptide", though the occurrence is not related to tides. Colloquially a rip current is known simply as a rip. Although rip currents would exist even without the tides, tides can make an existing rip much more dangerous - especially low tide. Typical flow is at 0.5 meters per second (1-2 feet per second), and can be as fast as 2.5 meters per second (8 feet per second). Rip currents can move to different locations on a beach break, up to tens of metres (a few hundred feet) a day. They can occur at any beach with breaking waves, including the world's oceans, seas, and large lakes such as the Great Lakes in Canada and the United States.
Beware the Undertoad! The infamous ''Undertoad'' mentioned in The World According to Garp is, and always was a complete myth promoted by those unfamiliar with the ocean and currents in the surf zone. People felt the pull on their legs of the water receding after a wave and mistakenly thought that that water movement would pull them under water and all the way out to sea. Those who surf know that to be a complete myth, along with the myth that waves are moving water. The only time water actually moves within a wave is when the wave pulse feels the drag of the bottom and becomes top heavy pitching all of its inner energy up and out. A rip current is the sum total of all that water dumping on the inside of the sandbar, and since water seeks its own level, it has to go somewhere. The first result is a littoral current running parallel to the beach and when a weak spot in the sandbar gives way to all that mounting shoreline water, a rip develops through the sandbar. As surfers we know that rips love deep water, and waves generally don't break well there. Generic swimmers react with fear of breaking waves since they've always been warned about the ''Undertow'' or the ''rip tide.'' In an effort to educate more swimmers, the US Lifesaving Association and NOAA are circulating this brochure all over the Outer Banks, and maybe it's time to stock area motels in our areas as well: http://www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/signs/rip_brochure_final.pdf http://www.usla.org/ripcurrents/signsbrochures.asp. (It's important to note that this brochure is available in Spanish as well) With that and the maxim that everyone should know their own limitations, especially when it concerns water, we might have a few less bodies floating around. Take time to educate everyone you know about potential hazards since we know so much more than most others who only visit the ocean. In short, learn not to fear the ocean, but also learn not to ever turn your back on it either.
I agree "undertow" is a myth ....It's usually a misunderstanding of wave motion, longshore currents and rip currents.
Great post! Last year there was a very big push for "Break the Grip of the Rip" from the NWS, which I thought was very good and this year nothing. Why not? The NWS releases rip current advisories when they are HIGH as a coastal hazard and it's mentioned in passing on the news, but I think that maybe more signage on the beaches or more of those "Break the Grip" signs would be necessary. I think by *not* having appropriate signs on the beach, or educational materials about the various currents, the beach and/or city is assuming responsibility for all people entering the water. We live in such a litigious (is that the right word?) society, that "Swim at your own risk" "Caution - dangerous currents" signs become necessary to CYA. Rip currents tend to increase here in the afternoons as the South-Southwest seabreeze kicks in, and picks up to 10-15 kts. I think that information should be available about such stuff as people come to the beach to pay - it's the easiest way to get information across. Until then, "there's a lot of water moving around out there today".
