talk and hearsay about rip currents

Ohh, and back to the original point of this thread....

Remember: Tropical Storm. Hurricane. Floods. Gail Force Winds

Those are all the buzz-words that are plastered on ever media outlet in the country and have been for 3 days. It just so happens to be over a huge holiday weekend, where everyone is at the beach. So of course, everyone and their momma is thinking "Ohh my goodness, Hurricane? Rip Currents? Strong Winds? I know that crazy Zach619 is going to go surf. I better call his mother, have her call him and make sure he is aware of the dangers in the ocean during a Hurricane"

 

DOH? MSW = Make Surf any size you Want

 

Can't blame them for warning the tourons. They gonna get good and drunk and then man up and go swimming cuz they're invincible when drunk. Then some lifeguard has to risk his life to pull another drunken idiot out.

Strong currents last weekend at CB. Lifeguards kept whistling people in who were walking around on the outer bar rt at the inlet. One couple was *****ing up a storm about "why didn't he whistle at those guys earlier? Why just us?". Told em I guess he doesn't give a **** if the other guys drown.

Where they were...step to the rt and its 3ft and calm. Step to the left and its 10ft and sucking straight out to sea. Bye-bye birdy...

We were snorkeling in between the bars. Lifeguard whistled us in and after I talked to him he said it's all good, just wanted to let me know what's up. I thanked him and said no prob. And they weren't saying anything to the few of us that paddled out that day.

How it should be, IMHO.

 

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2014/jul/01/5-teens-wet-shaken-after-rough-surfing-rescue-at/

This happened as Arthur passed by offshore. My best guess was a wicked strong north to south current trapped them against the jetty, but thats just a guess. When Sandy came by i couldnt believe how wicked fast the sideshore current was-- spooked me....There's a conveyer belt that goes alongside the jetty, maybe they tried to take it out, who knows. It was maybe waist to chest I heard.

 

Glad those girls are all right...

You aren't from NE originally are you? Two wicked's in one post.

 

Mom, I'm going surfing, you can pick me up in Africa next week

 

Don't paddle out if you can't swim in after you get bounced off the reef, your leash snaps, and/or your fins get blown off.

Rips are a joke.

 

Yup. You nailed it

 

its all politics.at the beach last night I seen plenty of culprits who fit in the "u will die if u swim out" type of people.but nobody was swimming,but I did see a bunch of people taking pics right at the waters edge as whitewater comes blasting up the beach.these are the people they are warning im guessing.u stand there and get lifted off ur feet and pulled out.even tho yesterdays rips would've only pulled u out 30yds.i did see a lot of rips which is nothing odd with a groundswell.

todays traffic on the gsp,I must of seen a liscense plate from every state on the eastcoast from ma to florida.at one point I had like 15 nyorkers surrounding me in traffic.i lost count of all the nyorkers.I don't get why they come here,ny has beaches too.these are the bennys that have no knowledge of the ocean and end up drowning.making it hard for the rest of us.i guess surfing a noreaster in late January in 38degree waters is more dangerous than surfing 6footers in 70degree water.its only the "summertime" that the ocean is a killer.most of these rip drownings occur when theyr aren't even any waves.those aren't rip drownings,just regular drownings.I still think the ocean is a scary place.i wouldn't go if I didn't surf,dont really see the need.to sit around tanning and going for a swim,nothing compared to surfing an empty beach.it wasn't even that crowded yesterday which was awesome

 

When the life guards arrived at the beaches in VB at 10 this morning, they put out the red flags, meaning: dangerous conditions, no swimming, but surfing is OK. On the military beaches (Dam Neck), the red flag means no one can go in the water, including surfers. Those already in the water had to get out. Some of us drove down to the south (Sandbridge) end of the base where there were no life guards and went in. Conditions weren't that great: windy, very choppy, mostly waist high. Lots of folks with boards next to them on the beach, but only a few of us actually in the water.

 

Further evidence about general public's dangerous misinformation, ignorance and "conventional wisdom" around rips: Post dawn patrol yesterday in OC NJ I was next to my car, still half in my wetsuit having a snack and just enjoying the sun when an older couple who were walking by with their dogs asked me how the surf had been. I thought it a little strange a question given their demographic but I'm a normal person so I told then about how it had been good early but dropped off quickly. The woman then says " We have two 'little ones' taking surf lessons today. Do you think it will be ok?" I told her that I thought that the surf was perfect for kids to learn in. She says, "No, I mean the riptide and undertow, it's very dangerous here right?" I then told her that given how small the waves had become and that her kids/grandkids would be with an instructor, it would be fine. She then thanked me and walked off.
I can only assume that she was especially concerned since a kid drowned on the north end of OC last Sunday and that the accident has been attributed to some unknown "undertow". Maybe it was more a general concern than that but who knows?
My point is that very few people actually understand what is rip is, how and where they form and how much risk they present, the last part varying greatly with your knowledge and experience at the beach. I think we would do really well to try to educate people, especially the beach vacationing hordes about some common ocean/beach hazards, including rips. Lots of people seem to be afraid of them but very few actually understand the danger/risk which is a big part of why I think you have people drowning with alarming frequency when they are at the beach.

 

Five months ago we were surfing, the (unguarded) beach was deserted, and there was a pasty white flabby family. Their about 7 year old daughter was playing in the water and there was a strong current that day, maybe waist high waves.

I asked the dad where he was from-- atlanta-- he is a pastor (no, it wasn't Wayne). So I told him the current was very strong... to his credit, he called the daughter out of the water. I gave him instructions to a guarded beach nearby. I was impressed this dad listened to me.

You are right, most people have insufficient knowledge of the ocean. Heck, I knew nothing until I started surfing three years ago. And I figure that there's a lot more to learn. They could teach it in middle or high school instead of some of the worthless science classes.

 

In NYC today the NBC affiliate was running a story about the dangerous rip currents left over from the hurricane, reporting from a maybe ankle high Rockaway Beach.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/265960711.html
I think this type of reporting does more harm than good. It's a sunny Sunday in July, the beach was busy, the water was calm and safe and any beach-goers who saw the report on rip currents would come away thinking they weren't that big a deal. Education is good, but good grief it has to be realistic and not stupidly sensationalistic.

 

my undertoes need cleaning at least 3 times a week...

 

that is SO floridian.

 

You have a flotation device (surfboard) swimmers don't. There's days with alot rips I wouldn't want to loose my board....

 

ya never hear about rip currents in thre spring or winter swells. its cause there are a ton of tourists who are fat and out of shape so get dragged out to sea with a corndog in their mouth and need to be rescued. Its the same in san diego summertime when I loved there a crappy south swell chest high would appear and the news would scream about rip currents. wintertime there also big storms no speaking of rip currents. yeah my girlfriend warned me about rip currents due to arthur I smacked her around a bit. that was all.....

 

I had the weather channel on in the background Fri. afternoon and I heard the words ""rip current" more times in 15 minutes than you would hear "like" in a jr. high cafeteria.

 

I did help keep a touron afloat until the guards got to him Sat. afternoon. Dude was a stump...about 5'6" 225lbs. and was buoyant as a brick. Scratched me up too trying to climb on my back.