talk and hearsay about rip currents

It's like the old story about the little boy who cried wolf. Don't tell me there is a rip when it's only ankle slappin out there. Jeebus William Joseph, SBX nailed it, that sensationalism drives me bonkers.

 

I made watching the weather channel during arthur a drinking game. Everytime they mention a rip current, bottoms up.

 

The problem is people are idiots. And 9 outta 10 of them (i know surfing is more popular than ever and it feels like everybodys doin it, but they really arent) NEVER even set foot in the ocean. But you know they may swim 1000 laps at their gyms pool or run miles a day so they consider themselves "in-shape" (which im sure they are). However the ocean is a whole different animal, and when people become immersed in something that changes rapidly and sometimes violently, they tend to panic.

As surfers we tend to accidentally notice certain things about the ocean and what it's doing because it's what we love and knowing what we know allows us to do what we love as often and successfully as possible. Thats why we paddle out on days when everybody is being told to stay out, thats what we wait for all year long, watching for the signs that its happening!

 

My buddy pulled a kid from a rip saturday, couldn't have been older than 3...lifeguard came out and was thankful, the mother didn't realize the kid was one set of waves from death. He had a lifejacket on which made his trip out even quicker...the hype behind rips is stupid, as are the public's interaction with them. See you guys more tomorrow.

 

Dudes, if there isn't a rip current when there are waves i'd be concerned the ocean was broken.

 

I think wearing a floatation vest on an average day is metarded.the vest will do more harm then good,but it might save ur life.people should know from common sense,a wave is about to break on top of u,u swim under it.I imagine everyone dove into a pool before,same thing.if ur wearing a vest,ur not able to go under the waves and u will be in a lot more trouble.rips on the eastcoast are nothing compared to other parts of the world.our waves break close to shore so you will only get pulled out 20-30yards max,and if u cant swim 30yards u have no business in the ocean.i guess most people simply don't know what to do.i have a simple philosophy in life.if u can do it,so can i.and that's what I live by.oh don't go in the ocean the currents strong,well if u mr lifeguard can do it so can i.iv been swept out in December hogtied by a leash with my board keeping me from ducking under in a 3/2 minutes from hypothermia and never had a problem.the 3/2 was the problem lol,I jumped in realizing its too cold and go to turn around and ur already off into the abyss.then ur like 5 yards from shore,but ur stuck in the hole in the sandbar so u cant stand up and u just go sideways til a wave pushes you in.not that tough

 

one thing I forgot to mention which is pretty funny and most people who enter the ocean should realize.when ur in a hole in the shorebreak very close to shore,and u look 10 yards to ur left and people are standing there and its waist deep,then maybe u should swim in that direction.go with the motion

 

and this is what happens

 

The lifeguards were letting turistas in about thigh to waist deep water in VB. The only problem was high tide was during the busiest time of day and the swell was just thick, dumping shorebreak breaking in...wait for it...thigh to waist deep water. People were getting annihilated when the sets came in and what little water they stood in transformed into one thick lip grinding in less than calf deep water.

Annihilated over and over again. Was I wrong to laugh?

 

100% Agree about the "In-Shape" guy. Tried paddling out (on a 3-5' solid day) with my neighbor who is a US Coast guard. He works out everyday, run's, eats healthy. Super Human type cali dude...We paddle out and he cant make it 10 minutes in the shore break before he turns around...

I smoke a pack a day and drink lots of beer. I had Zero problems, just took a little more time

 

This is very true to! We have come way to dependent on our safety ropes (leashes). If you cant swim back in you shouldnt be out. What happens when your leash breaks? Can be a long swim.

 

I moved east to west coast a few months ago. I have been caught in a rip or two before on the east coast, but the Mid Atlantic beaches I surfed are typically sandy and open the rip won't really take you anywhere dangerous other than past the breaks. Usually not a challenging swim in for a seasoned surfer. I did get pulled out to sea when I was like 7 or 8 and that was pretty damn scary. Usually the hard sideshore currents were more annoying.

Out here the waves break a lot further out and rips can be a good thing if you know how to use them. They are usually a channel where the waves don't break and you can literally just lay on your board and let it carry you until you need to get out of it. but you do need to know the rip and really study where the rip is pulling on that day. Bigger surf can make it sketchy sometimes, as the rips out here are usually along rocks. I know at least one very experienced surfer who got forced into a rocky cove and had to get out onto some offshore rocks and wait for air rescue. It has happened to several times out here to other surfers.

It really depends on the particular beach and it's bathymetry and geography. And yes, as a Coast Guard friend has told me most of the time it is someone who really just didn't have a clue. But sometimes not. Depending on conditions, a rip can be very dangerous. Respect the ocean. It is bigger than you.

 

I'll attribute that to activity-specific conditioning and skill set. With the unlimited variables the ocean throws at a newbie no matter what their level of land fitness, their initial adaptivity and skill is so compromised they're just as ugly, inefficient, and tired as the next noob.

Appreciate the ease of quality duck diving on a surfer's energy gas tank compared to having a rough go with the sets on the way out back. It's not even close. One thrashing even without any panic sets you back a few bars on the gas tank.

I've seen this with other high-intensity physical activities and sports. Even apparent fatties can go way longer than model types if they're getting after it on a regular basis and have economy of movement through good skill.

These are words from someone who stepped into liquid as the athlete described above and had several rude awakenings. Cleansings, if you will.

 

"...get dragged out to sea with a corndog in their mouth..."

Love it. I'm picturing that now. Good chuckle.

On the subject of activity-specific physical conditioning, I agree with that for the most part - and have experienced it. But my keeping in shape over the years, whether it was the weight lifting, running, sometimes some lap swimming, and doing a lot of push ups and pull ups, enabled me to pick up surfing almost two years ago at the age of 57 when a lot of guys are in pretty sad shape. Granted, in my younger years, I had spent a fair amount of time in the salt water body surfing, skin/SCUBA diving, and windsurfing (in bays); so I had some related, prior experience. But that had been decades ago. Once I got married and kids came along, my beach/ocean time was minimal at best.

On the matter of leash dependency: When I first (and briefly) tried surfing as a kid in the early 70s, there were no leashes. Had someone paddled out with such a contraption then, I believe he would've been derisively laughed out of the water. Back then you had to watch out for unmanned boards coming at you, shooting through the water and flying in the air. The long swims in (at least you could usually body surf part of the way back) to recover one's board and having to re-paddle all the way right back out again were often exhausting. One tried to hang onto one's board at almost all costs.

This past winter, I was out in what was maybe shoulder high/4 ft surf. The water was 38-39. While paddling out, a wave broke right on me, tore off my hood, spun and dragged me around for a bit. I surfaced just to have a following wall of white water hit me for a repeat performance. Surfacing the second time, my head was throbbing with pain from the cold water, I was gasping for breath. Yanked on the leash with my leg, and the board came to me. Crawled back on and just laid there for a bit, debating whether to paddle on in and go home. The waves themselves weren't that large. Guess they don't have to be when the the water is cold like that. Turned around paddled back out, caught a couple short rides, then went on in.

Point of all that, I guess, is I was glad at the time I had a leash. But it did make me think that I shouldn't put myself in situations where I have to depend on it. Above all, never panic when in the water. I think my past experiences when I was younger helped me there. The expression, "I'm too old to be doing this sh*t", also came to mind.

 

Not at all, I'm guilty of the same.