rip currents - how scary?
Discussion
So there was I snorkelling on Friday, suddenly realised was caught in a huge current (where there had been none at the same place a few weeks ago) and was being rapidly dragged out to sea!
Obviously I know that the thing to do is 1) not panic, 2) don't fight the current, 3) swim parallel to the shore.
What I actually did:
1) panic like hell, 2) fought the current, 3) swam directly against it to head back to shore. Got dashed against coral outcrops, pulled my way hand over hand along the coral, got slashed to pieces, luckily made it back (just) before became exhausted. Waved frantically to OH on the beach, who just waved back!
Rip currents - not nice!
Obviously I know that the thing to do is 1) not panic, 2) don't fight the current, 3) swim parallel to the shore.
What I actually did:
1) panic like hell, 2) fought the current, 3) swam directly against it to head back to shore. Got dashed against coral outcrops, pulled my way hand over hand along the coral, got slashed to pieces, luckily made it back (just) before became exhausted. Waved frantically to OH on the beach, who just waved back!
Rip currents - not nice!
My wife & I got caught in a rip current whilst swimming off the beach in The Gambia. One minute, we were well within my depth, the next, we were being pulled offshore. As the rip current was directly away from the beach (with no lifeguards!), we had no option but to swim as hard as we could against it. It took us a good 5 mimutes to cover the small distance to shallow enough water that I could get my feet on the bottom & pull us both to safety.
It was really, very scary & I we were lucky that that both Sam & I are strong swimmers. My anxiety didn't fade when we saw some fins coursing through the exact same piece of water the next day
It was really, very scary & I we were lucky that that both Sam & I are strong swimmers. My anxiety didn't fade when we saw some fins coursing through the exact same piece of water the next day
The beach in NZ where I spent a good part of my childhood has rips that will take you off your feet in water halfway up your thighs. Very unpredictable as well. You would go in the next day and it would be in a different place. If your familiar with the beach then they pretty easy to spot but if its an unfamiliar place you can get into trouble pretty quickly.
Had this in Sri Lanka too. Bearing in mind I was hanging out with a couple of Colombo lads who couldn't swim properly, they just said seriously watch out for the current. They weren't wrong!
Even just standing on the beach was troublesome. The retreating waves would quite easily bring you to the floor thanks to a mixture of their strength and steep gradient of the beach.
Even just standing on the beach was troublesome. The retreating waves would quite easily bring you to the floor thanks to a mixture of their strength and steep gradient of the beach.
A few years ago we were in Fuerteventura a bit of a commotion was going on 2 boys had got in to difficulty around 30m or so out in a rip current. I went went straight in to get them I used to be a life guard at a swimming pool and consider my self as a strong swimmer. Got out to them pretty easy told them to calm down and I would get them back I grab the youngest he was about 7 and tried to make my way back, bloody hard and was struggling big time so i ended up throwing the youngest child in front of me then dragging the oldest kid behind me. Screaming at him to kick as hard as he could then throwing the youngest boy again until we got to where people had started wading out to help. I was absolutely fu&ked when I got back to the beach. You don't think at the time but it was a bit reckless and stupid and there parents didn't even say thank you.
There's a load of flap and panic about rip currents without much justification, but once someone gets in a rip it's their panic which causes the drownings.
The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
Not just scary, literally terrifying. I was in a group of boys on a soccer trip when we were about 12, we got caught in a rip, about 6 of us. I struggled to get in for a while and eventually my feet found enough grip to walk in, but those few minutes really are horrible. A couple of the boys were further out and had to be rescued by the lifeguards, luckily it was a patrolled beach but we were all swimming quite far from the flags. To this day I still have a bit of a phobia about rips.
Not bothered too much by them anymore, used to be s
t scared that i'd end up in the middle of the atlantic, but now i just enjoy the ride.
I regularly go to a beach in ireland thats got a shocking rip tide.
Best rip i've had was when the water was about waist height on me, felt a bit of current, dug my feet into the sand, next thing it just sucked all the sand away from under me and sent me on a one way trip out to sea.
Its good if your surfing though, dumps you out just where you need to be.
t scared that i'd end up in the middle of the atlantic, but now i just enjoy the ride.I regularly go to a beach in ireland thats got a shocking rip tide.
Best rip i've had was when the water was about waist height on me, felt a bit of current, dug my feet into the sand, next thing it just sucked all the sand away from under me and sent me on a one way trip out to sea.
Its good if your surfing though, dumps you out just where you need to be.
Ozzie Osmond said:
There's a load of flap and panic about rip currents without much justification, but once someone gets in a rip it's their panic which causes the drownings.
The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
I alway heard that you are supposed to start swimming parallel to the beach as soon as you realise your in trouble. The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
A rip can carry you miles out to sea and if your not a good swimmer a mile or 2 would be enough to see you exhausted and unable to help yourself before getting close enough to the beach for someone to see you.
Ozzie Osmond said:
There's a load of flap and panic about rip currents without much justification, but once someone gets in a rip it's their panic which causes the drownings.
The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
And if you can't swim or are not a strong swimmer?The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
thehawk said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
There's a load of flap and panic about rip currents without much justification, but once someone gets in a rip it's their panic which causes the drownings.
The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
And if you can't swim or are not a strong swimmer?The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
k are you swimming in the ocean in the first place?Airbag said:
thehawk said:
Ozzie Osmond said:
There's a load of flap and panic about rip currents without much justification, but once someone gets in a rip it's their panic which causes the drownings.
The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
And if you can't swim or are not a strong swimmer?The rip is simply a river flowing out to sea under the surface of the incoming tide. Once it reaches the sea the river current very quickly loses its power.
If caught in a rip DON'T PANIC. Just let the current take you where it wants to go until the strength dissipates, then swim to shore (obviously to the side of the river mouth, not straight back into it).
k are you swimming in the ocean in the first place?Si 330 said:
A few years ago we were in Fuerteventura a bit of a commotion was going on 2 boys had got in to difficulty around 30m or so out in a rip current. I went went straight in to get them I used to be a life guard at a swimming pool and consider my self as a strong swimmer. Got out to them pretty easy told them to calm down and I would get them back I grab the youngest he was about 7 and tried to make my way back, bloody hard and was struggling big time so i ended up throwing the youngest child in front of me then dragging the oldest kid behind me. Screaming at him to kick as hard as he could then throwing the youngest boy again until we got to where people had started wading out to help. I was absolutely fu&ked when I got back to the beach. You don't think at the time but it was a bit reckless and stupid and there parents didn't even say thank you.
Wow! Good for you....Airbag said:
Then why are you swimming in the ocean in the first place?
That really is the point, isn't it. Drownings are soo common because people think water doesn't look very dangerous because we're all so familiar with it. Oceans and rivers always deserve maximum respect and a rip occurs where the two are combined. Very often it's that old favourite, alcohol, which simultaneoulsy increases confidence (stupidity) while decreasing physical performance. I've been surfing all over the world off and on for 20 years, so I've seen a few rips. One thing I will categorically say is that they do not take you a mile out! More like 50 or maybe even 100 metres. Go with the flow until you stop moving, swim sideways, come in where the waves are. The rip is the water that comes in as waves draining back out as it is displaced by more water coming in as waves. That's why lifeguards always put the swimming flags right on the best surfing waves 
No rips where the waves are.
No rips where the waves are.Puerto del carmen beach, 1994, me and a mate chasing a football which we'd just bought and was now heading out to sea for some reason(!!)nearly drwoned fighting a rip tide (we had no idea what to do or even what one was).
Got dragged to saftey by a couple of swimmers who saw us doing the trademark head tilted back going under drowning thing (we'd been fighting the rip for ages and were completely knackered).
Very lucky escape , hasnt put me off swimming, now just am more clued up and wont chase footballs which are heading out to sea
Got dragged to saftey by a couple of swimmers who saw us doing the trademark head tilted back going under drowning thing (we'd been fighting the rip for ages and were completely knackered).
Very lucky escape , hasnt put me off swimming, now just am more clued up and wont chase footballs which are heading out to sea
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