Growing up outside is a privilege. Mine was the coast of SC. I’m not a fan of beaches but love the marsh.
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I was living far from the sea before we moved to Ivory Coast, that’s why. Zero rip in lake Geneva. No sign at the beach in Ivory Coast saying it was dangerous.
Yeah I sometimes forget that not everyone lives on one of the coasts.
I met a few people in the Army, from the midwest who didn’t know how to swim let alone know how to handle a rip.
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If there is a cross current moving along the beach sometimes the rip currents will move along parallel to the beach as well. If you choose the wrong direction to swim out of the rip you can potentially end up a long way out to sea before you are out of it.
Where I learned the surf (Westport, WA, many years ago) there was a nice rip next to the jetty - a free ride out. However, I guess, potentially ‘dangerous’, in that, it lets you get out without battling through the breaking surf and getting into surf ‘over your head’ so to speak.
btw, off the rip topic, back onto the main topic, just saw this article:
(if the news report is accurate (big if))
3 mistakes:
- climbing outside of season
- rescued once, rescued twice (how much is a phone worth)
From Skamania Co., WA (which includes Mt. St. Helens).
So, we have had an uptick of rescues and recovery in the White Mountains this spring. Too many for me to bother posting as they shared a commonality of “unpreparedness”. Thankfully, the majority was rescued. But, this was one was a “tragic” recovery of a father and daughter…
-sing
A Florida man launches his kayak, without knowing the conditions. He was not wearing a PFD. His kayak was not suitable for the water, he was paddling in. A current pulls him out to open water, and he capsizes and is unable to re-enter his boat. He was rescued by the Florida Wildlife Officer and was minimally able to assist, with his own rescue. Lots of teachable moments, in this event. Luckily he received no Darwin Award.
I saw the article on one of local FB paddle club page. Figured I would add it to this post, rather than starting a new thread. Did not look through previous postings, since I only check PNET/COM out about once a week or so. The forum seems to be loaded with pop up adds, now. I spend more time x-ing out pop ups, than trying to read threads. PNET/COM has lost a lot of luster, since Brett cashed out.
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Understand. Pointed out the other post because you would be interested in the comments. Nobody goes out to get into trouble (well, maybe @sing does, but he always prevails victorious). There are kayakers who would consider the predicament a hurdle to overcome. Unfortunately, that guy didn’t expect the situation, and was not prepared to face it. Then after help arrived, his ability to focus was seriously impared, in thatnhe was more worried about recovering his backpack when he was totally exhausted and could have slipped beneath the water in an instant. If that happened, imagine the rescuer needing to remove his PFD and leave the safety of his boat to dive for the guy. That’s the point advocate of always wearing a PFD make - one person’s lack of insight coukd result in the death of an innocent person. I’m at a loss to figure out what prompted him to recover the backpack and lose the two most important aids - his paddle and PFD. Ironically, his hat was adrift nearby.
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