Posted on 06/16/2016 11:51:06 PM PDT by Berlin_Freeper
Many of us look forward to a trip to the beach during the summer months – the sun, sand and water are all elements that we can savor. But there are dangers present along the shore, including rip currents.
A rip current is a strong but narrow current that flows away from the beach. Rip currents can form at any beach with breaking waves (including the Great Lakes). The speed of a rip current can exceed 6 miles per hour (faster than an Olympic swimmer) and can extend the length of a football field off the coast.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), about 100 fatalities a year across the nation are blamed on rip currents.
(Excerpt) Read more at weather.com ...
Thank you, too. Information for safety is always good.
Jokes on them...I can get a nice beach towel for 20 bucks...Plenty of people out there with lots of money to spend...And there’s quite a number of other people willing to take it from them...
And BTW, the last time I swam in lake Michigan, I was in 300 feet of water. So no rip current.
I was once canoeing alone in the Gulf of Mexico off a beach at Sanibel Island, and got caught in a a rip tide that took me out to sea. It was pretty scary.
I figured out that I had to start paddling parallel to the beach to get to an area outside the rip tide from which I could paddle back to land.
It was really very hard to do, and took quite a bit of time.
I can easily imagine that it would be even harder for a a swimmer to do that. I doubt an average bather would have the strength to get the job done. I'm pretty sure I couldn't have done it.
Some of us don't float.
yup...very exhilarating to catch the edge of one for a zoom through a coral cut while SCUBA diving from shore. Go with the flow.
At your link...
“The California Coastal Commission often negotiates access through private beachfront property when owners apply for permits to build or renovate.”
In guessing there’s not a lot of negotiation. You either allow access, or you don’t get a permit for that new infinity edge pool.
Some things can be fought and some things need to be conceded to - anyone who has ever had a wave crash down and bounce you along the bottom for a bit understands this...like being pushed by a locomotive.
If you try to swim against a rip current you will tire quite easily. Best bet, swim with it until it loses its power and than swim back to shore.
Of course the smartest course is not to get in one to begin with.
Good advice. Rip currents usually don’t last all that long,once you are out of its influence time to head for shore.Of course if you are swimming alone, that’s not too smart either.
You have to angle your way back not straight into the teeth of a rip.
GREAT posts. Thanks. Life/knowledge BUMP!
The best way to angle became clear to me by the results I was getting.
But they say the great lakes have them. Just moved to Michigan from the west coast, literally the west coast, of washington state.
In fact, we are probably heading for lake time this afternoon in the boat....but something smaller.
Exactly you got it.
It's possible you were also fighting against the longshore current. If you had paddled the other way, it might have been a breeze.
From the book, Collateral Crimes:
He felt as if he were reliving a memory. He was 11, back in Newport Beach, struggling against a wave that had just crashed in front of him, icy water slamming him down, holding him under, the salt stinging his sinuses. What had his father told him? Push off the bottom and grab a lungful of air before it pulls you back down. Push off the bottom.
He couldn’t feel the bottom.
RE: Rip Currents, Yes Lake Michigan does have rip currents. In my 36 years living here I have seen the lake hundreds of times where the conditions for the currents have existed. Most of the time you would never be so foolish as to venture out in them. I have even been on the lake during small craft advisories. However, ten miles off- shore, in between Charlevoix and Beaver Island, in 300 feet of water, there are no rip currents. That’s all I was saying. I would be very vigilant for any small children or young adults in the Great Lakes, but shouldn’t we all ?
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