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And importantly, learn to recognise a rip so that you never get in one. As I remember as a kid growing up in Australia, you can tell a rip when you can see the

by krolley 16y ago

And importantly, learn to recognise a rip so that you never get in one. As I remember as a kid growing up in Australia, you can tell a rip when you can see the curl and break of a wave on either side of a part of a wave, but not in the middle. This is caused by the water that is flowing from the beach back out to sea. Also, if you get tired don't fight the rip because you will risk drowning. Float on your back and wait for help.

demallien 16y ago
Also, rips have a sandy colour to them, as they are carrying out all the churned up water back out into the stiller deep water. If you are on a patrolled beach, and you find yourself in a rip, the easiest thing to do is just roll on to your back and wait for help to arrive - maybe waving a hand in the air occassionally. You certainly don't need to worry about getting swept out to sea, never to be seen again - lifesavers check rips roughly about once every 15 seconds or so (and no, I'm not exagerating - they know where the rips are, and they know that these are a big source of danger). If you are an ok swimmer you might try swimming parralel to the beach to get out of the rip before turning into the beach again. If you're a strong swimmer you can probably swim back diagonally, although if you're a strong enough swimmer for this you probably never thought of yourself as being in trouble anyway, so you probably don't need the advice.
- sev 16y ago
  > lifesavers check rips roughly about once every 15 seconds or so > (and no, I'm not exagerating - they know where the rips are, and they know that these are a big source of danger) Where I was at, they didn't even see us drowning for approximately 5 minutes. Where one of our group members had to go tell the lifeguard that people were drowning for them to notice. It was 5:30 in the evening, so maybe that was part of the problem, I'm not sure.
btilly 16y ago
And importantly, learn to recognise a rip so that you never get in one. Surfers like to recognize where the rips are so that they can get back out more quickly for the next good wave. :-)

by krolley 16y ago

demallien 16y ago

Also, rips have a sandy colour to them, as they are carrying out all the churned up water back out into the stiller deep water. If you are on a patrolled beach, and you find yourself in a rip, the easiest thing to do is just roll on to your back and wait for help to arrive - maybe waving a hand in the air occassionally. You certainly don't need to worry about getting swept out to sea, never to be seen again - lifesavers check rips roughly about once every 15 seconds or so (and no, I'm not exagerating - they know where the rips are, and they know that these are a big source of danger). If you are an ok swimmer you might try swimming parralel to the beach to get out of the rip before turning into the beach again. If you're a strong swimmer you can probably swim back diagonally, although if you're a strong enough swimmer for this you probably never thought of yourself as being in trouble anyway, so you probably don't need the advice.

sev 16y ago
> lifesavers check rips roughly about once every 15 seconds or so > (and no, I'm not exagerating - they know where the rips are, and they know that these are a big source of danger) Where I was at, they didn't even see us drowning for approximately 5 minutes. Where one of our group members had to go tell the lifeguard that people were drowning for them to notice. It was 5:30 in the evening, so maybe that was part of the problem, I'm not sure.

btilly 16y ago

And importantly, learn to recognise a rip so that you never get in one. Surfers like to recognize where the rips are so that they can get back out more quickly for the next good wave. :-)