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Take rip tides seriously or Say Adios
Life is good here in the U.S. of A.
And apart from being being the welcome mat for hurricanes, most of us can agree that Pensacola is one of the best spots to live and vacation in the country.
A sunrise over the sparkling Gulf of Mexico can remind us of this very easily. We would all like to stay here right? So lets avoid that unexpected and involuntary immigration to Cuba or Mexico (depending on what mood the current is in) and start avoiding rip tides.
Rip tides are responsible for over 80 percent of all beach lifeguard rescues in this country, and according to the Santa Rosa Island Authority lifeguards have already rescued 607 people from drowning on Pensacola Beach this year.
O.K, it’s over, I promise that you will not have to read any more statistics in this article. Continue...Please.
Rip tides are currents of water that flow, sometimes very quickly, away from the shore. These currents usually occur between sandbars and this is one of the best ways to spot where a rip current is.
Scan the coast and look for the lighter areas of water about 20 feet from shore. these are the sandbars and wherever you see a dark channel between light strips of sandbar you will most likely find a rip current.
From the shore, a lot of times you can even see the current flowing from the shore, ripping in between the break in the sandbar and flowing out into open water and towards your new third world home! Woo Hoo! Just pray that you’ll land safely in a resort town is my advice.
Now, when the surf is rough
you might not be able to see the sandbar so in this situation you just have to know how to read the waves. The waves, unless it is an exceptionally rough day, don’t break in these deep channels between sandbars where you find rip tides.
So, if you scan the coast and see where the break dies out you can bet that this might just be your one way ticket to beans and rice. It is also an expressway to surf.
Surfers use the rip currents to help pull them out past the break. At first this may sound a little lazy, but if you’ve ever attempted a go on one of those fiberglass wave riders you know that the hardest part is flailing your puny little arms off the side of it fast and hard enough to get you past the crashing waves.
So, you’ve made it to Pensacola Beach for your honeymoon and decide to let the salt water of the gulf wash away your stress. You put a toe in the water and the next thing you know your husband, back on shore, looks like an ant on a football field. With fears of communist dictatorship running through your mind you decide to yell for help only to realize that your new love is more interested in your “people” magazine than the fact that you are half way to Africa. What do you do? Now
know all of us that live here have heard it a million times, but lets give the tourons
ouch!) a chance here.
If you get caught in a rip tide you want to swim parallel with the shore. This will get you out of the rip current so that you can swim towards shore again. Don’t try to fight against the rip current because you won’t win. It’ll be like a battle between Mike Tyson and Pee Wee Herman. And sorry, you’re Pee Wee.
So, you have a choice here; start taking rip tides seriously or seriously start taking Spanish lessons. And check out this website when you get a chance. The National Weather Service has a site that provides daily updates for rip tide conditions for our area.
Type in www.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/for ecasts.shtml and then select “Mobile, Al” and you will get linked to the daily rip tide report for the far western panhandle.
Adios Mi Amigos. Stay stoked and safe. Hang Loose. See you out in the break.
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