Lifeguards

BraziliaNZ

Hi there
Been in NZ and Oz for the past 1.5 years but used to surf in Sligo quite often. I'll be back in 2009 sometime and looking forward to getting out there again. However, I remember getting stuck in a rip one time in Strandhill on a quiet day and nearly killing myself trying to get back in, a frightening experience, thought I was done for. The beaches I have here usually have lifeguards unless you go to the more remote ones.
Surely Strandhill needs lifeguards, at least at the weekends? I mean it must be the busiest beach in Ireland considering people are in the water all year round? Has this ever been discussed?

cue

Have to agree with you. Had a similar experience there a few years ago.

carav

Lifeguards are provided at beaches that are considered safe for swimming etc. Swimming is banned at Strandhill (signs up everywhere) although you do see families there throughout the summer (go figure, there are safer beaches within a few miles and they go to the one that's marked as dangerous...).

If the County Council were to provide lifeguards at the beach it would encourage people to swim there despite the warnings. Kind of a catch 22. As far as I know the local community did have some kind of lifeguards or coastal 'watchers' there at weekends last summer, but not supplied by the council. I'm not sure, maybe someone else knows about this.

cjs_surf

carav wrote: »

Lifeguards are provided at beaches that are considered safe for swimming etc. Swimming is banned at Strandhill (signs up everywhere) although you do see families there throughout the summer (go figure, there are safer beaches within a few miles and they go to the one that's marked as dangerous...).

If the County Council were to provide lifeguards at the beach it would encourage people to swim there despite the warnings. Kind of a catch 22. As far as I know the local community did have some kind of lifeguards or coastal 'watchers' there at weekends last summer, but not supplied by the council. I'm not sure, maybe someone else knows about this.

They did have beach stewards as opposed to life guards also it's not up to a life guard to get a surfer out of a rip, once you are 400 m off shore they aren't supposed to go in.

This is what you should do if you get caught in a rip.

Stay on your board, don't swim.

Take stock of the situation, day light, where you are..

The rip causes waves to fade or not to break, look for breaking waves there's no rip there.

Paddling strait in against a rip will tire you out, don't. Paddle parallel to the shore out of the rip towards the any breaking waves and go ashore there, if possible by catching a wave.

In general Strandhill has a rip running down the coast towards the airport and then out to sea. The are also rips in front of the car park and at the end of the slip.

On big days the rips will be stronger so know you limits.

cue

cjs_surf wrote: »

Paddling strait in against a rip will tire you out, don't.

I knew this in theory but the first time I got caught in a rip I paddled like bejaysus for a solid hour, straight for the shore. My brain kept telling me that I just needed to paddle harder. Eventually I exhausted myself and could barely hang on to the board. I must have drifted out of the rip cos a wave just came up under me and carried me the whole way into the shore. Very scary.

BraziliaNZ

cjs_surf wrote: »

Paddling strait in against a rip will tire you out, don't. Paddle parallel to the shore out of the rip towards the any breaking waves and go ashore there, if possible by catching a wave.

Yeah but if you get caught in a rip bad you're so far out that you're beyond all the waves and there are no breaking waves to swim parallel to. If you do swim parallel to get out of the rip how do you know when you're out of it?

And regarding life guards, I'm not talking about swimmers, I'm talking about surfers. I mean there are tonnes of them in that area now especially at weekends. Surely it wouldn't break the bank to have one dude available in some kind of fast boat to cover the area?

RedStarHardkore

I remember last summer in St. Finians Bay in Kerry. I didn't have a board at the time, but decided to go into the water for a swim. I went into the left side so as not to get in the way of the surfers on the right. One minute it was grand, I could touch the floor with my feet and wasn't very far from the shore. A few minutes later I was halfway out to sea. I didn't know about the danger of rips, etc, or how to get out of them. I just kept swimming and swimming towards the shore until I felt my arms were about to fall off when a surfer paddled over to me, told me to hang onto the end of his board, use my legs to swim and just follow him. I didn't realise at the time, but that surfer actually saved my life. From that day I have been very, very careful in the ocean. The experience thought me a valuable lesson. Even though I am a very strong swimmer, the ocean is stronger. Now I always take the time before going into the sea to check for hazards.

lightening

Scary stuff. Fair play to you for posting that up. I wonder will the surfer see this post!

Enygma

I wonder will the surfer see this post!

I reckon he doesn't post here anymore.

Yeah but if you get caught in a rip bad you're so far out that you're beyond all the waves and there are no breaking waves to swim parallel to. If you do swim parallel to get out of the rip how do you know when you're out of it?

You can tell there's a rip because the water looks very disturbed and ripply compared to the rest of the beach. As if there's little waves flowing in all directions. Rips are usually only a few yards wide anyway, it would be very unusual to see a rip any wider than that. In fact, rips can be as small as two or three yards across.

cjs_surf

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

And regarding life guards, I'm not talking about swimmers, I'm talking about surfers.

People will see life guards and assume it's OK to swim there I've even heard of one guy letting his kid in swimming at a beach break in Kerry, he had been warned of the danger by surfer, scoffed and siad they were OK they had life jackets, he had a kayak on the beach... in the end surfer had to pick them off the rocks, he couldn't get out in the kayak and somebody called the cops on him because of his reckless stupidity.

If a beach isn't safe to swim then it shouldn't have life guards it's not fair to expect somebody to risk their own life. Strandhill had a beach warden to say don't swim. There a loads of small beaches in Ireland where you shouldn't swim are we to have lifeguards ob all of them.

I've enven had to tell parents to pull their kids back from the slip a the end of the car park at high tide they were in and out of the water by a rip that would have swep them away or along the rocks under water in seconds.

I was in Portugal last october at Tonel, my girlfrined was in learning to surf I stayed out to keep an eye on her and a friend who was in with her, didn't like the look of it, advised them to get out.

Next day a bus tour rocks up they were warned not to swim but kids being kids and not knowing better went in. They got into trouble their parents went in one kid lost both parents and one their father. I blame the tour, there was a better beach a mile or less away in Sagres.