Float to Survive - How to Get out of Rip Currents
Posted: 8 January 2023
Rips are often present at beaches and if caught in a rip, you can drown. Safely negotiate and get out of rips by using “FLOAT to survive” With a bit of knowledge, and staying calm, you can safely negotiate and get out of rips.
- Raise an arm and call out for help
- Float with the current, it may return you to a sandbank
- Swim parallel to the beach, you may escape the rip current (Do not swim into the rip to get back to shore. You will tire yourself out).
What is a Rip Current?
Rips and currents are one of the major hazards surfers come across in the ocean. They are also the main cause of surf rescues.
A rip is a body of water that usually moves out to sea. When water comes into the shore, it has no-where else to go but back out to sea. The water forms a channel in one place and this is called a rip.
Rips can quickly drag people and debris away from the shallows and out deeper to sea, usually flowing at 1-2 feet per second but can reach up to 8 feet per second, which is faster than an Olympic swimmer.
How to identify Rips and Currents
You can identify rips by:
- A rippled appearance on the surface of the water when the water around is generally calm.
- Discoloured water due to sand being stirred up from the ocean bottom.
- Foam, bubbles or debris on the surface of the water – moving out to sea.
- Waves breaking on both sides, but not in the middle, of a rip.
Rips can form between two sand banks causing a channel of smoother water. To a beginner, this may seem a safe place to go into the surf because the water is smoother, but this can be dangerous as you could be carried out to sea much further than you intended to go.
Ref: http://www.scienceofthesurf.com/multimedia.html
The above photo is a great illustration of how a rip current works - created by Science of the Surf by adding purple dye to the water. Read more here.
Always check for beach signs providing information of rips at the beach, there may be signs up showing where the rips are. You can also ask local lifeguards to help you spot the rips.
Sign in front of rip.
Photo Ref: Scottsweb
This video from Scienceofthesurf shows a great visual on Rip Currents.
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