Surfing Waves

Now that I have to paddle battle with the winter ocean to get my barge out back, I'm always on the lookout for rip currents to "ski lift" through the impact zone. There is a fixed rip next to the jetty that I can easily spot but other rips move with the shifting sands and require a keen eye.

I usually take a quick jog to look for cloudy water or foam moving out to sea, and areas where the smaller waves do not break. Is there anything else I'm missing?

At ground level it's never this clear!

A good link to show the various type of rip and some strategies.
https://beachsafe.org.au/surf-ed/ripcurrents

jaffa1949 wrote:A good link to show the various type of rip and some strategies.
https://beachsafe.org.au/surf-ed/ripcurrents

Good information, Jaffa!

I especially like the "3 parts of a classic rip current."
i) a rip feeder which carries water along the beach close to the shoreline;
ii) a rip neck which is a narrow and fast offshore flow formed by the meeting of two feeder currents; and
iii) a rip head which forms seaward of the breaking waves ...as the rip current slows down.

I've noticed rip feeders (longshore currents) and should be able to follow them to the rip neck which is my ticket to an easier paddle out.

I guess you can always pour some purple dye in the water to see where the rip is I think careful scanning of the water prior to entry helps. I look at the ripples on the surface of the water and how they are moving as opposed to the rest of the water. I do this when there is significant waves at the beach I always go surfing at. That said I occasionally paddle in through a rip but only if it is easy to do. I know enough to stop and change my actions when I am having problems navigating in the ocean. Fitness is a big help as is knowing your limits. I think knowing how to deal with a rip is really the lifesaver. No matter what you will end up caught in a rip at some time and knowing how to get out is what is going to save your life or at least keep you from needing rescuing. But you are only worried about using them to get out. Fortunately rips most often occur right along the break right where you should be paddling out.

After I check the size of the surf, I always look for the rip currents because I find them so useful for getting outside. I really don't fear rips because they are an enormous help in getting me out into the lineup. If my leash breaks, however, then I do my best to locate them and get away from them. Anyway, I use a mental image to think about what's going on with rip currents.

I think of two bulldozers side by side pushing dirt towards an immovable wall. Once the bulldozers reach the wall the dirt they are pushing get crushed against it and the dirt from both bulldozers starts squirting out sideways. The dirt can't rebound against the wall and go backwards because a third and fourth bulldozer are pushing more dirt from behind against the same wall. So, the dirt from bulldozer 1 and 2 get smushed up against the wall and go sideways where they promptly bump into each other. Dirt 1 and dirt 2 only have one place to go once they crash into each other and that's back the way they came, in other words, between the bulldozers in the opposite direction they were pushed in from. So, when I want to find a rip, I look for the peaks where waves are breaking and once I find them I think of those peaks as the bulldozers. Of course, it's not that easy to find a rip when you have one long closed out line of a wave, but my rule of thumb for finding rips is to locate the peaks of waves and then look to the sides of them for the rips. I guess if the sea is choppy with wind swell from all directions, then you probably won't get normal rip channels because the ocean will essentially be a swirling, roiling volume of chaos. That's how I think of rips.

Watch some youtube stuff on how to identify then go paddle around in suspect areas of your local.....it's all about knowing the break before going in, and if visual recon isn't enough first time to a new break, then get wet and find out.....regardless, you should know what is going on in the water in and around where you will be surfing so that you know where you should be and go, where you should not be, what to do if you find yourself in the no go area or if something goes wrong (broken leash, dislocated shoulder, cramp, snapped or damaged board)....that way you can react calmly without having to "think" for a solution....just follow the plan made before entering the water.

Some people go out at breaks that have huge inside area of walls of foam coming in. It would help to get some height above sea level to examine the currents and breaks in the surf beyond the easily visible shoreline. Maybe even using binoculars. A drone would be great too especially with infrared cameras and maybe also a gun to help thin out the lineup (just kidding ...about the gun). The beach I go to has a somewhat elevated shoreline immediately around the water which makes for back wash but good visibility. The more you surf the better you will get at reading the lineup and planning the paddle out.

RinkyDink wrote:I think of two bulldozers side by side pushing dirt towards an immovable wall.

Well said...I love the analogy.

One tricky break I took a mask and fins out on a flat day and gained a deeper understanding of why water moved as it did after getting a look at underwater channels, shallow areas and the drop off out back. Water movement follows tides and swells, with different levels of intensity dependent on the other variables involved, so having an understanding of what CAN happen and where it will BEFORE it does is important on a heavy water movement break when conditions can change while in the water.....important to know where to go and where to avoid and how the currents will spring up....


....know your break!

Big H wrote:....know your break!

I agree. I'd also add that you should know the forces you're dealing with out in the ocean and, well . . . er, use the force This page really shows how the forces of the ocean act on a particular break, Piha, https://samfraserbaxter.wordpress.com/2 ... ands-rips/. You can see from the first picture that the energy of the waves is ramming up against the wall of the coast and squirting out the side (the side with the blue arrows) where the force of the waves has room to squirt out the side. The other side of this cove doesn't have any room for the water getting pushed into the beach to exit. So it's all flowing in an alongshore current toward the blue arrow side of the cove. I imagine if my ankles were in the water at this beach the water would constantly be pulling my legs toward the side of the cove where the blue arrows (the rip) are. That's probably another way to find the rip. Follow the direction of the alongshore current and you'll eventually find a rip. Okay, I won't beat this horse any longer.

BoMan wrote:

RinkyDink wrote:I think of two bulldozers side by side pushing dirt towards an immovable wall.

Well said...I love the analogy.

Thanks!