Surfing Waves

Hey everyone, My boyfried and I started to surf about 2 summers ago! We are very new to surfing, but we developed a love for it!

Last summer we both had an experience that I could never forget.
We were in LBI, and we both got stuck in a Rip! I felt so helpless and upset that both of us could not help the other person. You just keep swimming and nothing happens! It took us a good hour plus to get back to shore!
When I got to shore I cried my eyes out!! and The whole night I felt like I was still moving!

My boyfriend seemed to get over the fear however I am still affraid of that happening again.
Its a shame that this one bad thing is keeping me from the one thing I used to love doing!! I just keep thinking about that panic stage I was in!

I was just wondering if anyone has ever experienced this, and does the fear ever go away?

Thanks so much!!

Knowledge over comes fear....


Study how and why rips occur and the methods to get out of them. ie swim accross them not against.

Thats totally the problem, I am not comfortable enough out there because I don't know ANYTHING about surfing!
Thats soo true, I think some knowledge on the subject will def. make me feel more comfortable knowing that I can handle the situation if it ever happens again! Maybe I won't freak out as much as I did!

Dang!! I just thought you could grap a board and just ride! It seemed to be working for a while! LOL

Any suggestions on books, movies etc.?

Thanks for your help!

Anyways, who died?

rips can be good and bad. If youve got a long paddle and there is a rip running out next to a jetty or somethin, they can make your paddle ALOT easier. But when you get stuck in one it sucks, but just baddle across. Some guy got lost near Freeport, so either a hungry tiger found him on the sandbar, or he got caught in a rip.

Well for a starters as your here check out the Beginers Guide and the rest is just a google away.

Thanks so much for the tips!!

so how did u end up getting out? and what do u mean u thought u could just grab a board and ride..? meaning u thought that if u stayed on ur board the rip would go under u but u would stay in the same place? wanna hear the story haha .. good news u got out tho

hahaha! Nope I wasn't saying that all, I think you combined two different replys together.
This might clear things up:

I was stuck in a RIP and I kept trying to swim back to shore. No matter how much I tried to swim I was still stuck in the same place. The water was calm and there were no waves pushing me back in.( this was so freaky)

I stayed on my board because that was making me less tired. If I didn't have my board to lay on as I was swimming I would have been more tired than what I was.
All I could do in that situation was to keep on swimming, I finally made it to shore but it was such a long time, and mostly my arms and lower stomach was is pain!! (I was def. not in that good of shape to be swimming for that long!!)

Being a beginner, I just though you could get on your board and just ride waves.
I now understand that I def. need to know more about RIPs ( how to look for them, how to get out of it? ect.)
Maybe if I knew more I would not have been in a panic or maybe not even have got myself in that situation.

Study how and why rips occur and the methods to get out of them. ie swim accross them not against.

... i have only been surfing for one summer and the guy i go with is not a very good teacher ( sorry 'pieman'!) but he did grow up with the sea and so for what he lacks as a surfer he makes up with knowledge of tides , rips etc ..and so far i think that that has been more usefull ..mainly due to , everytime we have gone surfing , he seems to have ppicked the most nastee rippy blown out days possible ' !!

Oh I totally know what you mean!
We went out with our friends a couple of times when we first started, and they never mentioned how important it was to know & study the water conditions before you get out there!
They just taught us all the technical stuff they felt we needed to know to catch a wave and etc.

One thing is for sure, you can only grow through your own experiences!

I am looking forward to getting down to the jersey shore soon! The weather is starting to warm up here & I can't wait to go surfing! WOO HOO!

ohhh... my goodness... i know exactly how you are feeling jersey girl! I was caught in a rip about a month ago when I first started surfing too!! I was in thailand and my mate thought it would be fun to hire as board and give me a quick lesson on paddling and duck diving n stuff. So we hired only one board and paddle out to where we could no longer stand. I realised that i was slowly being dragged out without even moving!!! i tryed to fight it and swim my hardest back to shore to the point where i was extremely exhausted!! I was even being dragged under by the waves breaking over my head! & because we were sharing a board we couldnt both get on it so i paniced and was holding onto my friend for dear life! two hrs later we reached the shore in complete shock! I sat on the beach crying for ages! I couldnt even breathe! But i thought if i dont get back on the board and into the water today it'll take me even longer to over come this new found fear! so i walked for about an hr down the beach till i found a much safer spot. I know its hard but you just have to face your fears and start over. You'll learn to forgive the water.. If you visit unfamiliar beaches make sure you go around and check with the locals who might know a thing or two about any dangers there. If you ever get caught again remeber SWIM ACROSS THE RIP, NOT AGAISNT IT. good luck surfer girl

when i first started surfing i made sure i had a few lessons from a respectable surf school (in OZ there are all over the place) i learnt on the gold coast were the rips and sweep are crazy but you learn fast when you have to. Its all about safetly first. I'm using a book to learn writen my Taj Burrow..Taj's guide to hot surfing....i found it really good.
Lots of "TB" tips. Stuff like how to be comfortable about your abilities and don't go out if the conditions aren't right for you..etc.