I just read about this guy who drowned at OB yesterday: Tom Kennedy.
Ok, ok, I’m not really doing much on this blog… I have big plans, but other projects are even bigger. But this story pushed a bungh of my buttons, and I’m in the mood to write, so here it is.
Now, I don’t mean any disrespect to a man I never even heard of, but what the heck were they thinking? I would *never* voluntarily go for a swim at OB without
- A wetsuit: the water is cold year around. How cold in degrees doesn’t matter. What matters is “cold enough to put you in full-blown hypothermia in 20 minutes.” Without a wetsuit, you’re going to die. Fast.
- Checking the tide: slack tide, low or high only. If the tide is mid-range and moving, forget it. Current will kill you.
- checking the swell: A friend of mine invited me out today for a big south swell, 16 second period. I didn’t go, other things (those projects I mentioned) going down. That means it was building yesterday. Here’s the deal: If your in knee-to-waist deep water and the waves are breaking at your eye level, that’s about 3-4 foot faces. That sounds pretty small, huh? It’s not. At the size, a set wave will knock you down. If the tide is mid-range and moving, you might get sucked out. Small waves, big danger.
- Is there anyone else in the water? Specifically, are the any surfers out there that could help me out if I got in a bind? If there’s no one else out, forget it, it’s way too rough (and people will surf pretty rough conditions at OB, so if you don’t see any surfers out there, you have NO business being in the water).
For what it’s worth, I spent 4 years in USMC Amphibious Reconnaissance, living on Onslow Beach, and I’ve surfed OB since 2002. I’ve also done a significant amount of wet caving in Southern Indiana, where the water is as cold as OB. Our mantra: “Keep moving. Or die.”
I know what I’m talking about.
In this particular case, I read that someone sitting on the bluff watched it all go down. It was a nice day, a nice Sunday. There were probably loads of surfers out there. Had this man rode the rip into the line up, I am sure a couple of surfers would have had him on a board and back on shore in minutes.
The irony of course is that rips are surfers greatest friends at OB. I’ve spent hours, literally hours paddling like a madman at OB to get into the lineup, getting pushed back to the beach over and over and over. It’s incredibly discouraging to paddle for 20 minutes as hard as you can, only to find out… you’re in waist deep water, and it’s breaking at 6 foot over your head!
In fairness to myself, those were pretty big surf days, 10-12 plus.
But I see it all the time. People running around getting into the surf up to waist, chest deep. Or even worse, letting their kids mess around. It’s stupid. The outer bar is breaking at 11 foot, and some dude is letting his little 5-8 yo daughters run in and out of the shore pound in bikini swimsuits.
In short, if you hanker to swim in the ocean in Northern California, you’re pretty much out of luck for a safe place to swim. I do know a couple of places, but I prefer to keep those to myself. You can get a tide table and topo map and find them just as easy as I did. Just about every other place I can think of… you’re taking a real risk going into the water, even with a wetsuit, even with a wetsuit and a surfboard.
Be careful out there!
Update: I have to say more… as I mentioned, I have a fair amount of experience in the water, including the ocean. Even now, or maybe because of this experience, when I’m driving down to the beach on a big day, I feel FEAR in my body. Shortness of breath, tension, focus, a total elevated state of existence. Just even thinking about going into big water gets my blood pressure up. I believe this is normal, and I’m thankful for it. Sometimes, it takes me 30-45 minutes watching the water before I go out. But when I do go out I’m ready.
