TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | SEPT 2018 7
By Allie Hayser
SURF CAUTIONS AND SAFETY
Personal Key Points: Get fit and know some swimming techniques.
You can’t always rely on your floatation device to keep your head up
and out of the water. Practice freestyle, treading water, and get some
practice ocean swims until you feel comfortable. Sun protection is your
friend. Save alcohol for after your session.
Surfing Alone: It may feel pretty magical to score a whole wide ocean
to yourself, but it’s unpredictable and wild. Thanks to Ocean Rescue,
you have some land support while you’re out surfing, but the summer
“on” season will come to a close soon enough, so always surf with a
buddy or surf in places where there will be bystanders on the beach
at least.
Board Flukes: When you wipe out make sure to cover your head with
your arms. Your board, whether it is foam or fiberglass, can hit you hard
enough for a concussion or a cut. Try to keep a hold of the rails of your
surfboard when you are walking out into the surf so it doesn’t get taken
by waves and becomes a hazard.
Surfing with Surfers: Simply put, be present. Practice good etiquette,
wear a leash so you don’t lose control of your board, look in all directions
before you commit to taking a wave, and bring the good vibes.
Weather: Just because it’s sunny with a slight chance of rain, never
means what you’ll think it means. Weather shifts can happen in a
matter of minutes, so take note of wind changes, clouds rolling in,
increased texture acting on the surface of the water, and people leaving
the beach. Lightning is a real danger. You may not always be able to
depend on hearing thunder before lightning strikes because it can be
hidden by the sounds of waves hitting the shore. Check the weather, be
present, and read the changes while you are out there.
Waves and their Currents: Waves are pretty unpredictable on Tybee
because we have short period wind waves on the regular. On occasion,
we can have a sneaky bigger set of waves coming towards the shore.
Make sure you are aware of where you are in the lineup, keep your
attention on the incoming waves, and paddle- you’ll be fine ... maybe
even luck out with the wave of the day. Accept your limits, if it’s too
rough or you lose your mojo, end your session and surf another day.
Rip Currents. Yes, they exist. Don’t fight them and exhaust yourself.
Focus, breathe, and paddle out of it parallel to the shoreline. If paddling
isn’t working, wait for the current to stop, stay on your board, and then
paddle back towards the shore when you stop moving. If out too far and
getting back in isn’t an option, wave your arms so that our helicopter
coast guards or fishin’ crews can help you. We have a natural longshore
current that runs parallel to the beach. Some days it has a lot of pull
and movement, so when you know the current is pulling you towards
an object, like the pier or jetties, anticipate how much drift you can take
before impact. Many surfers do the drift, get out, walk back down, drift,
repeat method. This will save your arms from trying to paddle against
the current, but make sure you feel comfortable exiting and entering
when the current is pulling.
Underwater Land Hazards: South End has the pier with its barnacle
crusted pilings, the granite jetties near the sandbar, and on occasion
maybe some beach fun debris washed in with the high tides. If you
happen to get a cut or scratch while surfing, unless you are bleeding
everywhere, you are going to live … but clean it out well with alcohol
afterwards. Warmer water tends to contain higher levels of bacteria, so
better off on the safe side to avoid infection.
North End has the jetties as a key part of its right handed point break.
Same rules with the barnacles here. In the past, there were some metal
poles under the sand discovered unfortunately by skimboarders. With
the help of the water sports family and city council, they were removed.
With that being said, check it out at low tide to make sure there’s
nothing to be worried about. That is a good rule of thumb when you
surf travel to breaks you’ve never seen before. Learn what’s beneath
you, how much water you’ll be wiping out in, and any underwater land
hazards.
Sea Critters: Tybee is a shore break, meaning that waves crash right
on the shoreline with little to no water depth. This area is the habitat
of the Atlantic Stingray. They dig holes/body pits in the shallows where
the longshore current runs along the shore to feed on crustaceans,
clams, and sea stars. This is why you’ll need to do the “stingray
shuffle” where you shuffle and slide your feet as you walk out into the
ocean. Beware when you wipeout because it’s shallow and they may
be feeding beneath the sea. When you wipeout, “starfish” fall ... which
looks like a slight belly flop mixed with a star pose … it’ll keep you
from twisted ankles and being barbed by a stingray.
In the summer, it is jellyfish season. You can try to pee on it to make
the sting fade, but that’s an old wives tale. Your best bet is to exfoliate
the skin immediately with some shell-filled wet sand and then apply
vinegar. Tybee Island mostly gets Cannonball (no sting), Moon (mild
sting), Sea Nettle (medium on the sting scale), Sea Wasp Box Jelly
(medium-to-epic sting), and even the occasional Portuguese Man-of-
War (the most epic electric sting in all the area).
Sharks exist here too, but due to pop-culture they seem like monsters
and I don’t want to feed that notion. Don’t surf after dark, while
bleeding, or with a bucket of chum and we can all be friends here. All of
these sea critters are important to the health and ecosystem processes
going on in the ocean. Jellyfish are a food source for crowd favorites,
like sea turtles, while sharks are apex predators that keep populations
of fish healthy and in proportion for the ecosystem. Stingrays unearth
food through their digging for other animals and are also a food source
themselves. Sea critters matter too!