Safety Tips For Surfers

Video Transcript

"Hey! Thanks for reclicking on expertvillage.com. I'm once again Howard Lefstein and here we are back in Malibu, California talking about hazards in surfing, wave size, and potential stuff than can kill you besides the sharks. We won't even talk about sharks. Just keep watching shark week and you'll be good to go on your sharks. A wave can be anywhere from ankle high to 80 feet, which has been ridden somewhere in the world. Today we're only going to get about ankle high to about chest high, which is maybe 2-3 feet. You can describe a wave from being ankle to head high as we do here in California, which is maybe 1-4 foot. But if you're in Hawaii or somewhere else in the world, they're going to describe it from the back of the wave, which is measurable surf. If you're in Hawaii and they say 2-4 foot, you're looking about a 4-8 foot face from the front. If you're in the ocean and you see a big surf and you see it from the beach and it looks like someone's head, it's running about head high there. If it looks over their head, it could be doubled over head, so that's another way to describe it. Hazards at the beach can be rip currents. A rip current usually happens when there's a massive amount of water coming towards the beach and there's nowhere to flood back because the waves keep coming. Once again, the water going back into the ocean is going to create a little river that is flowing along the side of the wave, which is the side of the sandbar. If you get stuck in a rip current, the best thing I can do is yell for help, which is help or just sit there and drift out of the rip current and then try to swim to the beach. If you're really desperate and want to get out of it right a way, the best thing is swim parallel to the beach waving your arms and yelling. The next hazard could be seals, porpoises, sharks, whales, other kinds of fish, which are going to encounter. If one happens, just pull up your feet and just let it go by. If you get really spooked, go inside and don't paddle back out. If you step on some rocks, you could cut your feet so once again, booties really help. Another thing to know is always have ask someone before you go surfing if you've never surfed there, and they will help explain the technique in getting in and out of the surf. Always know how to get in and always know how to get out. There's 2 rules in surfing. Number one is never turn your back on the ocean and number two; always ride a wave in. Again, I'm Howard Lefstein on expertvillage.com. Thank you."