Want to try the Sport of Kings? Scottish hero says,
"Don't!"
Surfing has a new mascot and his name is Rip
Current Rory! The young hero from Scotland who was caught in a rip
current and pulled all the way to
Ireland is back in the news today with advice for any
person thinking about trying out the Sport of Kings this
summer.
Don’t!
He returned to Campbeltown, Scotland today, where his horror
began, in order to retrieve his surfboard and thank the Coast Guard
team that saved his life but he also shared his pointers for the
best way to “enjoy” the surf. Shall we read?
Please, see my story not as a horror, but one that could
learned from.
Despite having the correct equipment – a 5mm thickness
wetsuit, with a 2mm thickness torso vest, along with gloves, hood
and boots – there were other things I could have done to prevent
this escalating to the point it did:
A) Do not go surfing alone. It was unnecessary risk. If I
had been surfing with another person, or ideally a group, the
coastguard would have been notified much earlier that I was in
trouble.
B) Have an agreed time when you will be out of the water and
that you will contact either a family or friend who is on dry land.
This is a useful measure as it helps in case something is happening
to your group.
C) Make sure the person you’re contacting knows where you
are going surfing and expect to be back on dry land. If you want to
go back in afterwards just message them saying so.
D) Purchase a personal GPS tracker. Although they can be
pricey at first glance, when you consider the price of both a board
and wetsuit, it isn’t that much more. And it’s worth it if you
imagine two hours in the water before being rescued as opposed to
two days. I know what I would choose. I would suggest this for
non-surfers doing other water sports as well.
So a 7/5 wetsuit, gloves, hood, booties, GPS tracker, crew in
the water, crew on the beach/at home. And that sounds like the
worst time ever!
Between fear of shark attack, menstruation and Rip Current
Rory’s advice I think zero new people will start surfing for the
rest of the year and a few will even quit.
Victory!
