Riptides...

The following information is not provided as a terror management manipulation, nor is it intended to keep you from enjoying the beautiful ocean near which our conference houses are located.  However, for those unfamiliar with this area of the country, I feet it prudent to provide some information about riptides, so that swimmers will take proper care.

Riptides (or "rip currents") are real, they are deadly, and they are common in the area where the Duck conference is held.  In a one week period in 1998, 778 swimmers had to be rescued from the ocean near where we will be (Corolla Beach and neighboring Dare County, to be precise).  Though exacerbated by storms or hurricanes, often many miles away, rip currents can occur at any time. 

Shortly before one year's Duck Conference, seven swimmers died after being caught in a riptide in Australia.  In the US, approximately 100 people die each year in riptides, and though these are obviously not all on the Outer Banks, we will be in an area where riptides occur with high frequency.  Riptides are by far the leading cause of lifeguard rescue efforts, and our beaches will have lifeguards infrequently, if at all.

Riptides occur when waves build up an underwater sandbar, which is then breached, causing water to flow out more rapidly in the breached area.  This outward flow can be very powerful, and sometimes very large, causing swimmers to be forced far out into the ocean. 
 

Sometimes riptides are visible as anomalies in wave patterns: 

Often, however, these anomalies are visible only from the air, if at all:

The strategy for escaping a rip current is to swim parallel to the shore, rather than to try to swim to shore against the current, which is essentially impossible.  Eventually you will come out the side of the rip current and can then head into shore, assuming that you've conserved your energy.  I would also encourage ocean swimmers to let others know when they are going in, and generally, not to go alone.

As far as I can recall, we've never actually lost anyone to a rip current, so I wouldn't get too excited about the possibility.  But since it would put a real damper on the conference if very many of us were washed out to sea, I thought I ought to provide this information. 

Please swim carefully!

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