Do you know what a rip current is?

Question

Also known as a riptide...I am curious how many people know what it is and what to do if you are caught in one. Best answer goes to the person who best describes it and how to surivive it.

and do it without googling it...I'll know if you did!

Answer 1

well its basically a current that pulls you away from shore and into the ocean or gulf were there is deeper water.

Answer 2

The rip tide can draw you deeper into the water and before you know it your way out and in danger. The thing to do is to swim sideways and keep swimming  heading  towards the beach.

Answer 3

As waves come in, the water must go somewhere, usually straight back (undertow).  When the structure of the beach and the surrounding shallows is set up just so, it creates a channel that diverts all the water in an area in a specific, usually lateral direction in relation to the beach.  Sometimes it also goes out, as well.

It's a powerful current, and most people panic and try to fight it.  One should allow the current to take them, and to try and work in a sideways direction from where the current is taking a person.  Eventually, the water will carry to an area not constricted by the sand bars, reefs or other structures that created the channel for the water, and the rip current will dissipate.

These structures are sometimes somewhat permanent, but often it's set up by sediment or sand carried in by the waves tides and currents, so when and where they arise can be somewhat unpredictable.

Answer 4

A rip current is where the water looks calm on top, but it is pulling you out to deeper waters underneath. It is too hard to swim back into shore, you have to swim parallel with the shoreline until you are out of it, then you can swim in to the beach

Answer 5

A riptide is an undertow in an ocean that pulls sideways and the best way to survive it is not struggle. Go with it, slowly moving inland and stay above the water until either help arrives or eventually is will end and you will be able to swim out of it. If you try to struggle you will tire yourself out and be in a very dangerous situation.