Safety Message 

 Makes Difference 



During the busy summer 

 season, Cole Yeatts, Kitty 

 Hawk's director of ocean 

 rescue, and his lifeguards 

 take time to talk with visitors 

 about rip currents and other 

 beach safety topics. 



And as Christina Lafex 

 of Connecticut can attest — 

 the messages are priceless. 



Lafex admits she 

 hadn't paid much attention 

 when Yeatts stopped to 

 talk with her family in July 

 2001 . While swimming 

 that evening, she found 

 herself trying to come 

 back to shore — but she 

 was caught in a rip 

 current. 



"I panicked at first 

 because I was 

 swimming as hard as I 

 could, but kept getting 

 farther and farther 

 out," she told The 

 Coastland Times. 

 "But then I thought of 

 the words that Cole 

 said." 



Just as Yeatts 

 had instructed, she 

 realized that she 

 needed to com- 

 pose herself and 

 think about what to do. 



She remembered to swim parallel to the beach 

 and soon was clear of the rip current. 



The next day, she looked for Yeatts to share her success story. If it hadn't been 

 for his chat, "I would be underneath the water right now," she said. 



Yeatts' informal beach talks are combined with presentations at time-share 

 communities and at the N.C. Aquarium at Roanoke Island. The town also has posted 

 rip current signs and includes information on its Web site. Each part reinforces the 

 basic safety message. 



"It is very beneficial," Lafex said. — K.M. 



Telltale Signs 

 of Rip Currents 



The following are 

 signs that a rip current 

 may be present: 



• A difference in 

 water color — murkier from 

 sediments or darker 

 because of greater depths. 



• A difference in the 

 waves. The rip current will 

 have larger, choppier waves, 

 while calmer waves are found 

 closer to shore. 



• Foam or objects 

 moving steadily seaward. 



• An offshore plume of 

 turbid water past the sandbars. 



Surfing the Web 

 For Rip Currents 



www.ripcurrenfs.noaa.gov 

 The National Weather 

 Service is unveiling a new online 

 "portal" to provide access to a 

 variety of rip current information, 

 including daily forecasts for 

 various shorelines around the 

 country. Web surfers can get 

 general information on the 

 homepage, or can plug in a town 

 name or zip code to see if the 

 weather service provides forecasts 

 for that location. 



www.usla.org 



The U.S. Lifesaving Association is 

 another source of information on 

 water safety issues. "A rip current is 

 not an 'undertow' — it will not pull you 

 under," explains the USLA site on the Web. 



www.nps.gov/indu/rip.htm 



Rip currents are not exclusive to the 

 oceanfront. They are also found in the 

 Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. The 

 National Park Service explains rip currents 

 are found along Lake Michigan. 



COASTWATCH 11 



