Drifting in a rip current about 300 metres offshore (and counting) at Muriwai beach, one of Auckland’s high-energy west coast beaches, I started to think of the common advice given to people on what to do when caught in a rip current. “Just swim to the side” came to mind. Yes, that was good advice, but possibly not so good given that the rip current was so wide I couldn’t actually see either side.
I suppose I could have taken a shot at it Olympic-swimmer style, but I reasoned that by the time I made it to the side, if I made it at all, I’d be halfway to Sydney, so what was the point? Another stellar piece of advice was, “Don’t worry, the rip current will eventually bring you back to the beach.” Would it? Really?
