Three people almost drowned and many others got into difficulty during huge swells at Marble Hill yesterday.
The situation has led to a local surf school to issue a plea to people to stay out of the water during such sea conditions if they do not have experience.
Lee Wood of Narosa Surf School in Dunfanaghy issued the plea via Facebook last night.
The experienced surfer told how the lifeboat service rescued two people in difficulty swimming while Narosa staff themselves reduced three from near drowning.
Lee explained “The situation today at Marble hill was a disaster and could have been very bad for the area. Narosa staff rescued 3 people from near drowning and assisted many others in trouble. This has added to a tally of over 30 people in the last 7 years. A lifeboat rescued 2 swimmers in trouble.
“Cars blocked the stair entrance to the beach where parking is forbidden, causing an ambulance difficulty in gaining beach access. There was some very heated exchanges between drivers on route to the beach.
“This is not our normal type of post but we have to share a few thoughts from our experience in the ocean. Today at Marble hill was a mess. For many simple reasons.
“The surf was very big, an unusually large summer swell. Please understand this is not the day to send your kids down into the water with little experience on equipment that can get them into trouble. If you are an adult and have little surf experience book a lesson. At very least ask someone who knows what they are doing before you paddle out.”
Lee issued a number of pointers for people to consider before entering the water.
1. Understand perspective; when you look at a beach from a distance with little or no surf experience the waves can be a great deal bigger when you get to the waters edge.
2. Parents must supervise their children in the water. There was a huge number of kids as young as 5 out in the water without supervision.
3. If you are not surfing or swimming at a high level you should not go out into the surf without assistance when the waves are large.
4. Cheap bodyboard/surfboard purchases and rentals from inexperienced parties is not a good idea. Please use an approved surf school and listen to their advice. Most surf schools will not rent with the large surf conditions we had today.
5. Where you see a surf school in operation in the water do not swim out into the middle of the group. Surfers in the group are learning and won’t always have good control of their boards.
6. Please take your time driving down and park respectfully. Do not try to get right to the waters edge if the cars are beginning to park along the road; a five minute walk is better than getting stuck for half an hour in a road block.
Lee added “Many people had fun down there today and came out of the water happy. Very few who weren’t in lessons however can say that they were in their comfort zone or knew what they were doing.
“Please share this as to let people know whats going on and how to reduce these incidents happening. We love surfing, the ocean and people enjoying themselves. Once the safety and understanding of the ocean is put first we can all have fun.”
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