Death Toll Rises At Camber

I have a theory…it’s…only strong swimmers drown. Obviously not literally but as a generalisation a large proportion of those who drown overestimate their swimming prowess or underestimate the strength of sea conditions. Hot day and few cool libations, then a few more and judgement impared…cool off in the sea.

A sad stupid way to go.

The daughter died yesterday apparently

It is indeed. The guy who died the other week was supposedly caught in a rip tide. They explained on the news that these tides can run at over 4 knots, faster than an Olympic swimmer, so most would have no chance.

Awful to hear about the little girl too. Dreadful news.

A few years back I went to the Maldives. I had a bout of amoebic dysentry and made the mistake of going into the sea before I was fully recovered and still weak. A bunch of people had gone in to swim with some dolphins that appeared close to the beach. I swum off after them but by the time I got there the dolphons had gone and the people went back to the beach. As I tried to swim back I realised that I had zero energy left and could barely move my arms. The people on the beach were out of ear shot and paid me no attention. Fortunately I didnt panic and just let myself go with the current. Finally pitched up several hundred yards down the beach by just kicking every few minutes when I got a bit of strength back. It scared the bejesus out of me and I have been very wary of the sea ever since.

Yeah that does beg the rather odd question…should you teach your children to swim. Ask 100 people and 85 (maybe more) would say “yes” I’d abstain because I don’t know.

Absolutely teach your children to swim but also teach them to have a healthy respect for water.

I consider myself a more than competent swimmer but I also know my limits, I very rarely go out of my depth in the sea and I will never swim alone (i.e. on a deserted beach)

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This.

I can say without conceit that I’m a bloody strong swimmer and I’m under no illusions that *if* you’re caught in a serious riptide or current then it’s pretty much all over barring a rescue. Be 'effing careful and always, always, always be part of a group (although it doesn’t sound like it helped these lads).

They got stuck in quicksand apparently

Tragedy whatever the cause or fault … And I hear that complete cunt Katie Hopkins made a Twitter joke out of it … Are there no depths to which that fucking ignorant publicity whore won’t sink…

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This quote sums it up nicely

We really shouldn’t be surprised anymore but still…what the fuck is wrong with her?

I’m not gonna laugh, and don’t mean to take the mick, but that is such an old man story!!

Five mates going for a carefree day at the beach only for every one of them to end up dead is a heart-rending tragedy, and one that has particularly resonated with me because my own sons aren’t that much older than those poor chaps. It seems that sand bars and a rapidly rising tide were major contributors to this tragic incident.

On the subject of rip tides, I was caught in one, myself, several years ago, whilst holidaying in Sitges south of Barcelona. I was some way out beyond the breaker line, so there was little or no chance of people on the beach hearing my cries for help. Fortunately for me, however, a party of touring American Footballers just happened to be swimming about 100 yards from me; and, even more fortunately, one of them turned out to have worked as a lifeguard. He torpedoed through the waves like Johnny Weissmuller and swept me up into his arms like I was his Jane.

At that point, things started to get a little embarrassing because we found that he was actually able to stand up in the water – mind you, he was about a foot and a half taller than me. Anyway, I wrapped my arms around his neck and hung on to him for dear life as he carried me through the breakers. In fact, I was still clinging to him like a limpet when we emerged from the sea on to the beach. And then something surreal happened: a Spanish beach vendor with a tray hung around his neck tried to sell us an ice cream.

It was at that point that my American Hero gently suggested that it would be safe for me to let go of him. I think he was a little embarrassed – possibly because Sitges was a popular gay holidaying spot – but, I wasn’t embarrassed; indeed, I was so grateful that I would have been more than willing to give birth to his children, right there and then on the beach.

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Probably because I am an old man Cherts! :lou_wink_2:

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Mrs RB has been swimming in the sea this morning and I’ve been parading up and down the beach keeping an eye on her.

If you are smart and stay within your limitations it is a good start, but a healthy respect for the sea is vital.

Do people never learn, searching for another missing swimmer at Camber Sands at the moment!

:lou_sad:

We were talking about this in the pub last night. The family of one of the lads that drowned the other day said that there should be lifeguards posted permanently on the beach. It is over 7 miles long and it would take dozens of lifeguards to keep watch at Camber. Accidents do happen but people also need to take responsibility for their own actions.

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The woman has been found safe and well!

Reading the BBC articles, it’s still not entirely clear to me what is being suggested has happened. Apparently the sandy sea floor was undulating (sand bars) and so when the tide came in there were regions that were shallow and regions that were deep. The BBC says that rip tides were not thought to be an issue and doesn’t say anything about quick sand. So is it simply a case that these guys couldn’t swim at all, couldn’t tread water, and somehow found themselves in one of the deep regions? I guess they must have been wading in the water, suddenly the sand unexpectedly dropped away and they got into trouble. Or alternatively the tide came in when they were stood in a trough and they couldn’t climb out of the trough as they couldn’t get purchase on the sand, that seems more likely on the basis that all 5 of them died. But if they were really such bad swimmers what the hell were they doing in the sea in the first place?

I don’t know the area, Sticky, but I read somewhere that the tide at Camber comes in faster than walking pace; so, perhaps what happened is that these fellas walked out across the higher parts of the sand-bars, which would have been exposed and clearly visible when the tide was out, but would quickly become hidden under water once the tide turned. Wading ‘blind’ back to the shore, it would be almost inevitable that these poor chaps would eventually stumble into a trough of a sand-bar and into deep water.

Like I say, I don’t know the area, so I’m only surmising this is what happened; however, if this was the case then I should think there ought to be warning signs alerting people of the potential danger (if there aren’t signs already, that is).

It does come in very fast. Whenever I have been there I havent seen any of these sand bars but they did say that some have formed after recent storms. It is a lovely sandy beach and when the tide is out you have to walk for hundreds of yards before the sea comes up to your knees. It is so shallow I have been amazed by the drownings in recent weeks. I cant recall many other incidents in recent years.