Rip currents

Again the sea has claimed the lives of bathers along the coast, over the weekend there were two people drowned one at Guardamar and one at La Marina there were also several people who got into difficulties and were rescued or managed to reach the shore. I witnessed one person being swept out to sea on a strong rip current, after initial panic they swam parallel to the beach and escaped the current but were very exhausted by the time rescuers reached them to help them ashore. After the spring gales the seabed at Guardamar now varies in depth dramatically and there are many sandbars and deep hollows, when the sea gets slightly rougher the waves pour over the sandbars and the water rushes out through the deeper channels this is where the danger is as the water can be moving at up to 2.5 metres a second and in a minute you can be up to 100 metres off the seashore, once the race of water gets to the end of the channel the current dissipates and by swimming to one side of the rip and then towards the beach you can reach the safety of the shore - that is if you are not exhausted by this time.
The Cruz Roja Lifeguards do nor start their patrols untill June, and it is obvious that the patrols are needed earlier in the season.

La Marina campsite

Well done to the La Marina campsite, it has been ranked 2nd out of 8500 in Europe in a survey taken by the Dutch tourist organisation ANWB Eurocamping. the first spot went to a camping ground in Holland,

Help for K9 cat sanctuary

Tuesday, Bec and myself were on the rota for driving and help at K9, K9 now have a small cat sanctuary in the campo just outside La Marina, where the lady who runs it (Jill) needed some assistance with the tasks that had built up, There are 20 cats there at the moment from young kittens to full grown adults, so we helped by cleaning the litter trays, assisting with administering medication, feeding them and tidying up,If anyone would like to spend some time helping at the cattery, Jill would really appreciate the assistance and the cats would love the extra company.

Better safe...........

As the school holidays begin in UK we expect to see a few more families coming out for a break, though I have to say its mighty quite to date. It seems a good time to remind people of the dangers of swimming in the sea. There was yet another fatality along the costa, at La Marina beach, a family group went in and one of them lost there life. I do not know what warning flag was flying at the time but I do know how often we see people ignoring warnings. A few days ago the the yellow caution flag was flying and we saw so truly foolish behavior. One mother took her two primary school age children in to the surf on lilos, other even younger children where left to play in the water alone, it takes a second for anyone to fall so what chance would a young child have? In the first week of august last year at least 7 people drown while using the beaches in Spain. It would be a good idea to fine those who enter the sea when the red flag is flying. Why should we have young people working as life guards risking there lives to save those who will not heed the warnings. Last year we witnessed what could have been an appalling tragedy at Guardamamr. A couple walked into the sea with their young children in there arms, it was evening and the life guards where off duty. How luck for this family that all the guards had stayed to play volley ball because the parents could not get out of the water and were in danger of being sweep away. Thank goodness the life guards realized the danger and got them all out of the water. believe me they would have had no chance if help had not been so close at hand.
While we are on the subject its alarming to see how many parents think one life guard at the local pool makes it safe for them to forego any parental responsibility. You get good quality lifeguards and you get bad, would you make a judgment on which is which when a childs life may depend upon it? Please please be careful on the beach and in the pool. Have a good holiday too.
Footnote: Shortly after writing this blog I read in the paper that a 3 year old child had been drown in the municipal pool at Catral. A life guard was on duty and there where many people in the pool but sadly no one noticed until it was to late.

J´s bar opens

J´s bar in La Marina has opened for refreshments, including breakfasts and Fish and chips, located next to the charity shop in the Carrer de Monaco commercial centre, we had a nice well cooked breakfast there last week. They are closed during siesta.

La Marina Beach

The weather is cooling down a bit, so we have to get in some swimming while we can, the sea is still reasonably warm so we had a trip down to La Marina, we got there to find with a stiff breeze the rollers were coming in like it was the Atlantic, we still went in for a dip but it was quite hairy at times swimming in white water and diving through the waves as they were breaking. The depths are very variable so not to be recommended unless you are a strong swimmer. At one time we saw a large shoal of sandeel type fish in an oncoming wave, seconds later a very big fish, possibly a shark, surfed through the wave after the small fish and was gone in a flash. The beach runs from Guardamar harbour northwards and has sand dunes as a backdrop, it is a long section of beach where there is a beach bar, part of it is a recognised nudists beach.