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The Drifter DVD

Rob Moachado in The Drifter: Info and Reviews on the Way!

Endless Summer DVD

Two surfers travel the equator for a never-ending summer surf trip: Info and Reviews on the Way!

Step Into Liquid DVD

Step into Liquid: Info and Reviews on the Way!

What Difference Does Tide Make in Surfing?

Found in Safety, Surfing — Tags: — Texas Surfer

In order to understand why the tide makes a difference for your surf session, you have to know what the tide is. Basically, at every beach, the water is always either coming in from sea or going out to sea.

Low Tide

When the tide is low, water is being taken from the beach area and sent out to sea. This causes the water on the beach to be more shallow than usual. During low tide, you may find that you can walk out into the water a lot further than usual because the water doesn’t get deep as soon. Some areas that are normally covered by water may not have any water at all. You’ll probably have some areas of sand that are only about two inches under water, and some dry sand, little narrow “islands” that come up out of the water. It can be fun to walk in the shallow water and then onto the dry areas, especially when the water is warm. Sea gulls like to hang out on the little islands.

Also, low tide is a great time to walk the beach and find starfish, but you better go very early in the morning or other people will beat you to them.

Safety During Low Tide

Something you need to be warned about is that since the water is going back out to sea during low tide, it’s (remotely) possible that you’ll be taken far out to sea, possibly never to return. You don’t want to swim or paddle out very far during low tide for this reason; you might not be able to paddle back to the beach.

One time I was right at the end of a jetty when the tide started going out. I was on this little Rusty surfboard that requirs a lot of paddling in any type of condition, and I’m still surprised I made it back to shore. I floated past the jetty and was headed into the wild blue yonder. I paddled as hard as I could, and when I was so tired I wanted to stop paddling, I’d think, “If you don’t paddle you’ll die.”  After several minutes of paddling, it looked like I’d traveled maybe 3 feet. I eventually got back inside, and I was so tired I was done for the day.

High Tide

When the tide is high, water is being brought into the beach from the ocean. This means the beach water will be deeper than usual. The deeper water is, the bigger and more powerful waves it creates and sustains. When you surf, the bigger and more powerful waves you can find, the better your surf sessions will be.

Plus, high tide will bring you home if you get tired out there. Just relax on your board and the water will push you toward the beach. Imagine closing your eyes and drifting off a little on your surfboard (not really recommended), then suddenly you hear your board float right into some sand. You were out there and now you’re on the beach. You look up and say to the ocean (or God, or however you view mother nature in its most awesome form), “Hey, thanks, man!” Nothing to it.

  • Surf during high tide for the safest and most fun sessions.
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Shark FAQ

Found in Safety, Shark Attacks, Surfing — Tags: , , , — Texas Surfer

These are questions that people are actually typing into Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, and ending up at TexasSurfers.com. Some of these are questions they search for using the search box you see at the top of this web page. I figured I'd share them with you and answer what I can.

First I’d like to point out that sharks aren’t “mean.” They’re just hungry and if you’re in the water they just might taste you. A shark might decide you don’t taste good, and only eat your leg or arm; sometimes a shark will be so hungry it doesn’t care how you taste, and it’ll throw you around and eat you up.

Can you survive a shark eating you?

Probably not, but it really depends on how much of you it eats, what parts, and how much blood you lose before you get to the hospital. If it eats 1/2 of you, you probably won’t make it. If it eats your head, you’re doomed. If you lose 1/2 your blood before you get to the hospital, you probably won’t even need to go to the hospital.

Are you more likely to be kicked to death by a donkey than bitten by a shark?

I don’t know, man. I looked for info on this, ended up at Snopes.com, and they don’t know either.

Are you more likely to survive a shark or lion attack?

I don’t know. But one time when I was little I put a tarantula and a scorpion in a jar, and the spider won.

Is there a shark repellant for surfers?

They best thing I’ve found is Shark Shield, but I haven’t tested it out. If they’ll send me a free setup to test it for you, I’ll let you know how it goes.

What colors attract sharks?

Bright colors. Shiny things. So the wetsuit I have that has yellow and blue and red all over it is not a good thing to wear in the water, and jewelry isn’t a good thing to wear in the ocean either.

You also shouldn’t skinny dip in the ocean… the one time I got bumped by a shark, I had just slipped on my shorts under the water.

What do you do if a shark is near you?

Get back to shore quickly but without splashing and screaming. Splashing and screaming could excite the shark and cause it to attack you. But I’ll admit that the one time I was bumped by a shark, I got out as fast as I could and I did quite a bit of splashing.

Are there a lot of sharks in Galveston surf?

I’ve been told sharks like to hang out between the second and third sand bars. This sucks because the best waves are right in front of the second bar. I’ve never had any trouble with sharks in Galveston though, and I used to surf it nearly every day. This includes San Luis Pass, which people tell me is infested with sharks and has crazy rip tides. Never had any trouble there, it was just a great place to surf.

Do sharks attack people alone or in groups?

Sharks mostly attack people when people are alone, but they’ll attack people in a group also. It’s best to surf in a group. You probably won’t get attacked, but if you do, you have people to help you. And it’s more fun in a group anyway.

Do sharks come out in the rain?

Rain stirs up the water, and fish are known to bite more during or just after a rain. It seems likely that sharks are more prone to “attack”, or feed, during and just after a rain.

How fast do sea lions escape shark attack?

Hmm. I’d say sometimes it isn’t fast enough.

If a shark is involved in a fight and loses a limb will that limb grow back?

No.

Can you surf during menstruation?

I wouldn’t recommend it. Blood and even urine attract sharks.

Sharks attack surfers because they think they are:

Turtles. You look like a turtle from under the water when you’re on your surfboard and your legs and arms are hanging off the sides.

Staying calm around a shark…

I don’t think I could stay very calm around a shark, so I don’t have any mind tricks to share.

Will a shark leave if you hit them in their sensitive spots?

It might, and that’s what you should do. But the spot you should hit is their nose. I’m thinking it’ll be easy to see their nose in order to hit it because it’s right above the teeth they’re trying to eat you with.

Texas Shark

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Your Mission: Surf on President’s Day

Found in Safety, Surf Movie, Surfing — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

It’s what the President wants. It’s what those guys are fighting for. Not everyone gets to surf in peace.

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Introducing Up-to-Date Shark Attack News

Found in Safety, Shark Attacks, Surf News — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

shark attack Introducing Up to Date Shark Attack News

Texas Surfers Brings You the Most Current Shark Attack News.

Checkout the Shark Attack News Feed.

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Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks

Found in Safety, Shark Attacks, Surf News, Surfing — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

Finally, A Shark Repellent that Works

I’ve looked high and low for a shark repellent and finally found one worth mentioning. It’s a product called Shark Shield, which repels sharks with an electric field that induces spasms in the shark’s snouts. It’s used to repel sharks while participating in numerous water sports: “surfing, bodyboarding, longboarding, snorkelling, scuba
diving, free diving, spear fishing, commercial diving, kayaking, ocean swimming and boating or fishing.”

Shark Shield is provided by an Australian based company, of the same name, that specializes in manufacturing products that protect people from sharks. According to their website, Shark Shield is used by the Australian Elite Army, the South African Navy, the US Coast Guard, and is approved by NATO. It provides protection against all predatory shark species. Tiger sharks, Great Whites, Bull sharks, Makos, Bronze Whalers, and more are deterred by this product.

How Shark Shield Works

Here’s an illustration of how Shark Shield works for surfboards.

surfer shark shield Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks

“The Surf unit is compact and lightweight and produces up to an eight meter shark safe zone. The unit can attach to all surfboards and weighs around 350 grams, and the less once in the water. The unit comes compete with mounting plate, deck grip and electrode tail. If you have more than one surfboard, mounting plates can be attached to numerous craft and the unit is then detached, using an Allen key, and reattached to another mounting plate. This Shark Shield Surf has a 7 hour rechargeable lithium battery.”

shark shield grip deck Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks
shark shield surfboard mounting plate Shark Repellent for Shark Attacks

I talked with the head of the surf unit at the company, who told me a shark shield device for a surfboard would cost
$499. That’s not cheap, but it’s worth it, especially if you plan to surf in waters known to have shark attacks.

Here’s a video that provides more information about Shark Shield.

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Red Tide Serving Up Free Dinner at Corpus Beaches!

Found in Safety — Tags: , , — Texas Surfer

red tide algae Red Tide Serving Up Free Dinner at Corpus Beaches!

I don’t think you should actually eat fish that have been poisoned by algae, but the beaches have shored up quite a few dead fish recently, due to red tide. Red tide is an overabundance of a type of algae, which kills fish and fills the air; some surfers have complained in recent weeks of this stuff stinging their eyes.

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Vodka and Jelly Fish, Sounds Good to Me

Found in Safety, Surfing — Tags: , , — Texas Surfer

jelly fish Vodka and Jelly Fish, Sounds Good to Me

While stumbling through random websites, I found this list of anecdotes that says, “vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting.”  So there you go. If you don’t have any urine to pour on your jelly fish sting and you don’t mind tossing some vodka, pour vodka on your sting and it should go away.

It also apparently helps cure swimmer’s ear: “Eliminate swimmer’s ear. If you don’t have rubbing alcohol, fill an ear dropper with vodka, and squeeze it into the affected ear, then let it drain out.”

You can even use vodka to get rid of last year’s beach parking permit and all the glue they tend to leave behind.  “Rub the glue with a soft, clean cloth soaked with vodka.”

btw, there are a lot of other things you can do with vodka too. Funny, this list I found doesn’t even mention drinking it. Basically, if you’re of age, you should be taking vodka to the beach with you. You’re gonna need two bottles and they need to be plastic.

If you read this and then pour vodka on a jelly fish sting, you really need to email me about it.

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Avoiding Surfboard Injuries

Found in Safety, Surfing — Tags: , , — Texas Surfer

Found a really good article you’ll like about injuries caused by surfboards over here. I like to think that everyone gets smacked by their board now and then, but who knows. I do know it happens to me at least once a year, and it hurts pretty bad.

surfer under water Avoiding Surfboard Injuries

When you go under water, it’s a really good idea to be sure you know about where your board is before you bring your head back above water. This can be difficult if you’re totally out of air after a wipeout and you’re having trouble finding the board, but it usually only takes a second or two. What you do is kick back the foot that has your leash attached to it, or pull on the leash if you can find it, and you also know the board is going with the current.

It’s a good idea to also never put your board between yourself and a wave, because a wave could quickly push it right into you.

You could also be hit by someone else’s surfboard, so you have to lookout for others’ boards too.

Here’s an excerpt from this article:

… A lady that had progressed nicely over the last year since I gave her surf lessons last summer was out surfing and attempted to push her board through a breaking wave. For some reason, the board didn’t penetrate the wave as intended and it was pushed back with a vengeance, hitting her in the mouth and breaking a couple of her front teeth.

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Beware Sea Lice and Jelly Fish!

Found in Other Water Sports, Safety — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

A reader wrote:

Hi, my wife & I are considering a visit to Port Aransas and possibly other spots along the coast for body surfing. What’s the scoop on sea lice? I am not talking about the bait shrimp; I am talking about the jelly fish larvae that make you itch like crazy. If there are sea lice, are there times of year when they are more prevalent than others? Also, are there times of year when the surf is better than others?

Sea lice are jelly fish babies, so as you can imagine, coming into contact with them is a somewhat painful experience. I found a few advertisements on the internet that say sea lice are more prevalent in the summer months but to be honest, I doubt this. I’ve gone to the beach and seen hundreds of jelly fish on the sand at all times of the year, and whenever there are jelly fish there are going to be jelly fish babies. Correct me if you know differently, but I don’t think sea lice are seasonal; I think those advertisers want you to buy their products and they know most people will be at the beach during the summer, so they emphasize summer sea lice.

Sea lice skin reaction.

Sea lice look like little white buggers, if you want to know the truth. People have various skin reactions to them. Included in this post is the picture of a girl who was scuba diving off the Gulf of Mexico (not sure where) and came into contact with sea lice. Apparently she was so bothered by them she had to go to the doctor. I’ve come into contact with sea lice many times, and they create a light burning sensation and a bit of itchiness that goes away after a few minutes. The most annoying situation is for sea lice to get into the waistline area of your swimming shorts, where they’ll stay and make you continually itch. Sea lice have never caused me to end a day at the beach, go to a doctor, or apply ointment. Your skin might react differently.

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Jelly Fish

On another note, jelly fish aren’t much different from their babies. They’re bigger and they burn and itch a little more. I’ve seen kids stand up in the water and discover they had a jelly fish wrapped around their arm; they just yank it off and throw it in the water and stand there, a little freaked out. Some people, however, are allergic to them. So far I’ve only been discussing white jellyfish. There are also some dark blue jelly fish down here on the Gulf called Mano war jelly fish. I’ve heard that people who are allergic to them can die or be seriously hurt if they run into a Mano war; the good thing about Mano wars is that they have a big bubble that floats on top of the water so you see them coming. They only float along and aren’t mobile, so you don’t have to worry about them trying to come after you.

Seasonal Surfing Conditions

To answer the reader’s final question, surf is better during winter months than in summer months. Be sure to check the surf forecast at CoastalSurfing.com before heading down south for a surf trip.

Got a Question?

Send us an email and we’ll help you out.

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How Likely Am I to be Eaten by a Shark?

Found in Safety, Shark Attacks, Surfing — Tags: , — Texas Surfer

You’re more likely to die from a falling coconut (hey, it happens, they fall out of the tree) than get eaten by a shark.

I’m going to find more of these shark facts so if you know one or think you know one, please send me an email and tell me about it.

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