Beach Conditions

Yellow and Purple flags today. Water was much calmer and no real noticable June grass. I would classify the water conditions this week as good. Had a 3 or 4foot shark swim between me and my wife and neice today. We saw it a little before it was on us. A little excitement! Oh, and I would say about 80% of our party had some sort of jelly sting. The camp creek outflow sure is awesome. It's like a hot tub of sun tea.

Well, if there is a single jellyfish out there, my 15-year-old daughter will not even put her toes in the water. She was stung by a box jellyfish (sea wasp) in the Virgin Islands when she was very little. It sent her to the ER in terrible pain. They had to administer demerol. If the jellies don't clear up, I guess we won't be going in the water. Is it too hot to just sit on the beach and not go in? Will there be a decent breeze to keep us cool? Do we have to worry about jellies in the creek?

luvthebeach57

I would have to say overall our last trip here was the best one to date! Our family has been coming to the beach for the last 10 years, the last seven in SOWAL and the most recent two in Watersound. We love the place! I am a father of two boys, 5 and 18 months. The five year old spent the majority of his beach time swimming in the Camp Creek outflow. I especially like the outflow b/c it gives us an additional option on the beach if there are jellies or the surf is too rough. The outflow does have a small population of blue crabs with each one having probably been caught multiple times by boys and girls with nets. It was fun to see and I don't think the crabs were any worse for the wear. No jellies in the creek. As far as the June grass it was not bad at all. Most days I didn't even see any. I am sorry to hear about your daughter. The jelly stings that we we received were probably much milder in comparison. We did have a small 3 or 4 foot shark swim between my wife and I about 15 yards from shore. My wife and niece were a little spooked but I thought it was somewhat exciting. It just meant, time to go back to the camp creek outflow. You all will have an awesome time! As I sit here at my desk writing this I am thinking that a year is a little too long to wait until our next trip. I think I may act on Smiling Joe's warning and come back during alligator season in October...

CPete,

Thanks for the info about the beach conditions at Watersound. We will keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best. There are no guarantees when we are dealing with mother nature.

Last week

We did a dive at St. Andrew and the water was pretty clear, later when we got to the condo at Seagrove it was not ,but didnt bother us we sat at the beach and loved it.

Later as the cane hit the gulf it churned up the water and cleared it up nicely. Another great week at Seagrove. Sure hated to come back.

I would have to say overall our last trip here was the best one to date! Our family has been coming to the beach for the last 10 years, the last seven in SOWAL and the most recent two in Watersound. We love the place! I am a father of two boys, 5 and 18 months. The five year old spent the majority of his beach time swimming in the Camp Creek outflow. I especially like the outflow b/c it gives us an additional option on the beach if there are jellies or the surf is too rough. The outflow does have a small population of blue crabs with each one having probably been caught multiple times by boys and girls with nets. It was fun to see and I don't think the crabs were any worse for the wear. No jellies in the creek. As far as the June grass it was not bad at all. Most days I didn't even see any. I am sorry to hear about your daughter. The jelly stings that we we received were probably much milder in comparison. We did have a small 3 or 4 foot shark swim between my wife and I about 15 yards from shore. My wife and niece were a little spooked but I thought it was somewhat exciting. It just meant, time to go back to the camp creek outflow. You all will have an awesome time! As I sit here at my desk writing this I am thinking that a year is a little too long to wait until our next trip. I think I may act on Smiling Joe's warning and come back during alligator season in October...

It really sounds like you had a great vacation. Thanks so much for signing on and giving updates, I really enjoyed reading your posts. Working just fills up time between vacations ;-)

Thinking about going down this weekend...so it sounds much improved?? Thanks for the updates.

Meanwhile, to our east...

haven't heard about anything in Walton County yet, but according to WJHG, PCB had 22 rescue calls today, and 2 visitors lost their life. And double red flags were flying.

Red and purple flags are currently flying in Sowal.

Red and purple flags are currently flying in Sowal.

I'm sure there will be a number of folks in the water today, eager to once again confirm Darwinism. OK, that's a little disrespectful to those who perished yesterday and the grief their survivors are experiencing. But for my money, it looks too rough.

So why is it that the News Herald (PCB paper) refers to the rip currents & red flag conditions being caused by Hurricane Dolly? She hasn't been in the Gulf for a week! Don't they think anyone will notice?

And WHY do people insist on going in the water when there are double red flag conditions? When we visited last August, we were afraid to step in the water with yellow flags flying. I just don't get it!

So why is it that the News Herald (PCB paper) refers to the rip currents & red flag conditions being caused by Hurricane Dolly? She hasn't been in the Gulf for a week! Don't they think anyone will notice?

And WHY do people insist on going in the water when there are double red flag conditions? When we visited last August, we were afraid to step in the water with yellow flags flying. I just don't get it!

I've seen people sitting out on the beach during a lightning storm who seem completely oblivious to the danger. Either people are just plain ignorant or are thrill seekers.

I've seen people sitting out on the beach during a lightning storm who seem completely oblivious to the danger. Either people are just plain ignorant or are thrill seekers.

It is the former.

I've seen people sitting out on the beach during a lightning storm who seem completely oblivious to the danger. Either people are just plain ignorant or are thrill seekers.

A few days ago, a young mother of two got struck about 1 mile from our house walking away from a local pool. It was still sunny out on one side but the clouds were thick and dark on the other. She's on life support at a local hospital.
A friend of my husband lost his teenage daughter to lightening on a beach in the Hamptons about 10 years ago. She was playing volleyball, clouds came fast and she got struck and killed. When I see lightening, I RUN like hell now.

A few days ago, a young mother of two got struck about 1 mile from our house walking away from a local pool. It was still sunny out on one side but the clouds were thick and dark on the other. She's on life support at a local hospital.
A friend of my husband lost his teenage daughter to lightening on a beach in the Hamptons about 10 years ago. She was playing volleyball, clouds came fast and she got struck and killed. When I see lightening, I RUN like hell now.

And yet you want a pool?

And WHY do people insist on going in the water when there are double red flag conditions?

For the same reasons they try to drive their Cadillac onto the beach -- to see what it's like.

And yet you want a pool?

Please leave my alter-ego in the Business, Goods and Services room.

Please leave my alter-ego in the Business, Goods and Services room.

Please leave my alter-ego in the Business, Goods and Services room.

Sorry I couldn't help myself.

We got to the beach yesterday and it is absolutely beautiful. The water is a little more green, because of the June grass I guess, but it is nto a big deal. There were these odd blue jellies that I had never seen before, but I don't think they sting, because one of my kids picked one up thinking it was trash in the ocean and nothing happened. There are the bad kind of jellies out there as well though. The really bad part is the double red flags. We played on the beach, built a sand castle, but then went back to our pool, when it got too hot.

There were people trying to wade, but the guys in the pick ups and 4 wheelers kept them out. Apparently there was an accident toward Panama City. I have enjoyed reading the different forums and have been trying to educate my kids on respecting the beach and the life that is here even when we are not. We have made a game of filling in the big holes (save the sea turtle), but it is too hard to tear down other peoples sand castles, so we have been leaving them alone. My kids did have a blast tearing down there own sand castle. There was one hole that was very deep and narrow. One of my kids could have slipped in easily and been covered before anyone saw it happen. We filled that one up and packed it down. What is the point of a big hole?

So, for all of you that are not here now, but will be soon, every day is different at the beach and we can just hope to be blessed with no red flags tomorrow and that the jellies chose to vacation elsewhere!!

Input from a South Walton Lifeguard.

I just want to say thank you for all the appreciation and support of locals and
Visiting tourists who thank us on a daily basis for the work we do as lifeguards.
We put our lives on the line everyday to keep people on the beach safe.

Most days are noneventful (thank God.) Today was not one of those days.
Today was suppost to be my day off. (Gods day.) I was call in to help out
because of the double red conditions. As I arrived at the Tower the flags were
being changed from red to double red. Double red flag days are NEVER fun days
to work. When we go to double red flags, one of the first things we do is get everyone out of the water. (Or at least that is the plan.) We move down the
beach in each direction, east and west of the tower asking/telling people to get
out of the water. Most people are very grateful for the warning and clear the water.

A very small percentage of people do not want to cooperate. This small
percentage make our work very difficult and sometimes dangerous. They get
out of the water when we ask them to, but when we are 100 yards down the beach
they jump right back in !!! They are putting their lives in danger and they are
also putting the lifeguards in danger by there actions. Adults who do this are
setting a VERY bad example for children and other adults who watch them blow off the lifeguards.

We are trying to keep them alive and they want to argue with us !!!!

Double Red means the water is closed. No discussion. No negotiations. No arguing. I had to ask one family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children)
5 times to get out of the water ! They would get out and get right back in when I
was back at the tower. One kid shot me a bird and yelled at me when
I ask him to get out of the water!

One major problem that I see with the way this currently works, is we (the lifeguards) have no enforcement powers.
If someone wants to ignore us we have to call the sheriff’s office and have them send out a deputy to get them out of the water and give them a ticket. Lifeguards need limited enforcement powers to be able to give out tickets. And the fines need to be substantial; $300 to $500 per person/per incident. How much is life worth?

PS: The lifeguard program always needs more money and these fines would help the program greatly.

I just want to say thank you for all the appreciation and support of locals and
Visiting tourists who thank us on a daily basis for the work we do as lifeguards.
We put our lives on the line everyday to keep people on the beach safe.

Most days are noneventful (thank God.) Today was not one of those days.
Today was suppost to be my day off. (Gods day.) I was call in to help out
because of the double red conditions. As I arrived at the Tower the flags were
being changed from red to double red. Double red flag days are NEVER fun days
to work. When we go to double red flags, one of the first things we do is get everyone out of the water. (Or at least that is the plan.) We move down the
beach in each direction, east and west of the tower asking/telling people to get
out of the water. Most people are very grateful for the warning and clear the water.

A very small percentage of people do not want to cooperate. This small
percentage make our work very difficult and sometimes dangerous. They get
out of the water when we ask them to, but when we are 100 yards down the beach
they jump right back in !!! They are putting their lives in danger and they are
also putting the lifeguards in danger by there actions. Adults who do this are
setting a VERY bad example for children and other adults who watch them blow off the lifeguards.

We are trying to keep them alive and they want to argue with us !!!!

Double Red means the water is closed. No discussion. No negotiations. No arguing. I had to ask one family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children)
5 times to get out of the water ! They would get out and get right back in when I
was back at the tower. One kid shot me a bird and yelled at me when
I ask him to get out of the water!

One major problem that I see with the way this currently works, is we (the lifeguards) have no enforcement powers.
If someone wants to ignore us we have to call the sheriff?s office and have them send out a deputy to get them out of the water and give them a ticket. Lifeguards need limited enforcement powers to be able to give out tickets. And the fines need to be substantial; $300 to $500 per person/per incident. How much is life worth?

Peter-maybe your crew could employ the famous (but I am not sure if true) technique of handing out a toe (or wrist) tag with their name written in sharpie so as to easily identify them once their cold, lifeless carcass is fished out of the water. That might get through their cranium.

Peter-maybe your crew could employ the famous (but I am not sure if true) technique of handing out a toe (or wrist) tag with their name written in sharpie so as to easily identify them once their cold, lifeless carcass is fished out of the water. That might get through their cranium.

Save the paper...just write it on their arm. Peter...I just shake my head when I read these stories. This is like risking the lifeguards life for premeditated idiocy. Thank you and your crew for what you do. What needs to be done to give lifeguards that power? I think we should help!

I really appreciate hearing from one of the lifeguards on this issue. We arrived at Watersound on Saturday. On Sunday, we started out with red flags, until the early afternoon, when they changed to double red flags. The lifeguards drove down the beach asking everyone to get out of the water. Everyone complied and I only saw one man get back in the water afterwards. We were very disappointed that we couldn't go swimming, but we respect the flag system and understand it's for our own safety. I heard on the Panama City TV station last night that two people drowned on Sunday who ignored the double-red flags.

We're hoping we might be able to go swimming in the gulf today, but sitting here on our balcony this morning, I see double-red flags at the beach again. Thankfully, Watersound has an absolutely gorgeous swimming pool at the beach club. We spent a few hours there yesterday. It's a lovely free-form pool with very attractive landscaping complete with cabanas and pool-side beverage service.

Some people like to body surf, like they have for the past 50 years. But with more purple flags flying ..............

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/science/earth/03jellyfish.html?pagewanted=1&em

Peter, thank you for your dedication to the safety of others. Human behavior is often inexplicable. You do all you can and more than your work responsibilities require.
Bless you for that! It frightens/frustrates/angers me that the stupidity and stubbornness of others adds more risk to you.
My sarcastic streak would want to ask those who go in after your warnings "Could I have the phone number of your next of kin so I can notify them if you drown?" I know you can't say that, but it does seem a practical question.