Massachusetts rip current risk has beachgoers using caution as summer winds down
By Amanda Callahan, WBZ-TV
Beach days are numbered for most people as fall arrives in New England, but Monday was a perfect one to end the unofficial summer season. But with warnings about rip currents in recent days, swimmers were urged to take caution.
Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, Massachusetts, was filled with people taking advantage of the sun.
The sound of the ocean waves is one Elisha Gechter and her 9-year-old son Erez became familiar with this summer as the two took up surfing.
"He did many lessons before we came out on our own, as did I. And he was already a really good swimmer for many years in the water," Gechter said.
But the Somerville mom said safety comes first when it comes to their new hobby.
"We didn't surf yesterday because it was a rip current warning. We came to sit on the beach and watched a lot of other people surf," Gechter added.
The National Weather Service listed the rip current risk as high across the Massachusetts coast on Sunday.
On Monday, the Cape and the Islands remain at a high risk. In Gloucester the risk level has lowered to moderate, but Gechter and her son are still taking precautions.
"We tried to stay close to each other when we surf, and we tried to stay close to the lifeguards too," Gechter said.
"If you get caught in the [rip current], you don't want to swim against it. You want to swim to the side of it," her son added.
Lifeguards are posted up across Good Harbor keeping an eye out for anyone who might run into trouble in the water.
It's a reality Thomas Doherty faced years ago on a Florida beach.
"When I was younger, I went to the beach in Florida and a lifeguard came over and told me there's a rip current out there. If you get caught just go with it and then it will take you down to the end of the beach and you can swim in. So that's what happened to me," he said.
If you do encounter a rip current and can't get out, you want to swim parallel to the shore, try to conserve energy when you can and do your best to remain calm.
A moderate rip tide risk is expected to remain Tuesday along the coast and the Cape and the Islands.
