The Gulf Stream....

My friend and prior Captain of the Sportfishing charter boat Sea Boots that I worked on while living in the Florida Keys, had a interesting tidbit about the Gulf Stream on his weekly radio show "This Week in Fishing"... 

The above photo shows a small fishing boat that snagged a deep water Crab trap rope in it's propeller and was in danger of sinking. It may appear that the fishing boat is "backing down" and the Coast Guard inflatable is in power ahead but in fact both boats are NOT moving and it is the Gulf Stream current running past them. The small Coast Guard boat was not able to cut the trap line and our boat the Sea Boots took tow of the small fishing boat by the bow and pulled it 180degrees into the current where there was then slack in the line to be cut...

Interesting facts about the flow and strength of the Gulf Stream current:

Off the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, the Gulf Stream flows at a rate nearly 300 times faster than the typical flow of the Amazon River. The velocity of the current is fastest near the surface, with the maximum speed typically about 5.6 miles per hour (nine kilometers per hour). The average speed of the Gulf Stream, however, is four miles per hour (6.4 kilometers per hour). The current slows to a speed of about one mile per hour (1.6 kilometers per hour) as it widens to the north.
 
The Gulf Stream transports nearly four billion cubic feet of water per second, an amount greater than that carried by all of the world's rivers combined.

Dive Team Duty Crew "Saves the Day"!!...

 

Point Pleasant First Aid and Emergency Squad, an all volunteer first aid squad, has the coverage area from the Manasquan Inlet to the southern end of Mantoloking where Route 35 splits into two separate highways north and south.

This year the squad and it's Dive Team set up dive duty crews that would make sure they had a Dive Team crew available from 5 PM until 8:30PM. This would allow for quicker response times to water emergencies in their coverage area after the lifeguards went off duty.

Each year more and more people visit the beaches and stay later or just go onto the beach after hours for free. This means more people swimming in unprotected water.

Saturday evening, 8-31-13, on one of the last days of the official season as the Dive Team crew were walking on the beach near Martell's and Jenk's, a woman struck up a conversation, asking why they were there. As they spoke she looked up and saw her son get caught in a RIP CURRENT that sucked the boy underwater. The diver, Paul DeSalvo, sprung into action and swam out and had to search under the surface for the 10 year old. He managed to grab him and bring him back to shore safely.

The entire summer of training and preparing for just such an incident paid off in split second of action.

The odds of him going under while the rescue team was in sight are unbelievable but he is alive and well and, thankfully, not the subject of a search and recovery by the area emergency services.

Several important factors are brought to the squads attention with a call like this;
1st No swimming in unprotected waters unless you have others with you...

2nd  Watch out for Rip Currents. Especially without lifeguards present or after hours or off season...

3rd  If you or a family member are dragged under the water and have water in the lungs and are coughing and spitting up, it is vitally important to seek medical attention at the hospital...

Many people have died from a secondary drowning or "Dry Drowning," where they have enough water in there lungs to suffocate as they lay down or go to sleep.

Enjoy the water but be careful, we want you to come back again next season.