Rip Tides

The weather service warned us not to go swimming today because strong winds out of the east caused rip tides and dangerous swimming conditions. So I went to the beach on Minnesota Point. So did this dude kite surfing. You can see the kite but not him because he is in a trough between waves.

With my binoculars I can see he is on a foil and standing a good foot above water level. This surfer zoomed right across the water while we watched. Some people don't have the good sense their Maker gave them but they sure have fun! All the beach closer to the lift bridge is closed. The contractor for the Army Corp. of Engineers is extracting the sand they put down on the beach last year because the dredged sand was contaminated with shredded aluminum cans. The cans appeared to be from the 1960's era. The sharp cans will cut bare feet.

Here is the view on the board walk at the 12th street beach.

Big signs advice us not to swim. When swimmers get into trouble, they are rescued by the city fire fighters. I guess the Coast Guard saves vessels and the fire department saves people.

On the quieter side of the peninsula I saw a loon looking at me. I watched the loon eat a fish.

Our state bird is the loon.

One ring billed gull sits while the other one stands on one foot.

My girlfriend told me she improves her core strength by walking backwards on a treadmill or with another person who tells her she is going to bump into something. I took this opportunity to walk the pier backwards while enjoying the waves. Walking backwards is more difficult than I thought it would be.

The gulls wonder why I am walking backwards. I found a stick and threw it off the pier to see if it would float to shore or get caught in a rip tide and float out to sea. The stick did neither. When a wave crashed over it the stick moved closer to shore and in between waves it moves farther from shore. The stick moved away from me but parallel to the shore. A human body would take up more space in the water than a floating stick so I can see how the undercurrent would pull you away from shore. The more I think about Lake Superior, the more I realize how little I know about Lake Superior.