Our several days at Wells Beach, Maine, reminded me of how much I know about the beach, the tides, the undertow, the textures of sand and the sensation of the elements on my feet. From 1949 until we left Oregon in 2001, I was at the Oregon Coast countless times. Once I was 10, I was frequently on the beach either alone or with friends and siblings. In order to be safe, I had had to learn a great deal about the ocean, much of which came back in Maine.
The first and prime lesson was “never turn your back on the ocean.” “Sneaker waves,” unusually far reaching ones, could occur at any time. We were constantly reminded of the time our friend’s mom had noticed the ocean unusually far out. She grabbed her kids and ran up to the edge of the sand. A huge wave would have swamped them if she hadn’t been paying attention.
The second, equally important lesson, was to never climb on logs which were in the water. Each year an unsuspecting visitor was caught by a wave tossed log rolling over him. There were no logs at Wells, but I remembered the warning as if there were!
Thirdly I learned to tell if the tide was incoming or outgoing, not just by consulting a tide table. We observed the sand and the motion of the waves. When I was a kid we could only wade or swim on an incoming tide since the undertow of the outgoing was so treacherous. This came back to me as we walked at Wells on an outgoing tide. I asked a native about the undertow. She said it was very strong. Later we saw a sign warning of the same danger.
I grew up without helpfully stationed lifeguards. We were responsible for keeping ourselves safe. We learned our lessons by heart.
Saved By Words 
Personal responsibility seems not to be considered by many nowadays. If something untoward happens they always seeks to blame someone else.
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Peter, have to agree
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And be rescued by someone else. Hence our hospitals filling with vaccinated people.
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Well, you certainly learnt valuable skills, Elizabeth
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Absolutely.
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I spent weekend many days and summer holidays at a beach with my parents. Unlike yours, they taught me nothing about the sea or the waves. I must have survived by luck! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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And you also nearly drowned. Maybe they didn’t want to terrify you any more.
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It sounds like you learned the lessons well.
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I love the picture of you at Cannon Beach. Such good memories and important learning too. How did Maine’s coast compare to Oregon’s? I’ve not been to Maine yet but hope to get there someday. My goal is all 50 states and I’m still short of 13!
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Maine has many different coasts. It has every kind you could imagine from rocky to sandy and everything in between. I hope you do get there some day.
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We live near the ocean, and regardless of how many times we’ve heard the “beware of sneaker waves” advice, people failing to adhere to this advice drown every year. A couple of years ago, a horrible tale involved a girl who drowned while staying with her friend on a sleepover. The amount of guilt someone must feel who has been in charge of a drowning child must be off the charts.
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That is awful.
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Excellent advice, Elizabeth. And what a beautiful photo!
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This should be fundamental for any child at the beach. May I add that learning how to swim is important for every child? The ocean has it’s own agenda.
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My mother didn’t know how to swim, but took lessons at the YWCA after we began to regularly go in the ocean.
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Good for her!!
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here there are a lot of rips and holes – and there are life savers at the popular beaches – with signs that clearly say “swim between the flags” – lots of think that’s for sissies!
or the rogue waves – that befell plenty of fisherman who think that the best fishing spot is off the rocks – many have lost their lives on said rocks
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Yes in Oregon we regularly lost fishermen off the jetties.
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We do not forget lessons learnt so well, do we? Thank you for sharing.
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Did you learn certain things when you were a child similar to these?
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My childhood was far from the sea. I will have to think about such lessons learnt in those days 🙂
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I am sure you learned similar things that pertained to your specific surroundings.
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I was taught those same lessons.
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We look at the tides each day too Elizabeth. So we know where to walk.
At the moment we have what is known as King Tides which happen at this time of the year.
They are super high & super low tides.
All tied to the phases of the Moon & it’s orbit.
Blessings,
Jennifer
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I suppose I remember King Tides too though I never knew their name. Once a year we were able to walk behind a large rock at a very low tide. My best friend and I got up very early one summer to do just that.
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