Life rings at Mullet Bay

Dear Editor,

It may come as surprise to many, that two able bodied young men drowned in the waters of Mullet Bay last Saturday. Please allow me to explain my perception as to how easily this can happen, and my suggestion as to how future incidents may be avoided at minimal expense on not just this beach but to other beaches on our beautiful island.

Ideally, traditional approaches adopted all over the world would be effective, such as flags and lifeguard towers or even buoyed lines (that would have the additional advantage of keeping out those pesky jet skis). A compelling argument could be made despite the costs involved, but realistically people are already starting to put this tragedy behind them as an anomaly or something that just happened, and not likely to happen in the foreseeable future. However, I believe this would be a mistake, and when I explain why, I am sure many Mullet Bay users will identify with my explanation. Moreover for those of you who doubt, you can check it out for yourself on any afternoon when the surf us up over there, in some portions of the bay.

But first, here is a story what happened to me at Mullet, full moon before last, I remember because there was a great full moon party the night before, which I attended with some friends and we decided to go the beach the next day. We went to a section near the center of the beach, which was not my usual choice, but where my friends who are not locals had chosen, as I dropped them off first, before parking the car.

The waves were high that day, and my friends elected to stay on the beach while I ventured into the ocean. undaunted by the towering waves, since as long as you keep an eye on them, you can ride over them, before they break, of if they do, just duck under. In any case, since my purpose was to swim so I elected to swim further out where it was much quieter.

The real danger of Mullet is not the treacherous waves that you see with the eye, but the invisible under tow current that lurks below. My swim was enjoyable, but to my chagrin when I decided to swim back to shore, I found that I could not. You see the ebb was so strong, that try as I might I could not get far enough in, to put my foot on the ground to enable me to walk out. In all my many years coming to Mullet I had not encountered a current quite so strong. Admittedly, I had not frequented the beach as much as I used to, and when I did, the waves were not quite as big, or perhaps as mentioned earlier this was not one of my regular spots.

I confess that I was more embarrassed than panicked because I knew there were always two options that I could call on. The first was to swim parallel to the shore until you find a spot where the current was sufficiently less strong, that would enable me to touch bottom or the second option which was to catch a wave back in. I chose the latter because I did not want to keep my friends waiting. But with waves that high, one could get physically injured if you don’t time it just right, which as an experienced Mullet Bay goer I was able to perform, the only downside being my shorts filled with sand ,as I was deposited on the shore line. As I exited the beach, I remember thinking to myself, someone of less experience could have become exhausted   or worse succumbed to panic.

Now that I have explained the problem as to how easy it is for someone to find themselves in difficulty. Please also understand that it is highly likely for someone on shore to witness someone in distress or even watch someone drown mere meters from the shoreline and be unable to do anything about it.  Because when the waves are that big, to try to save someone is not the same as the fun experience I had riding and ducking the waves going in, since while you are distracted performing your rescue, you could be seriously pummeled by a large wave. Rescuing a desperate person even in calm water can be challenging. According to media reports, the second young man that perished did so in an attempt to save the first one. Given the circumstances, I would like to recognize that young man was a bona fide hero.

Here now is my cost effective solution to the problem. This can be introduced either voluntarily or forcefully, throughout the island but particularly in the context of Mullet Bay. I would ask that all umbrella/chair operators, should as a condition of their license ,be mandated to provide and prominently display life rings (with the attached ropes) on poles within their area of operation, which in most cases is the prime portion of the beach. The poles should be sufficiently tall that they would be visible to beach goers and the rings sufficiently high so that they cannot be easily tampered with. This would serve both as a reminder and a recourse. These rings would be the responsibility of those laying out the umbrellas and could be the last thing they put up (or take down) when performing their lay out. They can even impose an “after use” charge of $5.00. These rings can be hurled out to someone in distress while retaining the loose end of the rope. So that the distressed can be pulled in without risk to the rescuer. In the instance that the target is too far out, the current would naturally take the ring to him and he will at least enable him to stay afloat and alive until a rescue is affected.

Sincere condolences to the bereaved families, there is a message in your loss and it is my hope that it does not go unheeded.

Michael Vieira