Child Safety

Watch the NOAA Lightning Movie

Lightning is a rapid discharge of electrical energy in the atmosphere. Each spark can span over five miles in length, reach temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun and contain 100 million volts of electricity.

Lightning strikes are not only dangerous; they can be deadly.

The electrostatic discharge occurs within a cloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.

Lightning doesn’t strike the ocean as much as land, but when it does,it spreads out over the water, which acts as a conductor. It can hit boats that are nearby, and electrocute fish that are near the surface.

If you’re at the beach and hear thunder or see lightning, get out of the water.  Get off the beach and take shelter in a building or in your car.  If you’re at sea, head back to a shelter on land.  If you can’t, either stay low in the boat or retreat to a cabin. Do not use electronic equipment during the storm.

lightning-ocean-tico-mae-retreatsEvery year, millions of lightning flashes fill our skies.  Each one has the potential to cause a devastating and shocking impact.

 

Don’t Touch the Coral

Coral is beautiful, and looks like rock, but it is actually a fragile living animal. If you touch coral with your fins or hands, you kill it. You might think this is because you crush it or break it. That is bad, and should be avoided also. But even just lightly touching it acts more like a poison to it. Sometimes the results of touching it will not appear for weeks to months.

Coral is so wonderful to see and so important to our world that you should feel like you just ran over your kitten if you touch coral. Not to mention that coral is sharp and will often cut your skin, leading to infections, and can cut your fins also.

Fire corals have a bright yellow-green and brown skeletal covering and are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters. They appear in small brush-like growths on rocks and coral. Divers often mistake fire coral for seaweed, and accidental contact is common. Upon contact, an intense pain can be felt that can last from two days to two weeks. The very small nematocysts on fire corals contain tentacles that protrude from numerous surface pores (similar to jellyfish stings). In addition, fire corals have a sharp, calcified external skeleton that can scrape the skin.

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Ultimate Man-Made Wave

“This is head and shoulders over what people have seen before,” said Dave Prodan, spokesman for the World Surf League. “I think the excitement is around — wow — this is really getting close to replicating the energy that we see at some of the world’s best waves of that size.”

tube-wave-tico-mae-retreatsThe biggest appeal of an artificial wave such as the one that Slater is riding is the chance to give surfers time “inside the tube.”

Stay Safe in the Surf

If You Get Stuck in a Rip Current

  • Don’t fight the current
  • Swim out of the current, then to shore
  • If you can’t escape float, or tread water
  • If you need help, call or wave for assistance

Rip currents are powerful currents of water moving away from shore. They can sweep even the strongest swimmer out to sea.

Always Be Safe

  • Know how to swim
  • Never swim alone
  • If in doubt, don’t go out

Find more info on rip currents at NOAA.
noaa-tico-mae-retreats

The Swellest Little Town

FLASHBACK!
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swellest-little-town-tico-mae-retreats“Sámara, on the other hand, has always had a hold on me. The roughly 1 dozen square blocks – sandwich between a hilly range in the Pacific ocean – are dotted with low-key in the cottages. Howler monkeys below from the treetops, want to scuttle across dirt roads, and carefree young couples stroll along the uncrowned beach.”

Surfing Fun with Little Ones

I don’t think there is a correct age to teach someone. I teach children as young as 2, and adults in their 60s and 70s. However the techneque you might use does vary depending on how old the child is.

Children under around 10-11 (and boys particualy) have an amazing ability to engage with a subject if they become passionate about it (think how much kids seem to know about Dinosaurs!). However you cannot force a child to engage at that level, it has to be something they find interesting, and the younger they are, the more important this is.

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Stretching and Surfing

Surfing is one of the most physically intense and demanding sports. It requires physical and mental focus at all times. In order to develop the strength, stamina and balance you need to be a successful surfer, we recommend that you integrate the following components into your workout regimen:

  • Core Strength and Balance
  • Upper Body Strength
  • Lower Body Strength
  • Flexibility, Stretching and Yoga

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The Feminine Sea

Here are some aspects of feminine cooperative power, with analogies to winds and oceans.

Feminine power is beauty. Harmony is beauty; beauty is power. Thus, ultimate harmony is ultimate power. If you seek true beauty, no amount of make-up can compensate for a competitive attitude or anger. What gives you true beauty? When you are naked in the morning, what makes you beautiful? It’s certainly not the clothing. When life flows through you and you live harmoniously with your environment, you can’t help but be beautiful at all times, naked or dressed.

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