Category: Daily Living
Hello :)
I live nearby a great lake, and there are many who swims there during summer.
The last days has been nice and warm, and now i REALLY wanna go swim! I want to know your experiences with going alone to the beach.
1. how do you keep track of where you leave your stuff, like towel?
(A towel out in the lake is a no-use-towel)
2. How do you find your way back to the stuff you left somewhere .. not to forget how to find your way back to shore?
3. How do you keep track of valuable stuff while being gone to make sure nothing is taken? (walett, cellphone, housekeys and so on)
This is a beach and pier used by quite a few ppl, so there should aways be people around, but i do feel awkward asking them to help me.
- Ranveig -
I've never gone to the beach alone. Even when I had some usable vision, I would often not be able to see where I had left my stuff as I walked toward shore. If I were you, I'd think long and hard before going alone. I wouldn't trust complete strangers to help you either. I had some stuff stolen once and I wasn't even alone. My friend and I were both in the water, and when we came back to our towels, someone had taken my sunscreen lotion and her sunglasses.
i'm all for being independent, but I agree with Becky on this one. I would not go to a beach alone either. For all the reasons both of you have mentioned.
yes i agree with the posters above
:) then i actually agree with myself too, then. :) There is actually a place i could go where i could follow the shoreline of the pier.. but the risk is still a little too high. :p
- ranveig - who did go swimming today .. woohoo!
The above posters are correct, and this is not a blindness issue, though for us there are added things like you mentioned, where to find your things, etc.
But going swimming by yourself in open water is dangerous for a number of reasons, none of which have anything to do with your eyes or lack thereof. Many who go out without a buddy drown, and most of them are not blind.
It's how it works with the daughter and friends, though fortunately with them when they're together they're generally chattery and clump up / stick together: don't any of 'em get a case of the sulks like girls did when we were growing up.
I wouldn't recommend going to the beach alone because of what Leo said. Swimming in open water, or really, swimming in general, is best done with a buddy. This goes for everyone, not just blind people. With that said, there are ways to address the issues you raise. First of all, for finding your stuff, Leave a small, inexpensive radio playing so you can listen to the music to guide you back to your stuff. Or, get one of those luggage locator thingies. It's basically a receiver that beeps when you press a button on a remote control. Leave the receiver on your towel and carry the remote. When you get within 25 feet or so, you can press the button on the remote and follow the beep back to your stuff. Now, I know, you're saying to yourself,"How am I supposed to carry a remote control in the water?" Well, that brings me to point number 2. You can buy waterproof cases for storing valuables while you're in the water. They generally come with a lanyard so you can just hang it around your neck. You can carry phones, keys, money or whatever in them and your stuff will stay dry. Amazon.com has a nice selection of waterproof boxes and cases. Or, go to a local SCUBA shop or perhaps a marine dealership that sells boating gear. You should be able to find waterproof cases at any of those types of places. Don't leave anything super valuable alone with your towel. People are jerks so assume that anything you leave will possibly be stolen. If you do leave stuff, cover it with your towel. Stuff is less likely to be grabbed if it isn't open and obvious. Good luck, use common sense and be safe.
:( I've been wanting to go to the beach for a while..however, I have to agree with all these posts. I live not far from a beach but it's an ocean..no dock or anything like that just sand..It most likely isn't wise to go alone..Even though I'd love to!
I actually disagree with the above posts...
I think going to the beach is alot like traveling in an unfamiliar area you may feel uncomfortable asking, but I assure you it will make your beach experience a million times better...
I went to the beach just about every weekend back in Hawai'i and people were very helpful..
I've done/ tried many things to make finding my stuff as simple as possible.. lol, one of which was sticking my cane into the ground and putting my towel on top to mimic a flag, another thing is getting a very distinct colored towel.. Like pink and orange or yellow and purple? Ugly, but will be easy to spot.
I would also suggest you not bring anything that is insanely important... I'm sure you could go a full day without your cell phone and wallet, though I might be wrong...
Honestly, I don't think you should limit yourself to staying at home on a beautiful 80 plus degree day,, with the sun beating and an ocean a rocks throw away...
And if you are really that worrid, you should start small.. Maybe by not even goig into the water the first few times and just catching a few rays... The beach is your friend...
Hawaii doesn't have the breakers and undertoes that some places do. And it's not about you being the dependent one: whoever you are with you are equally responsible for as buddies when you're out body surfing, etc. You can end up in a situation where you're pulling in a floundering friend with or without eyes. Been there done that, as I'm sure many others have.
You just have to know your local area in terms of where to go, tides, etc.
I definitely agree with the majority here. seriously? leave valuables alone with no one watching them or complete strangers? that's insane. you don't need eyes to figure that out, but brains. Sighted or not, leaving valuable stuff on the beach or anywhere without watching it is foolish. oo, lets just leave this very expensive wallet here so anyone can steal it! really great idea! not! seriously, think for a moment and maybe you'll make some sense.
well, i cant belive some of the posts! while, swimming alone is not wise. justgoing to the beach should not be discouraged. one of the posters makes some good points. get some ten dollar battery radio to serve as a point of reference. comoe gys, we can do just about anything we want with some common sence and some planning! surfes up!
back in the '80s, my husband made a kit with a beeper in it. you could press the remote and it would go off and let you know where your stuff was. i'd never take anything to the beach that'd i'd cry if it didn't come home with me. that goes for watches, jewelry, cell phones, and money. if i take money i usually keep it on me. for guide dog users, if you like to walk on the beach you can use clicker training so the dog can find where you got on the sand and return you to that place.
Like poster 2, I usually go with friends to the beach but I would like to try it one year.
Just to revive an old topic for a moment:
First off, Ranveig said that her beach was on the shore of a lake; in my experience, most lakes don't have serious undertow...waves, yes, but not so much undertow. That being said, swimming alone is a risk, but I wouldn't say don't do it just because you're going to be alone. Just be aware of your own strengths...if the water's normally choppy and full of waves, and you're only an average passable swimmer, then you take your chances going in alone.
As to the beach itself...well, I love the suggestion about the inexpensive radio or the remote thingy. People -can be jerks, and often will be, but the majority are harmless; the idea of putting your towel on top of your cane propped up in the sand is good if the sand is dense enough...you'll hear it flapping, if nothing else, and if you have usable sight and a bright towel, then you can work with that.
So in essence, I'm kind of on the fence. Go prepared, but do try and go. Don't just rush in.
I would recommend not going alone, just because you never know what can happen when you are in the water. I guess if you had a radio nd you could hear it from awhile away. Although, if the lake has lots of waves, I wouldn't go swimming alone anyway, just because you never can tell how far you are from where you left your stuff. It's up to you though.
Your U.S. Coast Guard conducts a lot of search and rescue on lakes, we have flotillas positioned on lakes, we have guard and radio stations on lakes, because people get killed in accidents on lakes all the time.
We encourage buddy plans and float plans on lakes. Lakes are not immune from any of the dangers inherent to water. Yes there are no undertoes but you should always go with a buddy, eyes or not, brains or not.
Walking on the beach is one thing, but if your plans involve hitting the water in skin, suit or PWC (personal watercraft) at the very least someone should know where you are and when you plan to get back.
I lived in California for years, and have gone alone, but its boring.
If you must don't take anything with you you want to keep. It silly for anyone to take the cell phone and such to the beach. You go to the beach to get away right?
Next place your towel near to the water as possible, than walk a straight line, or as best you can to the water. Stay in your area, that way if you walk back you'll find your towel easy, and if you are a bit off you can look for it. You took say 20 steps to the water, so.
Loast go on a hot day, so the sun will dry you, or take you towel with you and rap is about your neck. You can't go under, and if you do you'll have to ring it out.
I mostly went to the beach to walk not to get wet. You want to have the best fun take a friend, or get friendly with someone on the beach.
As pointed out even for the seeing going to the beach alone with no other people around is not a good idea at all if you intend to swim. For just walking you got it, go!
wow. this discussion shocks me.
If you don't feel comfortable going to the beach alone, don't do it' but, for god's sake, don't not go just because you're blind and you're scared of losing your stuff.
This is exactly the kind of herd mentality retardation that allows blind people to be socially marginalized and stowed away out of sight of the public.
It's true that it isn't smart to go swimming alone, but it sounds to me like this is a public beach.
This is just like anything else. Don't be stupid, and you'll be fine. And remember, you have just as much right to go to that beach as anyone else does.
Every time a blind person stays home from going somewhere they wanna go, it only reenforces the way people (both blind and sighted) look at us.
We are blind, but we are not victims.
Going to the beach without a sighted companion is something simple that can be taken care of with a little bit of solution oriented thinking. There have been some great suggestions on this board already.
A cheap little radio can do wonders for finding stuff. If you're comfortable enough in your own skin to be an ultimate super nerd bad ass, you could get a little waterproof case and store your gps in there. You could mark the location of your towel with ariadny gps on the iphone and not even have to have a specialized blindy gps unit.
Sure the coordinates aren't precise enough to get you exactly back to the center of your beach towel, but if you let it lead you to the p o i, it'll at least get you close enough to hear your little radio.
Be creative.