Tips: Boogie Boarding

From what I know Boogie Boarding is know to people from the Northern East of the United States, aka New England. Boogie boarding is done is the ocean and it is kind of like surfing except you lie on your stomach on the board. You never get on your feet. How? You go to the ocean and when a wave is approaching, you get ready and then when it is about to break, you let the wave do it's thing. I think the bigger the wave, the better it is.

When you boogie board you are in the ocean and the ocean is cold. So you are going to need a rash guard or t-shirt. Rash guards are sold at places like Roxy, Lands End, O'Neil, etc. You also need a boogie board and they don't need to be expensive, unless you want to it to last long. Boogie boards also come in so many different sizes. There are some that are tinier than a small kick board. I got my boogie board this year from the dump reusable section. Don't worry it was actually found brand new and wrapped. But you can get your boogie board from Christmas Tree Shops. I got mine last year and it worked well. I mean, it did snap in half, but I was still able to boogie board with it. Also you don't even need a boogie board to boogie board you could just boogie board with your body. I mean my dad does it, but it's probably better to just get a board.

But in boogie boarding you have to be careful also. Sometimes your legs get scratched up by the rocks on the ground while getting pushed by a wave. That is probably the only thing that is going to happen to you, but as a precaution I want to tell you these next 2 things. The first thing you need to watch out for are sharks. In New England there are sharks. Especially on Cape Cod (check out my adventure on Cape Cod in my previous post). When you know a shark could be nearby is when you see a gray seal. This is how they look.



Please stay away from gray seals. Great white sharks feed on gray seals. When you see a gray seal in the water, it does not mean that there a shark nearby, but you never know. So if you are in the water and see a seal, at least swim far away from it or get out of the water. Also if you see a shark fin, do not go in the water, or if you are in the water, GET OUT. This is what the shark fin looks like.



I also need to warn you all about rip tides. A rip tide is a tide that pulls you out to sea. When you are in a rip tide, do not panic and swim parallel to the beach until you are out of the rip tide and swim back to shore. My uncle has been stuck in a rip tide twice. He is a great swimmer and once it was even difficult for him to get out of the tide so be careful. If you can't swim out of the tide, wave your arms and yell help. This is what a rip tide looks like.



I hope you all enjoyed learning about boogie boarding. Please be careful out in the ocean, it isn't as safe as you might think. My worst nightmare is getting pulled out in a rip tide and then a shark coming for me. Let's knock on wood and hope it doesn't happen. I honestly kind of freaked myself out putting the shark fin picture in my post. I'm pretty sure I have seen a rip tide and shark before. So be careful and new post every Sunday.

- Caroline