Toddler drifted out to sea on a Unicorn floaty ..

On the subject of Cornwall the latest Poldark book is being serialised on BBC Sounds.

Wow, they were lucky Jaberwok. Perranporth ? is one of my favourite beaches and where I lived for one winter and where, to my shame, after always living by/with the Cornish sea I had to literally run for my life when a rogue wave broke at a great distance but was suddenly gushing towards the inner part of the beach. I've never seen anything like it and don't think I could have predicted it until it was almost on me.

I grew up (and have always lived by the sea and a tidal river ) so I was taught early on about water safety; my parents used tide time tables to plan swimming trips especially as we liked to go night swimming a lot. I made sure I taught my own children the same valuable lessons and like others here I was taught not to take inflatables into the sea.

We lived in Cornwall for two years when we were first married, in a village nr Penzance and having had holidays at St Agnes as a child, I was fairly clued up with Cornish beaches! The one place I remember as being particularly dangerous was Chapel Porth. My grandparents had holidays there before the war and were both caught in a rip tide when swimming having been told by locals not to! They were taken down the coast and ended up at Perrenporth (sp?) They were both extremely fortunate not to have drowned!! We didn't make that mistake!!

Sorry, comments above not intended to belittle horror of letting a small person drift away.
Awful and scary.

Moggie57 I have never to my knowledge used a beach with a lifeguard.

I have spent hours in the sea though and knew from very young age that anything inflatable could only be used when the tide was coming in.

I think this goes back to knowledge of (and respect for) the sea. My parents bought tide tables and we planned expeditions around them. We were extremely rural so couldn't rely on help.

"Conditions" .. ?

Speaking of dangerous water comditions ..

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_sea

I used to body board in Cornwall by myself when I was quite young - I think now that I was very lucky. There were certain restrictions which I kept to, such as not going to a certain beach etc.

Yes, it is spelt Porthcurno. ?

Rip tides can be very frightening.

This happened to my OH on Porthcurno (sp?) beach in Cornwall- he was a very strong swimmer, but just could not get out. We formed a human chain and got him out - but it was awful.

Growing up on the Atlantic we were taught to watch "like hawks"- As children we were given markers on the shore to look for, like beach umbrellas and lifeguard stands and to stay between them no matter if we were in the ocean or playing on the beach-

But .. on a trip to the Carribean when I was a teen I got caught in a riptide .. if it weren't for two local coworkers .. Ive no idea what would have happened to me ..

I was taken off guard by the beautiful, blue water and how calm the water "looked" .. but wasn't ..

Given the subject of the thread, I can't resist pasting this story. Amazing self control and confidence of the girls, but 24 hours on two paddle boards tied to a buoy!

www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/relieved-mother-of-rescued-women-says-paddleboards-will-never-darken-doors-again-1.4329346

Thanks Jabberwok.

That was me biba70 and of course you are right. My parents had an upright high sided swimming pool in their garden, 4 ft deep, and when our two were young they learnt to swim in said pool. I can remember them both having arm bands and having to be very careful and vigilant as was my mother who loved swimming! We did have pool toys but under strict supervision at all times and kept deflated. I think this is what I was thinking of more than the local pool, where of course they weren't allowed for the reasons you stated.

It's not safe even holding on to a rope attached to an inflatable.
The sea is so unpredictable.

I lived in the Canaries and we regularly saw this happening. Luckily all made it back to safety but it really was incredible to see people allowing their children to bob about in the sea. No thought of currents or strong winds which were prevalent there.

Not all beaches have lifeguards.

I'll never forget watching a lilo blowing down the sands (one of many), towards the water with a man in hot pursuit.

He decided that this lilo was more important than his life as we all watched in disbelief as he started to swim after it and didn't stop!

Yells from the beach were pointless and a couple of locals dashed after this man. Human chain was formed and the man was saved, minus his lilo.

of course Calli, of course- we all have. But I do think most of us would not have allowed a young kid on an inflatable on the sea. Would you? For exactly the reason you stated.

Someone mentionned inflatables on pools - and as a trained pool safety officer, they are so dangerous on pools too. We often had conversations with pool attendants in holiday resorts who were tearing their hair out with parents who allowed their kids to disobey, or disobeyed themselves, the clear instructions that inflatables are NOT allowed. Attendants have to see the bottom of the pool and inflatables obscure this- and would hide from view any child or adult who had floated below the surface and were drowning, or indeed drowned, because of this. When they reminded people of this, they were abused and told to f* off.

narrowboatnan I read about that. So glad your little grandson is safe and, as we said, it just takes a second.

Amazing how calm she was though?

I thought that biba but one report said she was frozen with fear.
Perhaps just as well, had she got distressed she may have lost her grip.

narrowboatnan glad everyone is OK and hope they all feel better about it soon once the fear and anxiety pass and it sinks in that all is ok

I'm sure they have punished themselves too much as it is

Everyone has taken their eye off the ball.

I agree Starblaze
It only takes a second.
Hold your hand up those who have never had a moment's panic with their child.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Yes, I understand too - the connection between people's reactions and sentiments is a very natural and sad one. I made the connection too.

Gagajo I saw that too and it's so painful.

Dogs are dogs and people are people.... All deserving of care

Yes! Although I'm also a sucker for an animal charity. Those big brown doggy eyes.

The little boy refugee in a life jacket in the media last week made me cry. He looks like an older version of my grandson. There but for the grace of God... I just wanted to hug him.