Surfers renew warnings about the danger of swimming at the North Mole

Former president of the Whanganui Board Riders, Steve Fulton, said it is only a matter of time until someone drowns at the North Mole. Photo / Erin Smith

Surfers and lifeguards have renewed warnings about the dangers of swimming at Morgan St beach at Whanganui’s North Mole, with one calling it a “ticking time bomb”.

The spot is popular for surfing and fishing, but former president of the Whanganui Board Riders (WBR) club Steve Fulton said there were many people who mistake it as a suitable place to swim.

But it contains consistent rips, and he said club members make regular rescues.

“Probably every couple or three months”, a surfer assists someone caught in one of the currents at North Mole, Fulton said.

“Especially over summer, it’s probably more. I see people whenever it’s not westerly [wind], and they’ll be swimming on a beautiful, calm day.

“But normally, the swell and the rip beside the mole are always there. It’s just super dangerous.”

Whanganui Surf Lifeguard Service (WSLS) lifeguard co-ordinator Olivia Bedwell said, “a boundary rip forms alongside anything that sticks out into the ocean, so that can be a rock, a cliff, a buoy ... anything”.

Additional rips tend to form in the North Mole area and may shift location day to day.

“It’s always quite dangerous to swim around there,” Bedwell said.

This month, board riders club members and long-time Whanganui surfers Matt Edmonds and Ben Englebretsen saved two children who had been swept out past the mole while swimming with their family.

Both surfers said the event was a close call and a challenging rescue, and was not the first time either surfer had saved swimmers at the North Mole.

Bedwell strongly encouraged swimmers to swim in designated areas between the lifeguard flags at Castlecliff Beach or Kai Iwi Beach.

“That way they’ll be in a safe spot for starters and guards can keep a better eye on them as well,” she said.

Lifeguards do not patrol the North Mole.

Fulton said much of the safety problem at North Mole stems from a lack of public awareness, and more needed to be done to warn people of the danger.

“There’s no signage to say no swimming in this area, which needs a big sign,” Fulton said.

The WBR club has tried regularly to educate beachgoers themselves, posting on Facebook and even constructing their own warning signs in 2016 following a spate of near-drownings.

“It’s a ticking time bomb.”

Fulton said he worried the issue will only worsen with the upcoming plans to revamp the North Mole parking area, bringing more people to the area.

“It’s [already] so easy to get right there, and the kids can just run down the beach.”

Surfers are not always present, and not all surfers are trained in how to save someone.

Fulton said simple measures could be taken to dramatically improve safety in the area, including the installation of a permanent warning sign advising against swimming and educating the public on the dangers.

“The surf lifeguards don’t do enough in this area,” he said.

Bedwell said the North Mole is outside of WSLS’ patrol area.

Fulton said ropes bolted to the rocks, widely used in Australia, could help as a lifeline for fisherman to prevent them falling in.

“You’re so fixated on what you’re going to get out of the water that a big wave will come through and wash you off.

“It’s that simple that they don’t think of it.

“As soon as you step off into that, you’re gone.”

Swimmers stuck in a rip should follow the Surf Lifesaving New Zealand guidelines of the three ‘R’s, to remain calm, raise one hand and ride the rip – never fight against it by swimming directly back to shore.

If you see someone in distress in the water, do not jump in after them unless trained.

Instead call 111 and throw them a flotation device if available.

Erin Smith is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.