Thread: Remember your sunscreen! And more!

When you come out to the pier, remember to apply your sunscreen (SPF 50+). If you stay out in the sun during the middle of the day, you might want to consider re-applying it. Sunburn is just one of the hazards of beach life. Another related issue is heat exhaustion/heat stroke. You'll want to regularly rehydrate if you stay out in hot/humid conditions. If you find yourself feeling exceptionally weak like you can't go on, tell somebody. If you make it in to the concession area, get yourself a cold drink and ask to sit in the tackle shop until you cool off.
If there's a thunderstorm near, come off the pier. Through the years, there have been some close calls with lighting strikes. Remember that water conducts electricity and holding a rod in your hand on the end of the pier during a lightning storm is just not a good idea.
Also, if you're a visitor to the area, pay attention to the warning flags. Two red flags means "Don't go in the water". One red flag means to use extreme caution and it should be noted that many drownings come under a one red flag alert.
To be sure - have fun, but be aware of water and weather-related hazards. It's a great place to visit, to eat fresh seafood, enjoy the beach, to fish, and make vacation friends.

As someone who has a long history of producing kidney stones I’ll say this about staying hydrated, AMEN!

Originally Posted by Dave

As someone who has a long history of producing kidney stones I’ll say this about staying hydrated, AMEN!

Yeah and I've had heat exhaustion before. The folks at the office were most gracious, offering me ice water and a chair to sit in, in the tackle shop. I only needed about 10-15 minutes of cooling off and then I was good to go. But I could tell that I wasn't far from things getting bad. Thankfully, I've never had kidney stones! It helps to know how your body is going to react in certain situations. For me, in the summer, I'm getting off the pier at about 8:30 or so - especially if there's not a good breeze blowing.

Good precautions, Back when I ran the Angler Academy I got into trouble with overheating one day.
Went to the pierhouse and sat in a chair inside the tackle shop (in the AC).

A good preventative is to keep some old washcloths and thoroughly dampen one, put into a quart ziplock bag and put it in my cooler.
IF I feel like I am getting hot, I pull it out and wrap it around my the back of my neck.
IF need be, I wipe under my chin and face, arms and legs to cool down. Also the dampness on my skin evaporating has an additional cooling affect.
Then the washrag can be resaturated and placed back in the ziplock. When I get home they are wrung out and dropped into the washing machine.