Redgate today claimed another brother and one missing.
Please be safe and look out for each other.
Sharks are enough trouble down here let alone having people drown.

heard the news myself not long ago, the rip around the rock must have been pretty strong. RIP

Tragic :-(

I very nearly drowned there myself at Easter time, along with 2 others. The rip by the rocks there is very powerful and pretty lethal. There should be warning signs.

^
I was caught in that rip a few years ago. Was horrible and took me a long time to get out whilst trying to avoid the rocks.

If you're not fit and a strong paddler then that rip will easily humble you :-(

Sad news.

I nearly drowned down south over a year ago after going out when it was too big for my level of fitness. It was very scary and changed me for the better. I have dropped 16 kilos since that day.

I havn't ever surfed Redgate and don't know the setup but i can only imagine how bad it must be.

A real shame to have such a loss of life though

Almost came unstuck there a few years ago as well. Was on a bodyboard at the time and was avoiding the growing rip next to the rocks.

Noticed a couple in trouble next to the rocks on a small foam bodyboard, paddled in to help and they both panicked and grabbed me almost drowning me in the process.

The rip proceeded to drag us through the pounding surf out the back then wash us all the way back in, almost within reach of the rocks. This happened for about half an hour (give or take a bit)

The bloke tried to make a dash for the rocks and was half way up when a set wave hit him and he dissapeared, it was then the woman told me it was her birthday and she didnt want to die! Geez talk about pressure!

I got cramp so bad in my legs that I pretty much said to her to hold on to the board and we would not fight it when it dragged us out the back some distance as I had nothing left in me. She was horrifed but I literally had no other solution.

It took us out the back through the surf and once we were out about as far as it was going to take us I made one last ditch effort and paddled out a bit further away from its grasp, to my surprise this did the trick and we managed to get ashore on the other side of the rocks with my legs giving me grief the whole way...

Found the partner being looked after in the car park looking like ha had survived a 'death of a thousand cuts; contest, in shock and white as a ghost. Lucky guy..

I told them where we were staying and later that night they brang me 2 cartons of beer and we had a fiar few of them that night until the caretaker kicked them out.

It is a risky bit of beach but at the same time there are lots of risky bits of beach along that stretch of coast, not sure you could patrol every one?

Someone told me this morning they were swimmers not surfers

I guess that's the part of our sport that scares me. I was looking at a spot of Albany recently and with no one else out was talking myself into it. Anyway a couple of locals turned up and simply said no way. A vicious undercurrent that can't be paddled against(in those conditions). Now i seen picks of this place and it doesn't and didn't on this day look all that bad Maybe a few signs wouldn't go astray

Good onya Southwester for your effort..

On Australia Day this year I went to Redgate with my family. First thing I said to my wife was avoid going near those rocks as there would be a rip. It was tiny, but any surfer knows that there is always a current at the end of small bays. An hour and a half later, in two seperate rescues, I have pulled three people from the water. After that my wife asked to go as she figured I would continue doing that all afternoon.

It seems to me that most people who get into trouble unfortunately don't know what they are looking at. The swell the day these to men died was very solid. I imagine they looked at a massive wave and thought it looked small, in that slow motion perfect barrel way that big waves can, paddled out and found themselves in trouble.

I live down here and feel perfectly comfortable paddling 8 foot surf and tow much bigger. However, on this day I surfed one of the protected points - these three had no business going in the water at Redgate and unfortunately two men lost their lives. Signs won't protect people from themselves or their ignorance. I imagine Redgate would have been at least 8 foot and heaving. Apparently they went out on bodyboards without wetsuits or fins. Enough said. People need to be careful around the water and swim/surf within their own capabilities. If you wouldn't free swim it, then don't surf it.