Drowning June 30 at Van Damme State Park may be state’s first surf zone death of 2024
LITTLE RIVER, 7/1/24 — With 100+ degree temperatures forecast inland this week and the Mendocino Coast expected to remain chilly, locals hope a drowning Sunday off Van Damme State Park beach in Little River won’t be repeated. Mendocino Coast motels are usually full to capacity during inland heatwaves. With the Mendocino 4th of July Parade, the World’s Largest Salmon Barbecue in Fort Bragg and fireworks in Noyo Harbor on Saturday, crowds in town and at the beaches are expected to be big.
Seventy-year-old Robert “Rob” Frost, with a Montana driver license and a landscaping business in Hawaii, perished on Sunday. He had told a relative he was going for a walk to get his feet wet at Van Damme State Park south of the town of Mendocino, said Loren Rex, chief ranger for the Sonoma-Mendocino Coast District for California State Parks. According to National Weather Service figures that run through June 23, Frost’s may be the first reported ocean surf zone drowning death of 2024 in California.
Someone noticed Frost throwing a few of the plentiful rocks on that beach into the ocean, Rex said. A former surfer who loved swimming, Frost was in town with his family, who had rented a vacation home for several days. Rex said Frost was wearing a pair of black shorts and no shirt when he headed out for that walk.
“He used to surf a lot and was a good swimmer. As we get older things can change,” said Rex. “And he might not have been used to the cold water we have here.”
Frost’s family called for help at 2:14 p.m. Volunteers and officers spread out over the entire area. Jet skis were dispatched from Big River Beach, about a mile north. About 3:35 p.m., Frost was located underwater about 3000 feet to the southwest of Van Damme beach, in the vicinity of the area’s towering offshore island. His time of death was declared at 3:48 p.m by a Mendocino County sheriff’s deputy. No signs of foul play were found, a Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department press release stated.
Because there were so many people gathered on Van Damme beach observing the search, Frost was transported up the coast and taken out of the water at Big River Beach. The water was fairly calm on Sunday, Rex said. “The jet skis had to go back to Big River Beach anyway, but this was mostly done to protect the privacy of the family,” Rex said.
Attempts by the Mendocino Voice to reach the family were unsuccessful. Rex said that Frost lived in Hawaii though he has a Montana driver’s license and has also lived in California. The Hawaii Secretary of State’s office shows a landscaping firm registered in Frost’s name.
Even strong swimmers can be caught off guard
Conditions can often be a surprise to ocean lovers from other places.
“You need to be familiar with the areas before you swim,” Rex said. “If you don’t know, seek out information. Big River Beach, for example, looks very inviting, but there are strong rip currents there.”
State Parks has made a concerted effort over the past five years to secure funding to hire more lifeguards. However, State Parks has had a very difficult time hiring lifeguards in Sonoma County but has a team in Mendocino County. Rex said the department is seeking to bring a lifeguard tower from the Goat Rock/Jenner area to Fort Bragg’s Pudding Creek Beach, which he noted is packed this time of year. He said the number of deaths has dropped dramatically since the lifeguard program was increased, although exact numbers were not available.
“We know a lot of people will come here to get away from the hot weather. We want people to be safe,” said Rex. People escaping the extreme heat can sometimes forget about the dangers posed by cold water.
“The water here is in the 50s. People can get hypothermia more quickly than they might think,” Rex said. The human body is normally about 98 degrees. Any temperature lower than that draws heat from the body. Few people swim without a wet suit.
Rex added other risks. “MacKerricher State Park beach and some others have steep drop offs that can be dangerous, especially for kids. It’s important to know the conditions before you go.”
Other risks that visitors need to be aware of include rocks with marine life that can be slippery or sharp. People are warned not to swim off rocks, as it’s virtually impossible to get back out of the water in rocky places where one steps down into the water. Sneaker (or sleeper) waves have killed several people over the years. Waves will appear a consistent size until several big waves hit suddenly, sometimes knocking tide pool explorers or anglers into the water.
The Mendocino Coast community has conducted regular water safety efforts and erected signage since 2004, when several members of South Lake Tahoe St. Vincent’s School 8th Grade basketball team were hit by a sneaker wave. A parent and student died.
There have been 19 total surf zone deaths in the US in 2024, all but one of the rest in the Gulf of Mexico, primarily in Florida and Texas. Surf zone deaths are deaths caused by rip currents, sneaker waves and high surf. In California, 14 years of statistics show rip current deaths mostly happen in the summer while sneaker wave and high surf deaths happen in fall and winter. The vast majority of fatal drowning victims are male.
Drowning deaths are on the rise in the United States, following decades of decline, according to a new CDC Vital Signs study. Over 4,500 people died due to drowning each year from 2020–2022, 500 more per year compared to 2019.
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