Delaware beach driving lessons: Many dig it
As cases of vehicles stuck on the beach go, Sgt. John McCarty described this one as minor – a 2 or maybe even a 1½ on a scale of 1 to 10: Easy to deal with, no jack required, just lots of strategic digging.
McCarty, an enforcement officer at Delaware Seashore State Park, has seen hundreds of people stuck on the beach, and he also knows when the situation is dire and it's time to call the tow truck – like when the vehicle is pitched hard to one side or the other.
So when first-timer beach drivers, Glenn and Debbie Vitale of Lewes got stuck Saturday, McCarty helped them figure out what to do.
McCarty knew that with some digging, Glenn Vitale could start up the car, back out to firmer sand and drive off the beach. And that was the way it worked out. Yes, the sand was up to the undercarriage of their small Ford SUV, and yes, you couldn't see daylight when you looked beneath it.
But as vehicles stuck on the beach go, this one was a cakewalk.
"Digging out a vehicle is a learning experience, too," McCarty said.
The Vitales may not have realized it at the time, but they provided an invaluable teaching tool for the 15 people who had signed up to learn the logistics of driving on a Delaware beach. The Vitales were among the group learning to drive on Delaware beaches.
And, as instructors Hallie Kroll and Kristyn Small reinforced time and again, there was no shame in getting stuck.
"You will get stuck," Kroll said, during the classroom portion of instruction.
"It's life. It's the beach. It's going to happen," said Small.
The two park interpreters – Small is a naturalist and Kroll, a historian, offer a 1½-hour beach driving class that starts inside with an overview of the equipment and license requirements, the park rules and regulations and some sand driving tips.
McCarty said that people see pictures of folks driving on the beach in Florida and think there is nothing to it. But beaches in Florida have hard-packed sand. On Delaware's ocean coast, the sand is soft and even where it is wet, it can be deceptively mushy. Plus, there are pitfalls like dropoffs, holes and debris. On Saturday, there was a full house for the class and most of the participants had never tried to drive on the beach.
Once the classroom work was complete, the students got the chance to drive on the sand. Someone getting stuck isn't unusual during the class, and when it happens, it allows Kroll and Small to help people figure out what to do and how best to get out.
The Vitales, for instance, had all the required equipment.
But Small recommends a serious shovel like the kind you use to dig in the garden and a substantial board. She is a surf fisher, and she said she carries a hydraulic jack because it's easier to use than the one that comes with most vehicles.
The real-time teaching moment came as the convoy of vehicles was heading over the crossing at Key Box Road. The practice drive was almost complete, and no one had gotten stuck.
Small had recommended staying in the tracks that someone else had already made so Glenn Vitale said he was following the Jeep in front of him.
He made a gradual turn for the crossing and started up the hill.
"I felt it starting to slip," he said.
In an instant, he was stuck.
He figures his Ford had a lower ground clearance than the Jeep.
A couple fishing nearby offered a shovel, and the other class participants helped with the digging as did Small, Kroll and McCarty.
"This is good to know," Debbie Vitale said. "It's a good experience."
Carolyn Cole of Lewes said seeing how to get out when stuck was a great opportunity.
"You need to learn to do it the right way," she said, as she grabbed a shovel and helped with the digging. "It's great instruction."
Small said that people often do get stuck during the class and it is an excellent way for people to learn what to do next. And McCarty said it even happens to enforcement staff and they drive on the beach day in and day out. But rather than calling it stuck, he said, they call it "delayed."
Once the bottom of the vehicle was clear, McCarty talked Glenn Vitale through the next steps: Back out to clear sand, drive up the beach and make a gradual turn and then, using a consistent speed, drive up and over the dune crossing.
No problem. Up and over the crossing Vitale went.
Reach Molly Murray at (302) 463-3334 or mmurray@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @MollyMurraytnj.