After a depressing and cold winter, a beach trip, an excellent way to lift your spirits. Enjoying the warm summer wind while sitting under the cool shade of a beach umbrella all day long is something explicitly relaxing.
However, beach vacations can turn out to be a nightmare if the beach umbrella keeps coming out of the ground and starts blowing away in random directions. It can become a dangerous weapon owing to it’s sharp and pointy parts. So how to keep beach umbrella from Blowing away and causing injuries to bystanders?
A Step by Step Process to Stop Beach Umbrella from Blowing Away:
1st Step: Selecting Your Umbrella:
Beach umbrellas come in multiple shapes and sizes. They also vary in terms of designs, weight, height, colors, structures, and mechanisms. Since the summer wind is mighty on the beach, it’s advantageous to use a more massive umbrella to stick to the ground better and more firmly. But we also need to keep in mind that it’s a beach umbrella, not a patio umbrella.
Beach umbrellas should be lightweight since those are supposed to be easily movable since we generally carry them around. On the other hand, patio umbrellas are supposed to be heavyweight and meant to be left at the beach all the time. So, considering these, it’s recommended to use a medium weight beach umbrella with a canopy that has a slight curve when opened.
Some use patio umbrellas as an alternative to beach umbrellas simply because they are easily adjustable. Even so, it is too discouraged to do so. The Patio umbrellas are almost 9 feet long, thus much more comfortable to catch the wind. So, these are very dangerous for innocent people loitering around in the surrounding area.
2nd Step: Finding the Right Spot:
Getting to the beach early before the crowd starts to accumulate is mandatory to stake out an ideal location to plant the beach umbrella. It’s a good plan to set up the umbrella by the side of a building that can act as a windbreak if it’s possible.
Before choosing a beach spot for settling in with the beach umbrella, you should observe the wind direction at first. A simple idea that everyone often forgets is that facing the wind is advantageous for the beach umbrella to grab more firmly on the sand. The umbrella should face the wind head-on and be driven harder into the ground, instead of the wind pushing against the inside part of the canopy part of the umbrella and forcing it off the land.
You can take sand in your hand to observe the wind trajectory and let go of the loose sand granules through the gaps between your fingers. By seeing the direction, the sandflies away through the fingers, the wind’s path can be predicted. Noticing the beach flags can also be an excellent way to make out the direction the current is flowing.
Areas that can create powerful air funnels, like the gap between two buildings, box canyons, etc. should be avoided. A flatter dry top location close to the water should be chosen instead of a slope with more extensive and coarser sand granules. The wet sand under the dry area should help the umbrella to stay put.
3rd Step: Installing the Beach Umbrella Properly:
Removing wet sand:
To get a firm holding and better sand, the loose sand should be moved to the side for an area of 1 square foot. Few inches of the sand of the top usually are very flexible.
Plunging the umbrella pole into the ground
Dunk the pointy bottom end of your umbrella pole into the center of the designated area. Give the ground a decisive blow with it to create a hole. The purpose of this is just to make the hole. The umbrella should be plunged as deep as possible for starting the spot.
Rocking the umbrella pole:
The entire umbrella has to be rocked back and forth again and again by about 45 degrees while simultaneously shoving down the pole. Thus, the bottom of the umbrella pole will slowly go deeper into the sand.
You should push the bottom of the umbrella pole 18 – 24 inches deep into the sand in case of a typical 7 feet umbrella canopy.
Some use umbrella screws these days to firmly fix the umbrella pole into the ground. A screw is set into the ground, and then the umbrella pole is fixed into the screw.
Spreading the canopy:
If the umbrella can be removed without ruining the hole, take the umbrella out of the cave, turn it upside down, and open the canopy securely. Then put the umbrella pole back into the hole after carefully turning it over.
It might be essential to spread the canopy before step 3 in case of a soft holding.
Final positioning:
After fixing the umbrella pole and opening the canopy, the top of the roof facing the wind should not be done in a tilting style.
If you angle the canopy towards the wind by at least 15 degrees, it will be beneficial for securing your beach umbrella.
Securing the Umbrella:
When the canopy angle is finally satisfactory, you should fill the hole back up around the pole with sand. Compress the sand as much as you can. If the sand is piled up around the bar, it should provide adequate support.
Final Words:
Every year, it’s a widespread phenomenon for people on the beach to get injured by a blown away beach umbrella caused by someone’s blunder. In many cases, such injuries even proved to be fatal.
To prevent such injuries, care should be taken while planting the beach umbrellas to not easily get pulled out from the sand by a strong wind. The proper methods of how to keep beach umbrella from Blowing away should be implemented perfectly. This will make the overall enjoyment of the umbrella elevated too.
Enjoy the best days of your beach with the proper utilization of the umbrella. Be it under the scorching heat of the sun or under the heavy rain.