A rip line is a current made visible — a broken, ruffled strip of water where two streams meet or the bottom rises. Learn to see it and you'll spot trouble a mile before the depth sounder does.

Colour is depth

Dark water runs deep, pale water runs shallow over sand. Where the two meet in a line — smooth on one side, broken on the other — the bottom is rising and the current is squeezing through.

Slow down, read, then commit

The water is live and the chart is a snapshot. If they disagree, believe the water. Throttle back, read the surface, and sort out the difference from a safe place.