It’s the 4WDer’s worst nightmare. Mine, at least. Driving on the beach is one of life’s great pleasures behind the wheel of a 4X4. But, along with the rust, fear of Davy Jones taking over is always in the back of your mind. That’s probably a good thing, because that worry usually keeps you out of trouble.
Things don’t go that way for this poor soul, whose flash and shiny Land Rover Discovery 4 got up close and personal with a rising tide. Of course, someone was filming it, and promptly posted it to Facebook. This video comes from Megan and Christopher Gillich; get shovelling!
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Here is a video of the Discovery 4 after getting intimate with the salt water, still drivable. Apparently, the driver was keen to get some nice photos of the car before the low tide mark, and things got a bit out of hand.
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If anything, this is a powerful cautionary tale. Driving on the beach, below the low tide mark is normally fine: hard-packed and smooth sand can make for easy, fast progress. But not all sands are the same, and soft, waterlogged spots can make for some serious trouble.
Always be aware of the tide, and what it’s doing. Is it high or low? Coming in or going out? What we don’t know if whether old mate aired down sufficiently, or had the car in the right modes to self-extricate. It looks like he had a shovel, but no other recovery gear at the ready.
Someone towed the vehicle out in the end, but not before it had a solid dose of saltwater, doing god-knows-how-much damage to the Rover.
