Life's ebb and flow

U. Southern Cal.'s USC News yesterday yesterday published this article, written by Marc Ballon, entitled "Life's ebb and flow" that tells a rather sad, freakish happening but emerged as an inspirational and uplifting story of their Engineering Ph.D. student, Ryan Williams:

Ryan Williams led a charmed, sun-splashed existence.

The USC Viterbi School of Engineering PhD student found his classes stimulating, professors engaging and research on autonomous underwater robots fascinating. And then there was his California Dreamin’ lifestyle.

Williams, a native of Roanoke, Va., luxuriated in the Southern California sunshine, golfing, swimming and skiing. He even took up surfing, which energized him.

“The California mentality was refreshing and, of course, the weather was amazing,” he said.

And then everything changed. On Jan. 27, 2008, Williams went to Santa Monica with friends to catch some waves. As he paddled toward the breakers, he dove under an oncoming swell.

In a freak accident, he landed headfirst in a hidden sandbar and snapped his neck. He lost all feeling in his legs and arms. If not for the two surfers who pulled him from the water, Williams would have surely drowned.

At just 26, the former high school pitcher and star basketball player had become a quadriplegic, with no use of his legs and limited use of his hands. Many people in a similar position would have understandably retreated into self-pity and bitterness. Not Williams.

“I don’t feel downtrodden at all,” he said. “I try to say, ‘this is life. This is the way it is. Let’s try to do something with it.’ ”

He's certainly determined to "do something with it" with a roaring start! That's really showing a remarkable and courageous young scholar with a brilliant future.  We wish all the best for him. Go for it!

Dark soliton?

About two weeks ago, United-Academics magazine published the following story about "Dark Solitons" that entitled "Dark Solitons Demonstrated For the First Time":

In physics and math there are wave structures called solitons (notsolutions) that are defined as self-contained packets or pulses.  Two types of solitons that have long been of interest in the world of scientific research are bright and dark solitons.  Until recently, only bright solitons have been successfully demonstrated in a wave tank.  This month a team of researchers at Imperial College London, including mathematician Amin Chabchoub, successfully created an example of a dark soliton in water.  Their actions bring important new information that will impact the world of optics, oceanography, and beyond. 

In the context of the ocean, waves evolve in that familiar manner as they as ebb and flow. Solitons, on the other hand, somehow manage to keep a constant size and shape.  They also travel more slowly than regular waves. In the 60′s and 70′s oceanographers observed bright solitons in the deep sea, later successfully recreating them in a laboratory setting.  Their work revealed that bright solitons are the cause of, among other phenomena, rogue waves that occur at sea. It was then theorized that dark solitons must be capable of the opposite- decreasing the power of a wave. 

Using a 17 meter long wave tank, Dr. Chabchoub and his team simulated wave formations as they passed through dark solitons.  What they found was that, indeed, there was a reduction in the amplitude of the waves.  With this result the team now wants to investigate what happens when bright and dark solitons come together. Their hope is that if they continue down this current path, this information could help coastal regions better deal with large waves caused by extreme weather or earthquakes.  Today’s dark soliton experiments in a laboratory could become tomorrow’s anti-tsunami safety system.

Their source was this article in Physics World with this impressive figure that called "dark dip".



I think the key sentence that may get everyone excited is this one:

Their actions bring important new information that will impact the world of optics, oceanography, and beyond.

I guess oceanographers and ocean wave scientists would be interested. But, but, BUT, I just failed to see there's any real ocean wave connection here that can be translated the theory to the real ocean, especially deep-trough kind of freaque waves in the ocean are not uncommon. Obviously theoreticians do need this ocean implication to justify their far out theoretical mumbo-jumble could have some sort of real world usefulness, but what, where, and how it can be done are still the unanswerable questions every time a new theory came around to make this conjecture and this one this time is certainly no exception.  There is as yet just no conceivable road way to link between theoretical ivory tower and the real ocean -- an unavoidable fact that no theoretical gurus would care to face!!

A rogue wave, a freak wave, or something!

This recently happened tragic case in Gulf of Mexico SE of Galveston, Texas is nicely summarized by Marc Lallanilla, Assistant Editor of LiveScience.com as reported in the Yahoo!News:

The U.S. Coast Guard announced on Sunday (April 21) that it was suspending the search for four fishermen whose boat is believed to have been destroyed by a rogue wave.

The 50-foot Nite Owl vessel was tied to an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico about 115 miles (185 kilometers) southeast of Galveston, Texas, in rough weather on Friday morning (April 19), according to the Associated Press .

But in the early morning darkness, "a rogue wave, a freak wave or something hit the side of the boat," John Reynolds, the sole survivor of the accident, told the AP.

The wave "tore the wheel house and canopy off the boat," Larry Moore, owner of the commercial fishing vessel, told the Beaumont Enterprise from his home in Golden Meadow, La. "Everyone was asleep when it happened." The shattered craft sank within two minutes." [Shipwrecks Gallery: Secrets of the Deep]

Rogue waves, sometimes called "freak waves," are extremely large waves that occur far out at sea in apparent isolation and without any obvious cause. The waves can easily reach 100 feet (30 meters) or more in height.

Though researchers have yet to understand how rogue waves develop, some scientists claim atmospheric pressure may play a role. Other research suggests rogue waves could result from the clash of two interacting wave systems traveling perpendicular to each other.

After a possible rogue wave destroyed the Nite Owl, all five men aboard were thrown into the choppy water without life jackets.

Though Reynolds tried to help the other men into the life raft he found, his efforts were thwarted by the rough sea's 12-foot (3.7 m) waves and his crewmates' poor swimming ability, he said.

 "I got in the raft. I heard them call out. There was a little ring inside there with a 60-foot line on it," Reynolds told the AP. "I threw it in the direction I heard [a crewmate] hollering from, hoping he could grab a hold of it and pull himself to the life raft. Apparently, he couldn't get a hold of it."

Reynolds, 56, was rescued by the Coast Guard later that morning after firing flares into the air. Though he has worked as a commercial fisherman for 35 years, Reynolds told the Beaumont Enterprise that this was the first time he had ever ended up in the water.

The key information is clearly what the sole survivor told AP: "A rogue wave, a freak wave, or something hit the side of the boat!" But the scary part has to be that the boat was tied to an oil rig and still only one was lucky to be near a life raft.  The oil rig was obviously survived, but 5 lives lost unfortunately.  May they all rest in peace now. This is another case that science will not able to do anything to help!

Surfing at Cribbar

For us outsiders who may not ever heard Cribbar, Wikipedia has this to tell about Cribbar completes with map location:

The Cribbar (English: Ploughed Reef), also known as the Widow Maker, is a reef off the Towan Headland in Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom.

The Cribbar is best known for creating annual big waves, popular with experienced big wave surfers from across the world. Wave faces can be in excess of 30 ft (9.1 m). The Zorba is a reef 2 miles (3.2 km) further off the coast and can create even higher waves.

Now here's an article in today's UK Daily Mail showing a series of photos and a video along with this:

They call it the Bone Cruncher, and sometimes the Widow Maker - a rare 20ft swell that comes crashing down on the Cornish coastline.

Only the bravest surfers are willing to take it on - and that's exactly what this daredevil succeeded in doing yesterday.

These images show the solitary surfer had a clear path ahead as he rode on the crest of the infamous Cribbar wave.

The swell became the stuff of legend in 1966 when three visiting Australian surfers stumbled upon it. 

So in north America the spring is still not quite arriving yet, surfing in other part of the globe is already started! Have a strong, satisfactory, and of course safe, surfing year!

A freaque wave encounter at Sanremo, Italy

Here's a video of freaque wave encounter given by the web of gCaptain entitled "Wave Crashes Over Italian Seawall, Car and Motorcyclist Swept into Harbor [VIDEO]" by Rob Almeida on January 31, 2013 with this descriptrion:

The closed-circuit cameras on a yacht in Portosole, Sanremo, Italy captured the moment when on Jan. 23, 2013 a wave crashed over the sea wall, sending a motorcyclist, his bike and a car into the marina. It is believed the motorcyclist was not seriously injured.

The video ia also available here:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2FFFq7wjsTg>




Check it out! The people involved was o.k. and the damages were minor.  But it was a real freaque wave encounter!

Miracle at sea: Fishermen escape death from rogue wave

Here's a heart-warming story as told by a skipper published in Halifax's Herald News, entitled "Miracle at sea: Fishermen escape death from rogue wave" written by Brian Medel of Yarmouth Bureau:

THE HAND of God delivered two Nova Scotia fishermen from the deep earlier this month, says a Woods Harbour skipper.

 Sandy Stoddard, captain of the Logan & Morgan, spoke Monday about a miracle at sea two weeks ago, when two young men who were tossed overboard after a violent rogue wave slammed into their boat were returned from almost certain death.

 Just 16 days after the entire crew of the Miss Ally was lost, Stoddard went to sea. It was the halibut fisherman’s first trip since that tragedy.

 March 5 was a dark night.

 “We were off Canso … probably 75 miles,” Stoddard said. “We were hauling our gear when it happened. A huge wave came out of nowhere.”

 Winds were gusting 75 to 90 kilometres per hour.

 “In 40-some years … I’ve never seen nothing like that,” 56-year-old Stoddard said with a note of disbelief in his voice.

SEE ALSO: Investigation into sinking of Miss Ally ends

 “It just came out of nowhere and just picked us right up and threw us down. And when it threw us down, it threw two men overboard.”

 The small group of fishermen working aft were in their oil gear work clothes. They had no time to don survival suits.

 Stoddard, the fifth man on board, was in the wheelhouse.

 Wind screeched through cables and deck gear banged together hard as the boat slammed back down into the trough behind the wave.

 The four crew members straining to hold on suddenly became two. The men on deck looked around frantically and screamed to Stoddard at the helm, “They’re gone!”

 How in the world did the crew get their friends back, people have asked.

 “Listen,” said Stoddard, speaking deliberately.

 “I’m telling you right now … it’s only by the grace of God that we got ’em back. That’s the only way.

 “One guy we got back … it’s hard to explain where this guy went. He told me he stood on something and it threw him back aboard the boat.

 “We’re Christian people. It was God’s hand that he stood on, and God flipped him back aboard the boat.

 “He didn’t get wet. He was to his neck in the water and he was still dry when he came back aboard the boat.”

 That man was Gordie Rhyno, Stoddard said.

 When he dropped on deck, he ran to the stern, where the other missing man — Gregory Nickerson — would suddenly surface.

 “He just knew,” Stoddard said. “Gordie was on the stern hollering for Gregory and then Gregory answered him.”

 Nickerson appeared under a 1.6-metre aluminum overhang, a platform supported by braces.

 “He came up underneath there and he was panicking and his hand hit one of the braces and he grabbed the brace,” Stoddard said. “He only called out the once. We (didn’t) hear him no more.”

 The men threw a lifesaver to where Nickerson’s voice was last heard.

 “On the fourth throw … Gordie said, ‘I got him,’” Stoddard said.

 Readings on board showed the water temperature was 2.2 C.

 The men worked on Nickerson because he had swallowed a lot of water.

 “It took us an hour before we got Gregory back,” Stoddard said.

 An emergency call was never made.

 “It happened so fast. It was over and there was nothing to call in.”

 Nickerson said Monday that he is feeling better and will probably head back to sea soon.

 “We was all there joking and laughing, then it was just, bang,” he told CBC News. “Nobody knew nothing. Nobody seen it coming.”

 Some have asked why the outcome with the Miss Ally was so different. Both had crews of five men. Both sought halibut in much the same area of ocean.

 “We cannot and will not and do not have the answers to the things that we … know nothing about,” Stoddard said.

 And while the community grieves for the five lost from the Miss Ally, Stoddard said he’s thankful his men were saved.

 “That makes five men I’ve lost,” said Stoddard, who was a captain at 19.

 He lost three in the 1980s.

 “I got em all back.”

 Stoddard hasn’t been on the ocean since the harrowing incident. But soon, maybe this week, he will head out.

 “We’re facing, for some reason, way more rogue waves today than we ever faced before. I don’t remember ’em being like this.”

 People need to be ready, Stoddard said, because the end may be closer than they realize.

This story was given by Woods Harbour fisherman Capt. Sandy Stoddard when he talked with reporters outside of the Woods Harbour Community Centre in Woods Harbour on Feb. 23, 2013. Thanks to Brian Medel for recording this great story. One just can not quarrel with the skipper about' "The hand of God" behind all these! We just wish to thank the Good Lord Who does allow such a nice story be actually happen and be told. Deo Gratias!

 

Tragedy in Ireland over St. Patrick Day weekend

A St Patrick weekend tragic Irish news reported in the independent.ie by Greg Harkin and Tom Shiel shows some important lessons to note:

A Polish man who had been living in Ireland for a number of years died after being hit by a freak wave on a fishing trip with friends.

The 55-year-old fisherman, who was married and had been living in Co Kildare, drowned when he fell off rocks into the sea at Mullaghmore Head, Co Sligo.

The report also included this tidbit:

The incident happened in an area notorious for freak waves. Local anglers tend to avoid the area.

So two points here should be of particular note: first the area where the tragedy happened is known to be "an area notorious for freaque waves". And further "Local angelers tend to avoid the area!" Therefore when visiting some fishing place it is clearly advisible to seek local informations to learn the local experiences and for safety! By all means avoid any place local people are known to have avoiding!

Happened along Mexican beach

Beach going, a stroll along the beach front should be the most enjoyable part of  a vacation outing. Right? Yes! But that's not always work out as expected.  The unexpected happenings lurking behind them can be tragic as this ChristianPost.com reports:

A giant wave is being blamed for the death of an elderly woman who was walking with a companion on a beach in Mexico when it broke on the shoreline, sucking her and a companion out to sea.
Local officials indicated that the deadly wave broke on shore as the pair of U.S. tourists was walking on the beach close to the famous stone arch in the Pacific resort of Cabo San Lucas. A 65-year-old woman was killed in the unusual event, while her 70-year-old partner was listed in serious condition at an area hospital.

This almost familiar story line happened again 10 days ago as this article by Myles Collier reports. The headline tells all: "Giant Wave Kills Tourist in Freak Accident Along Mexican Beach." I guess all accidents are to some extent freaque, but in this case it was caused by a giant wave broke on shore. May the tragic victim rest in peace!