Not trivia matter

Freaque wave happenings are clearly not trivia matters, but the following recorded event appeared in the Environment Canada's Weather Trivia Calendar according to this news item:

On. Aug. 31, 2008, several dozen people were enjoying a bonfire at Middle Cove Beach, Nfld. about 8:30 p.m. when a giant rogue wave out of nowhere blew them over. Helping each other from being carried out to sea, they rushed to safety on higher ground.

That just shows that freaque waves happen any places any time. If it does not get reported does not mean that it did not happen. Even it did get reported it might just get buried somewhere in the paper works someplace or even re-appear as trivia somehow.

Another encounter just encountered.

This has just happened a few hours ago according to Vineyard Gazette Online reported by Mike Seccombe:

Several people were injured and others suffered property losses when a high-speed ferry returning weekend tourists from Martha’s Vineyard to New York was disabled by a freak wave.

Passengers on the Seastreak evening service were sprayed with shards of glass when the wave detached a heavy metal box containing life jackets from the bow of the vessel and drove it into a front window.

The boat put into New London, Conn., where it was met by ambulances. Two passengers were treated for minor cuts and elected to continue the journey by another boat. One man required two stitches for a facial cut and later was driven to the city.

Several bicycles which had been stored on the bow also were damaged, and other passengers reported damage to electronic equipment, mainly cell phones, when seawater flooded in through the smashed front window.

Seastreak manager Mike Glasfeld said the boat was carrying just fewer than 300 passengers on the run, which left Oak Bluffs at 4 p.m.

Although the wind was blowing over 30 miles per hour at the time, he said the boat had following seas and winds.

“It was smooth running up to that wave and it was smooth after that wave. It was just one wave that created the mayhem,” he said.

The incident happened about three hours into the journey.

. . .

This is a rare reporting that includes good details on what had happened especially the comment that:

“It was smooth running up to that wave and it was smooth after that wave. It was just one wave that created the mayhem,”

This certainly casts off any doubt about whether or not a freaque wave was encountered. One seldomly able to secure such an explicit description. Luckily there were only relatively minor damages and injuries. But nevertheless a freaque wave was the likely culprit that caused the mishap.

A tragedy at the Outer Banks in North Carolina

Here's a tragic story, from dailypress.com, of beach going again, our deep sympathy and prayers go to the family:

The body of a 19-year-old Gloucester man was found after he went missing while swimming Wednesday at the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

Brian Mouring's body was found about 1 nautical mile from where he went missing while swimming near the Oregon Inlet, said Petty Officer 3rd Class David Marin, a spokesman with Coast Guard office in Portsmouth. Mouring's body was found by a park service ranger near a campground at Oregon Inlet.

"The body was found by park service rangers," Marin said. "We assisted with the search and were oncall if there was any other need for us but it was park service that recovered the body."

Mouring was camping with four friends at Oregon Inlet in the Outer Banks as their last hurrah of summer before they parted ways for school, said Mouring's grandfather, John Mouring. Just before heading home on Wednesday, they decided to take a final swim.

He was in water waist- to chest-deep near a friend when a freak wave larger than others suddenly reared up. Mouring's friend spied it in time to dive into the wave or under it. When he looked back for Brian Mouring, all he saw was foam.

"Brian may have been caught by surprise and slammed into the sand," John Mouring said. "We think he was rendered unconscious or couldn't help himself."

It is not an unfamiliar case. It was being called a freaque wave which may not necessarily be a very large one either. But the key that caused the tragedy was clearly the part that was "caught by surprise." One has to be on alert at all time. Never let the guard down. Don't ever be allow yourself be "caught by surprise."

Between a rock and a very wet place!

Here are two pictures published in an article by Matt Fortune in UK Dailymail today:

A man "had climbed over protective bars several feet further back from the edge in his pursuit of the ultimate wake-up call and was fortunate to survive as the area was engulfed by water." It was at Ben Buckler headland North Bondi Beach in Sydney. The author described the man as "brave but foolish" which is clearly an accurate statement no one would disagree. Even he was prepared, that was nevertheless a foollish thing to do. Thanks to the article for these two spectacular wave pictures!

A case in Lake Simcoe

This CTV news I just read happened last week:

A father and son ended up in hospital after a spectacular wipeout with their speedboat Sunday on Lake Simcoe.

York Regional Police said the 32-year-old son was discharged from hospital Sunday night while the 64-year-old father was kept overnight for observation.

They had been out on the popular recreational lake in a 14-metre-long Nortec speedboat, which is capable of reaching speeds of up to 160 kilometres per hour.

Witnesses said the boat hit a rogue wave in Killarney Bay around 4:30 p.m., causing the boat to roll.

"The boat is like, cut in half," said Denise Carl as she videotaped the aftermath of the crash.

The good news is that after hospital stay, everyone is o.k. Too bad that there were videos showing the aftermath, but none was able to capture the freaque wave in action. Well, that's life!

Another close encounter, another shattered dream.

Here's another case which freaque wave shattered a sailing dream as Rory Reynolds of edinburghnews.scotsman.com reports:

A BRAVE dad-of-two has told of how he battled for eight hours hanging from his sailing boat in terrible sea conditions to carry out a vital repair and salvage his dream of completing a solo race across the Atlantic.

Scott Turner spent three years preparing for the six-week race but had to turn back just four days into his voyage.

The 43-year-old was forced to abandon the 3,300-mile Jester Challenge 2010 when a freak wave destroyed his steering column.

After spending hours hanging from the back of the boat attempting to fix the bent rudder, Scott was forced to turn back, undergoing a gruelling three-day trek home without sleep and bleeding from a headwound as he manually guided the 21ft cruiser back to Plymouth.

While we don't know where, when, how, or why of freaque waves, we do know it can do damage and destroy equipments wherever or whatever. When sailors out there encounter freaque waves, they are on their own. All kinds of beautiful theories, linear or nonlinear sciences can not provide any help with their plights.

An officially un-registered QE2 encounter.

I came across this post from this QE2 forum which I wondered into the other day:

Hi There,
anyone remember the freak wave of 89? This was during a transatlantic crossing, I was off duty in my cabin when at about 1 to 2 am it felt like somebody lifted the ship out of the water and dropped it!!! I ran into the corridor expecting to see water flooding in as I thought we had hit something. There was a second wave a few minutes later that further reduced my cabin to a shambles. One of the bridge officers told me next morning that there was little damage except for the disappearance of the 2 Ton foghorn on the bow....it was later found on top of the penthouse cabins.
A testimony to the seaworthiness of the QE2
Chris - Casino Slot Tech 1988 to 1991

This is clearly a freaque wave case encountered by the QE2 in her long history. May be because there was no damage or injury and it took place at 1 to 2 am, no one else seems to have even noticed the encounter. It is of interest that this one person, Casino Chris, noticed and remembered it many years later. This is one evident that this kind of unsung cases happen out there, not infrequently, with or without any one noticed or registered it's happening. Do we know what's really going on out there? Hardly!