A case in Fleurieu on 06/27/2014

I am not sure how many people are familiar with Fleurieu Peninsula, I am certainly not one of them, I have to Google through Wikipedia to learn that they are located in South Australia. In the Sunday, July 6, 2014, Victor Harbor Times, there's this article: "Fleurieu lifesaver warns people off rocks" with the following pictures:

 

 

REGION - A local surf lifesaver has warned that coastal rocks are "no place for bravado", after two men narrowly avoided being swept off rocks in Port Elliot last week.

Safety along local beaches has been swept back into the spotlight after the pair were photographed scrambling for secure footing after being knocked over by a rogue wave on the rocks at Knights Beach on Friday, June 27.

Goolwa's Mick Windibank witnessed the incident, and took photos of what he said were two young men on the rocks.

"This is why people are getting in trouble at our beaches; ignoring signage and not respecting the ocean in general," he said.

"Lucky boys I reckon."

Port Elliot Surf Lifesaving Club (PESLC) secretary Marty Smee said the rocks from Port Elliot to Knights Beach are dangerous places to be.

According to Mr Smee, millions of years of weathering has worn them smooth and slippery when wet, while algae growing on them further reduces grip.

"The waves are also unpredictable and come in fast," he said.

"You find it hard to outrun waves; especially on rounded, smooth rocks."

Mr Smee said there have been deaths in the area, although decades ago, and recalled at least two incidents in the last few years when PESLC members were required to save people swept off rocks in Green Bay, between Horseshoe Bay and Knights Beach.

"One of those was life and death, and skilful work on behalf of an IRB (inflatable rescue boat)?crew saved a young man," he said.

"Other people have received severe abrasions."

These are local informations, thanks to the bystander who took the pictures that makes the case more than just a heresy and they certainly should be made known so other similar areas around the world can learn to prevent future happenings. This rocky shore freaque wave case on Friday, June 27, 2014 is duly recorded as a freaque wave happening thanks to this article.  How many similar happenings got lost in the information world because no one's doing the recording.  At any rate we are happy that this one got recorded and most happy of all is that everyone's safe and sound just ends up a good lesson. Deo Gratias!

Beware the warning signs and be sure to comply!

Here's a news item in Taipei Times I just read which a civil liberty minded people may find it's objectionable. but siding on the safety and saving lives, one can understand why the local officials in Taiwan would choose to do this:

In view of repeated incidents involving swimmers who ignored warning signs erected in the Kenting National Park of adverse sea conditions, park authorities said they have decided to slap fines of NT$3,000 on violators, effective yesterday.

Kenting’s South Bay (南灣) is a popular spot among swimmers, but three people drowned there last year because they ignored red warning flags, park officials said.

Kenting National Park Headquarters wrote “swimming prohibited” on its warning flags, but several students from Feng Chia University in Greater Taichung also ignored these warnings, resulting in the death of two.

“Now anyone who ignores the warning signs and goes swimming will be fined NT$3,000 for violation of the National Park Act (國家公園法),” the park headquarters said.

It said that if the waves are 1m high, it will set warning red flags to ban swimming, adding that if the waves are 1.5m high, it will ban diving.

Jetskis and other water activities will be prohibited if the waves are 2m high, the agency said.

In case of typhoons, the beach area will be cordoned off altogether, the park authorities added.

They said that in the past, they could only disperse violators and said that the fines might provide more of a deterrent.

On the first day of the new rule yesterday, it was a beautiful, sunny day in Kenting and there were many swimmers, but no warning signs on the beach.

So the moral of the matter is to beware the warning signs and be prepared to obey or risking on paying some large fines (NT3000 is equivalent US $100).  It will be difficult to fault the local officials' effort in trying to prevent damaging injuries and casualties.  We can certainly not excuse the college students who ignored the warning signs and ended up lost two companions. Is there better ways than large fines? There must be. But human nature as it is, we are still carrying our own life in our own hands.  Safety first, by all means, be mindful when there's warning signs!

Making Waves: the science of summer!

I just come across this interesting article entitled "The Science of Summer: Making Waves" that was published a week ago, June 25, 2014, in the University Press of FAU (Florida Atlantic U.) written by Luke Otfinowski.

The arrival of summer, for most, means a lot more time at the beach. Whatever your water activity, be it snorkeling, surfing, kiteboarding, paddle boarding or simply trying to enjoy a swim without getting your hair wet, waves are going to be there whether you want them to or not. It’s interesting thinking about where a wave starts, what determines its size, and if a butterfly beating its wings across the ocean means a tsunami is heading our way. The mechanisms for the formation and behavior of ocean waves are actually pretty simple and they might also help us figure out the meaning behind those “make waves” banners and signs we pass so often on campus. So, put on your floaties because here comes the break on waves!

When the sun heats the air on the uneven surface of the earth, certain portions heat up more quickly, causing that air to rise. This allows for cooler air to swoop in, fill the space, and create a lovely, cool breeze that is always welcome in South Florida. When this happens over the water, that cold air may brush against the surface of the water, creating a ripple. If the air continues blowing that ripple along, it will grow into a small wave and potentially keep getting bigger.

There are two main factors for a wave being formed and getting larger: the speed of the wind across the surface of the water and the distance of water over which the wind has blown, also called the fetch. The faster the wind is travelling and the further it travels pushing against the wave, the bigger it will be. Though most ocean waves are wind generated, there can be exceptions.

Dr. Brooks, a marine biologist at FAU, points to an event that occurred at Daytona Beach in 1992. Beachgoers were surprised by a rogue 18-foot wave that came out of nowhere and swept cars parked on shore, along with their drivers, into the water.

“It was most likely triggered by an underwater landslide or other seismic event. It was an otherwise calm day,” says Brooks.

 These and other major wave types can appear suddenly due to shifts of the ocean floor, such as earthquake movements or underwater volcanoes.

Waves are mostly just kinetic energy. The movement of wind transfers energy into the water and the waves move that energy. It is not the water that is being moved, but energy. The kinetic energy moves through the water in a circular motion, not a forward motion, like round cylinders moving a strap of a conveyor belt. This is why a buoy out on the ocean measures wave size by rising up and down in a bobbing motion as opposed to getting caught in a wave and moving across the water.

Another way to imagine this is to make a mark in the middle of a jump rope and swing the rope up and down, causing kinetic energy to move in a wave-like pattern away from you towards the other end. You would see that the marked portion of the rope did not actually move.

These waves of kinetic energy will travel thousands of miles until they begin to hit obstacles near the coast. Once the waves come in contact with obstacles, like offshore continental shelves, the friction will gradually slow the wave, making it lose part of its intensity. By the time the waves reach the coast, the swell has lost much of its previous energy and intensity. It would be much more powerful if it didn’t come into contact with so many obstacles on its journey.

Once the wave hits a sand bank, a reef or shallow waters, the wave slows down further, causing the wavelength to shorten, the crest of the wave to grow, and the height of the wave to rise. As the bottom slows, the top of the wave keeps moving and finally breaks, giving us the image of a classic white edged curve just asking to be conquered by a surfer.

So the next time you are walking around campus and pass under a banner telling you to “make waves,” you could think of it as a message encouraging you to be a kinetic force — a force that may start out as just ripples in a vast ocean, but with persistence can grow; a force that keeps moving forward, crossing new lands, passing obstacles and, though they may slow you down, not letting anything stop you until you make it to your goal.

When you think of it like that, it’s a pretty good message to live by.

 I thought it's a timely and useful article to read, even provided info on a freaque wave event unknown to us outsiders that was "occurred at Daytona Beach" in 1992. For which beachgoers "were surprised by a rogue 18-foot wave that came out of nowhere and swept cars parked on shore, along with their drivers, into the water."  And I thought the title of the article is a rather refreshing one to attractive attention. Really what else can be regarded as the science of summer?

Freaque wave an amazing ocean fact?

The ABC Science of Australia just published an fairly interesting article online entitled: "10 facts about our amazing oceans". Of particular interest to me, of course, is its fact #6: Rogue waves really do exist.  Here's what they have to say:

For centuries maritime folklore has had tales of gigantic waves that would appear without warning in mid-ocean and sink ships, even in good weather. These rogue waves are not necessarily the biggest waves ever found at sea, but isolated waves way bigger than what any crew might expect in a given sea state. 

By definition, rogue waves are ones whose height is more than twice that of the prevailing conditions. 

The largest scientifically measured rogue waves were encountered in February 2000, by the British oceanographic research vessel, the RRS Discovery. West of Scotland it recorded individual waves of up to 29.1 metres, almost the height of a 10 storey building. 

The causes of these waves are not completely understood, however they seem to happen more often when a strong ocean current runs counter to the direction of the waves.

Basically all routine informations, nothing new there.  My initial reaction was the article is probably an article for the summer doldrum, but it's not summer right now in Australia.  Is this really an amazing fact? I guess it depends on what do you consider as amazing. Anyway, it's still an interesting, and educational article for recommended reading list.

Freaque waves as icebreaker

In the midst of hot summer in North America, it's not timely to think of ice and icebreakers, but here's an interesting science article in www.stuff.co.nz entitle "Freak waves prove to be ultimate icebreaker" by Sarah-Jane O'Connor along with a video of helicopter deploying a buoy onto the Anarctic ice,  that just brings some cool summer thoughts to us:

''Freak waves'' observed by early Antarctic explorers break up sea ice hundreds of kilometres from the open water, New Zealand researchers have found. 

Scientists from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) found that waves bigger than 3 metres break ice much further away from the sea-ice edge than previously thought. 

Niwa oceanographer Dr Mike Williams said the study, published in Nature today, provided vital information that had been missing from models of sea ice and its effect on climate.
‘‘When these experiments were last carried out in the 1970s and 80s, people needed to be sitting on the sea ice to take measurements and that meant they couldn’t be out there when the big waves came through,’’ Williams said. 

The Niwa team developed wave buoys, so they ‘‘were able to put those out on the ice and leave them out during big storms’’, he said

What was interesting to note is this:

The Niwa scientists also compared data from 1997 to 2009 to examine the link between wave heights in the Southern Ocean and sea ice extent. 

‘‘What we’ve found is that where waves have got bigger the sea ice has retreated, and where waves have got smaller the sea ice has expanded,’’ Williams said. 

The research helped to explain why Antarctic sea ice had been increasing in some areas where climate models predicted it would decrease.

So the alarm of decreasing sea ice in Antarctica is just hot air! Now this is also of interest to us remembering
Sir Shackleton's expedition:

The effect of waves on sea ice has been known since the early days of Antarctic exploration. Ernest Shackleton was ‘‘famous for having had his ship trapped in ice’’, Williams said. 

After the men abandoned ship in the Weddell Sea, ‘‘freak waves’’ broke up the ice they had sought safety on. 

Williams said the knowledge could be beneficial for ships that get stuck in sea ice, if they knew there were big waves coming that could break the ice around them. He  said understanding how sea ice expands and retracts was an im important part of climate modelling. 

The connection between waves and ice they confirmed should inspire more interest in measurement ice and waves! Niwa scientists certainly deserve our utmost admiration for their detailed efforts!

A 12 ft freaque wave outside east coast Florida (with Update)

This Article in Sun Sentinel of Florida, written by Brett Clarkson on May 5, 2014, tells a freaque wave encounter of two fishermen who were strained near Jupiter Inlet overnight clingling to their capsized boat and they were spotted by  Coast Guard plane early morning and successfully rescued: 

After 17 hours spent clinging to the hull of their capsized boat, Cory Bowman and Justyn Bradley knew their ordeal was finally nearing its end.

A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 plane had just flown overhead and was making another pass. They had wisely avoided the beer in their cooler all night, to stay alert and hydrated, but the presence of the Coast Guard aircraft in the morning sky was cause for celebration.

 Here's their story  

. . . the pair had set out from the Jupiter Inlet area on Bradley's 21-foot Parker to fish for some mahi-mahi. The trip was cut short around 4 p.m. when a 12-foot rogue wave came at them, capsizing the boat and tossing Bowman, 38, of Tequesta, and Bradley, 37, of Jupiter, into the ocean.

"It pitched my buddy Justyn 30 feet out of the boat, it literally just catapulted him," said Bowman, adding that he grew up in Florida and has spent a lot of time on the water. "This thing was just, I've never seen one that sharp, that tall. It was ridiculous."

After Bowman swam under the boat to retrieve two life jackets and their cooler, which they tied up and held on to, their long night began.

When night began to fall, Bowman said, gaffer dolphins started swimming around them, about 15 to 20 of them over several hours. The stars and moon shone light down on the water, and the phytoplankton glowed like lightning bugs. To Bowman, it sounded like his noise machine at home — just constant waves. There was conversation, but also bouts of silence.

          At one point, Bowman noted their predicament.      

"I told Justyn, I said, 'we're in trouble, dude, we're in serious trouble, dude,' " he said.

Bowman said waves washed him off the boat at least a half dozen times. The entire night, he lay on his stomach on the hull. He didn't sleep at all, and the night went by surprisingly fast, he said.

"Honestly, neither one of us ever panicked at all," Bowman said. "I really, truly believed I was going to get found. I didn't break down really until I got on land, saw my family, my wife."

Bradley's wife, Beth, on Monday described both men as seaworthy and said she alternated between calm and panic.

"I knew that if anybody was going to survive [out there], it was going to be those two," she said. "But the thought crosses your mind, what if they don't come home?"

ItAs for her husband, Beth Bradley said he was too tired and too shaken up to discuss the incident on Monday.

Quite a story -- all started with a 12 ft freaque wave that's clearly not part of their plan! It is remarkable that they kept their calm and cool, never panicked and even retain a sense of humor, along with their supreme optimism. Freaque wave did not recur but other waves did not allow them to have a peaceful night.but it makes the night "went by surprisingly fast"!

 

Update:

Sonja Isger and Julius Whigham II of Palm Beach Post have provided a detailed report of the men's encounter along with a Coast Guard rescue video when they interviewed Bowman:

Sitting in the garage of his Tequesta home Monday afternoon, Bowman said he was still shaken up by the experience. He recalled the moment that their 21-foot Parker boat was overturned by a “rogue” wave. The men had started to fish in earnest around noon and decided to stay out a while longer to see if they could find more fish.

“We were in about 500 feet of water and all of a sudden, this wave that came out of nowhere, it was literally completely rogue,” Bowman said. “This thing was probably the nastiest wave I think I’ve ever seen. This thing was probably about 12 foot and it was a sheer wall, straight up and down.”

“I told Justyn, ‘This is the biggest one of the day, hang on.’”

The wave came crashing down on top of, and to side of the boat, and flipped it within seconds, Bowman said. He said Bradley, who was standing in the back on the port side was catapulted from the boat about 30 feet. Bowman, who was standing on the starboard side, recalled hitting the water and going straight down 

“I went down and I popped up and the boat is capsized,” he said. “It’s about 4 o’clock (in the afternoon) and not one boat around and I knew we were in trouble.”

Bowman clamored to get on top of the overturned boat, while Bradley clung to a large fishing lure box. Bradley made his way to a cooler that was filled with bottles of water and then made his way to the top of the boat, Bowman said.

“I didn’t know if the boat was going to stay afloat,” Bowman said. “I was assuming the worst. You have to. We got all situated on there and (there were) no boats, no nothing, no anybody. “

Bowman swam underneath the boat to retrieve two life vests and rain jacket. He grabbed a tool box and searched for flares, but had to settle for a whistle, some drawstrings and zip ties instead.

Their cell phones were lost and radio communications disabled.

Bowman said he knew that his wife, Laurie, would contact the Coast Guard when she realized the men had not checked in and were out of contact. 

“I kept saying out loud, ‘Please, Laurie, call it in,” Bowman said.

Family members provided Coast Guard crews information about where the men had had started their fishing trip.

It is always good to read a happy ending story, especially when they provided some well observed numbers about the "nastiest" wave!

Encountered by Cruise ship Crystal Serenity

This recent April 27, 2014 news has just came to my attention:

(7:45 a.m. EDT) -- A wave that struck a luxury cruise ship sailing in the Mediterranean broke windows and caused damage to the ship's main dining room. 

The wave hit Crystal Cruises' 1,070-passenger ship Crystal Serenitywhile it was en route from Spain to Monte Carlo. 

According to a Cruise Critic member who is posting live reports from the ship on the Cruise Critic forums, the wave struck Serenity during the early hours of Saturday morning (April 26).  

Member Keith1010 wrote: "… at around 1:30 AM a rogue wave likely hit the ship because three windows in the Crystal Dining Room were blown in and of course water also came in." 
Crystal confirmed the report to Cruise Critic. 

Crystal Serenity "was cruising the southern coast of Spain en route to Monte Carlo when the wave struck," a Crystal spokesperson said. "Temporary repairs were made to the windows during the night by the ship's crew. Most guests on board were unaware of any disturbance until an announcement was made to the entire ship to keep everyone abreast of the situation and to advise that dining room would not be open for breakfast or lunch. 

"During the day, the windows were permanently fixed, the carpet was cleaned and dried, several other restaurants were open for breakfast and lunch, including Prego that was opened for lunch. The Crystal Dining Room resumed service for dinner." 

According to Keith1010: "Portions of the carpeting got wet. A few tables are out of commission for the short term but given that several people are dining at other venues and even off the ship there are no issues. 

"Again, kudos for the hard work of the Serenity crew and for working so hard to make this as transparent to the guests as possible," he said 

Crystal Serenity is currently on a 13-night Mediterranean cruise from Southampton to Rome. 
--Jamey Bergman, UK Production Editor 

May be because there was no major damage, some onboard did not even noticed the happening, there's no world wide news coverage, but nevertheless this was a true freaque encounter! By the way here's a file photo of Crystal Serenty:

Happened off the Treasure Coast, Florida

This is the headline
Rogue Wave Capsizes Boat Sunday; 
2 Rescued After 17 Hours In The Water Off Fort Pierce
given in the CBS12.com by Scott Smith:

By Scott T. Smith / CBS12 News
OFF THE TREASURE COAST, Fla. -- Two Tequesta men in their 30s were rescued after 17 hours in the water when their boat was struck and capsized by a rogue wave Sunday afternoon.

Though they left from the Jupiter Inlet, the Coast Guard located them 12 miles out from the Ft. Pierce inlet Monday morning. The men were not injured but they were a little dehydrated.

The Coast Guard found the pair on the upturned hull of their boat in relatively rough seas.

The Coast Guard says the men told each other jokes while they drifted north in the Gulf Stream. They are back home and reported in good spirits.

A rogue wave is one that is at least twice as high as the observed conditions. Seas were reported withe 3- to 5-foot swells on Sunday, so a rogue wave in those conditions would be 10 feet or more.

Now this is most definitely a happy ending. I can't be more impressed by the two gentlemen that 'told each other jokes while they drifted north in the Gulf Stream" during their 17 hours ordeal waiting to be rescued.   That kind of calmness must be special God's blessing for them. Wish all encounter can be resolved similarly.

Happened off rocks at Australia's Wybung Head

This tragedy happened near Australia's east coast, but the news was reported from ShanghaiDaily.com in this report:

Apr 27,2014
SYDNEY, April 27 (Xinhua)-- In a further rock-fishing tragedy that has blighted the recreational fishing on Australia's unpredictable eastern coast, police recovered Saturday the body of a Chinese national lost off rocks at Wybung Head who tried to save a friend lost moments earlier on the NSW Central Coast. Police resumed Sunday the search for another man who is assumed lost in the same circumstances.
About 6.30 p.m. Friday, a group of two women and four men from Sydney were fishing off rocks, when one of the women was swept into the water by a wave.
The young rock fisherman appears to have drowned in the vain attempt to save his girl friend. The young man is among 10 risk- taking fisherman who have died in the past two years in the same treacherous waters of the NSW Central Coast.

So it's another location, another place, another time, another occurrence of the same script of   tragedy!!! Even the same dreadful description "swept into the water by a wave " as happened in many previous cases at other locations. But here the happening took an unexpected turn later:

When the two men from the group made the fateful decision to leap into extremely dangerous white breakers -- waves that smash into the rocky headlands -- they struggled momentarily before the woman was miraculously swept back to safety by another wave.

If the first wave was an unexpected freaque one, this second "miraculously swept back to safety" wave for the rescue is clearly unexpected. With freaque waves nothing can be expected, nothing can be taken for granted. We are in the hands of mighty nature, we'll never know what to expect or what's going to happen!

Easter morning incident at Skennars Head

The headline of this article by Nigel Raynard in the Coffs Coast Advocate is "Freak waves hit fishermen at Skennars Head". The article is accompanied with this beautiful morning picture: 

Nigel Raynard is also the photographer as he indicated that he was standing on the headland at Boulder Beach early Easter Sunday when he saw two fishermen swept off the rocks at The Peg. And here's the story he told as a 3rd person:

WHAT was supposed to be a calm shot of two silhouettes fishing against an orange sunrise at Boulder Beach at Skennars Head on Sunday turned into a dramatic sequence when both men were swept off The Peg by a large swell.

Photographer Nigel Raynard was standing on the headland early Easter Sunday when the event unfolded.

"I was just at Boulder Beach taking some photos on the way to work and I saw those young guys fishing at The Peg," he said.

"The first wave took the first guy off and he fell backwards into the water.

"Luckily he didn't hit his head."

Fortunately, there was a group of surfers nearby who spotted the young fishermen in trouble.

"One of the surfers got the guy on his board and took him all the way to the beach," Mr Raynard said.

"Immediately after, the other guy got washed off by the next wave in the set.

"He fell off into the southern side of The Peg, which isn't as easy to get to.

And

Bystanders on the headland yelled out to surfers and pointed in the direction of the second fisherman.

Another big wave hit, launching the second fisherman into the channel on the southern side.

The man was washed to the end of the channel and managed to scramble up the rocks before collapsing on the ground.

Mr Raynard said it was a miracle neither fisherman was seriously injured.

"It's amazing they didn't hit their heads," he said.

Far North Coast Fishing Club Association president Ren Standley said The Peg was a notoriously dangerous spot for rock fishermen.

"You never fish in the swell," he said. "There's been quite a few go off there over the years."

Brian Wilson from Ballina Angling Club said it was a popular spot for fishermen as one of the few land based areas to catch bigger species of fish like tuna, however fisherman needed to be cautious.

"Even in small swells, you get one wave and there's no protection," he said.

So in the end with the surfer's rescue, neither fisherman is seriously injured, a miraculously happy ending of a frightful  Easter morning freaque wave encounter. Happy Easter!

Here are two other pictures with waves in action presumably was also taken that morning:

For me a desk sailor or land surfer it is always overwhelmingly enjoyable to see this kind of action wave pictures.  Thanks, Mr. Raynard.

Another video on a storm off South Coast of Ireland. 01/feb/2014.

The above is another super video introduced by Michael Ballaban of jalopnik.com. With this explanations:

Growing up I always wanted to be a captain on a ship. Wear a white hat, have a great big gray beard, hold a pipe but never actually smoke it, all those fun things. After seeing what massive storm swells look like off the south coast of Ireland, I might want to rethink that. 

The Reddit user that posted this video, stevgoldhound, says that he's a merchant mariner on a 203-foot boat, and that this is a bit of a typical storm. Previously he's encountered sees as high as 80 feet before. 

In a storm like this, you've got two options. Keep all your future sailing to inner-city ponds, while you cower in terror at the sea and the incessant squeaking of the windshield wiper, or lash yourself to the bow, and screaming at the mighty ocean to hit you with all it's got. 

I don't know why those are the only two options, but that is what they are and I don't make the rules. 

Good luck out there, sailor.

I can't say that I enjoyed watching this video. Since I am usually suffering seasickness, watching the video did tightened up my stomach somewhat. What I am enjoyed was knowing the fact that what I am seeing is the real thing, true reality, on what is happening out there in the open ocean. What really hits me is that when we out there in the real ocean surrounded by waves large and small, wave spectra, significant wave heights will be something meaningless -- who cares about them???

Oh yes, another question, when out there in the real ocean, does it or does it not, freaque waves always on every one's mind. My feeling is the latter. Really, if it happens it happens, who's going to unnecessarily worry about something that may or may not happen anyway?!

Video show on a vessel in heavy seas during severe weather conditions

I came across this above youtube video from Jalopnik.com given here  entitled "Watch Heavy Seas Bend and Twist a Giant Ship like Taffy" written by Michael Ballaban. It appears the video was taken at different parts of this giant cargo ship that really gave a clear indication regarding what was happening to the ship during the encountering of this heavy seas. Here as Ballaban tells it:

The Skagen Maersk is 1,138.5 feet long, and weighs over 100,000 tons. That sounds pretty big and strong. But when faced with some big waves, the whole thing undulates and groans like a bucking bronco. This is crazy. 

We've seen videos of big ocean swells before, but we haven't seen just what it can do to the innards of a huge, ocean-going vessel. The power of the sea puts massive forces on the ship, forcing it to bend to its will. Even deep in the belly of the ship, you can see one end of a corridor swaying back and forth. 

If I was on board, I'd probably jump off as soon as I could, because That Does Not Look Right. 

But everything is all right, according to the video, and big ships are designed to twist about in heavy seas, much like airplane wings bend in turbulence. If they weren't flexible, they would break. 

That doesn't make it feel any better though. I'd be putting on my lifejacket.

I guess one can not argue with video evidence of everything is all right. They knew that they were encountering the heavy sea. So just bracing to brave through it. One may wonders what might happen if it comes all of a sudden in generally calm condition, yes, when it encounters a freaque wave, would it still be all right? Let's hope it would be!

Happy rescue happened in North Pacific during the Clipper Round the World Race

This case has been well reported.  The above picture is from the South China Morning Post's report by Associated Press. A subtitle of the story states:  "Andrew Taylor was thrown overboard during The Clipper Round the World Race and faced a situation that has claimed many lives in the past" that's about to set the stage and here's what happened:

Halfway between China and San Francisco, British sailor Andrew Taylor suddenly found himself floating alone in the cold, rough North Pacific. 

One moment he'd been helping to change a sail aboard the 70-foot yacht Derry-Londonderry-Doire, and the next he'd fallen overboard, smashed into the rudder and was being swept away in big waves and strong wind. 

For a while he was within sight of the sloop, which is competing in The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race. 

Then he wasn't. 

"I never contemplated I would die. I did consider whether the boat would find me," the 46-year-old Taylor said in an interview from the boat via satellite phone. 

About one hour, 40 minutes after falling in just past the International Date Line on Monday, Taylor was pulled out by his crewmates. He was treated for hypothermia and his leg was put in a splint. He'll have X-rays after the boat arrives in San Francisco on either April 11 or 12.
Taylor, a catering manager from London, said he never panicked and never gave up hope of being rescued because he knew his fellow crew members were well trained for a man-overboard emergency. "I just want to express my gratitude to the team for their work and effort," said Taylor, who had never set foot aboard a boat before he began training for this race in 2012. "It was a traumatic experience for everyone, for the crew as well as for me in the water."

This is a quite a good story telling piece. Being a happy ending it might even be enjoyable to read.  But of course for those who involved it was certainly not a picnic out there. Still by falling overboard it is gratifying to hear him saying that he was never contemplated that he would die. Not everyone can have that kind of bold bravery but it will be great help if you have it!

May be because of the happy ending, the article was written in a relaxing style. Here's some further details:

Before he fell overboard, Taylor was on the foredeck helping skipper Sean McCarter with a sail change. 

They were having some trouble so Taylor started to head back to get a pair of pliers. McCarter was able to unhook the sail when the boat suddenly leaned heavily downwind. 

"One second my feet were on the boat, the next second my head was in the water," Taylor said. "It happened so very, very quickly." 

Taylor thought his safety harness was clipped to the boat. 

McCarter said in a story posted on the race website that somewhere between going to get the pliers then not needing them, Taylor got distracted and forgot to clip on again. 

McCarter hollered "man overboard" and the crew began turning the boat around. Even after the engine was started, the boat had a hard time in winds of 35 knots and waves estimated to be four to six metres high. 

The crew could see Taylor about 200 metres away but he was quickly drifting. 

Taylor, who was wearing a life jacket and a dry suit, said a sudden storm pushed him farther from the boat and he was having trouble with his personal locator beacon. 

"It really got very nasty for a while," he said. "I got rolled over in some of the waves, like a washing machine. By the time the storm passed I didn't know where the boat was." 

More than an hour after Taylor fell in the water, a crewman shouted to McCarter that his personal locator beacon had just activated. 

Another crew member up the mast spotted Taylor more than 400 metres away. 

"I heard voices screaming. I heard voices calling my name," Taylor said. "I lifted up my spray hood and the boat was right in front of me."

I would like to add: Thanks be to God!

Happened at Santa Barbara beach

This news item by Morgan Chilson in NewsMax.com yesterday is a little disturbing to read: During Baptism in Ocean Waves, Man Swept Out to Sea. 

A man helping a pastor perform a baptism in the Pacific Ocean was swept out to sea by a rogue wave on Sunday and has not been found.

Pastor Maurigro Cervantes of Jesus Christ Light of the Sky Church, told KCOY-TV that his cousin, Benito Flores, 43, was helping with the baptism when a wave grabbed him.

“A big wave came and took Benito. I tried to take him out, he was heavy and then another big wave came,” Cervantes told KCOY.

Two other people were also pulled away from shore by the waves, but they were able to swim back to safety.

The baptism was being performed on the coast in Santa Barbara County.

KCOY reported that the Coast Guard continues to search for the man, although the Santa Barbara Fire Department had suspended its search.Cervantes told the Santa Maria Times that he performs the baptismal service at that location two or three times a year. He said about 25 people attended Sunday’s service.

The case is by no means new, even in this blog we have repeatedly reported similar kind of news  whenever it had happened and reported in the news.  So once again it shows freaque waves are totally unexpected and it can happen at any place at any time to any one.  This time it also shows unfortunately replicating St John the Baptist's historical act in Jordan river is not without risks, even in the peaceful beach area. It had happened to all different instances, this may be the first time encountered by a serious religious ceremony.  I certainly do not wish to discourage this kind of ceremony, but I do wish to make a modest suggestion: next time make certain everyone on the beach wear a life jacket just in case! Of course also make certain there should be life guard around just in case also.  No excuse should be tolerated by not providing any safety cautions during this kind of occasions involves a group of people!

       

 

       

A rogue wave had hit the ship!

The Baltimore tv station, abc27_WHTM, has this headline item on their site abc27.com: Midstate woman on cruise ship rattled by high waves  by Al Gnoza. Of particular interest to us is this line: "People on board reported that a rogue wave had hit the ship, causing the top deck to collapse".


The cruise ship is Royal Caribbean Cruise's Grandeur of the Seas in the Atlantic Ocean. Maryland passenger Patti Hill Bocassini is onboard the 10 day cruise that visited places like San Juan and St. Thomas has this to report:

"The captain came on and said we were averaging 20 foot waves," Bocassini said on the phone. "This is the very high winds that are coming from the Nor'easter which is ahead of us. But the wind is still blowing down here and around Cape Hatteras is really bad any way."

Bocassini posted this update around dinner time: "waves still high boat still rocking deck has been repaired winds to die down tonight."- smiley face.

So this is a sighting of freaque waves encountered with no details as usual and no sustentative damage. All's well!