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Rogue Waves
- Thread starter elcalvo
- Start date
You should be glad you never did.
That rogue wave showed up on another forum I frequent and this was my reply.
Some of this is similar to what I've posted here recently, but some is new.
Serving aboard HMCS Sussexvale from September 1965 to September 1966 I enjoyed a few big storms, saw a few really bad ones and generally barfed my guts out many times.
Ironic that some years after finishing my navy service I'd become a surfer, chasing waves, after enduring the sea-sickness that plagued me during my time at sea. Anyway.....
Back some time ago, late 70's or early 80's I was on one of my summer trips to Westport Wa. seeking some surf and I met a surfer named Jim ??? who was the skipper of one of the Coast Guard self-righting rescue boats that work the bar there. They go out in some horrendous stuff down there, believe me. I want to recall the boat as being in the 40 foot long range, but not sure and haven't looked it up.
I remember asking him if they (crew of four) ever went out and rolled it over in the big surf just for fun. He replied quite emphatically that they didn't ever do that, because whenever the boat rolled over there was a lot of paperwork to fill out, explaining where, why etc. etc.
I'm sure he mentioned they were all strapped in their seats while crossing the bar, but that was a long time ago and I could be mistaken.
Pretty brave people who do that for a job. IMHO
By the way, the biggest waves I ever saw were in a big storm in March of 1966 when we came out of Naden Harbor into the teeth of a real screamer.
We basically held position next to HMCS Yukon for a day or so and were closed up in action stations the whole time, which put me up in Radio Three, the UHF and VHF room up on the same level as the bridge, 20 or 30 feet above the waterline when it was calm. It was not calm and we were doing 42 degree rolls as we quartered up 40 or 50 foot wave faces and watched the tops of them being blown flat by the wind, creating long spume trails.
I have been told the sonar bubble on the keel of a Destroyer is 70 feet back from the bow. On several bigger waves we could see it come out of the water as the Yukon climbed slowly up the face, before falling into the trough behind the swell. She was 360 feet long.
Our Frigate was 306 feet long and a stiffer riding ship and it was no fun for a couple of days there until we got inside Vancouver Island and out of the weather. During the height of the storm we had no radio communications nor any broadcast as our antennas were all wiped out and we couldn't go out to try to fix them. Took about three days to get from Naden Harbor to inside the top of Vancouver Island if I recall correctly. By far the worst weather I ever endured at sea.
Oh, should mention that if one is facing truly large and/or near breaking waves it's almost always better to go slow, maintaining steerage but realizing that things floating in big swells simply go up and down as the energy passes under them, and that applies to boats too for the most part.
Taking on big waves at speed is folly.
I've watched it happen a few times on the bar at the mouth of the Jordan River. LOL
Take care.
Some of this is similar to what I've posted here recently, but some is new.
Serving aboard HMCS Sussexvale from September 1965 to September 1966 I enjoyed a few big storms, saw a few really bad ones and generally barfed my guts out many times.
Ironic that some years after finishing my navy service I'd become a surfer, chasing waves, after enduring the sea-sickness that plagued me during my time at sea. Anyway.....
Back some time ago, late 70's or early 80's I was on one of my summer trips to Westport Wa. seeking some surf and I met a surfer named Jim ??? who was the skipper of one of the Coast Guard self-righting rescue boats that work the bar there. They go out in some horrendous stuff down there, believe me. I want to recall the boat as being in the 40 foot long range, but not sure and haven't looked it up.
I remember asking him if they (crew of four) ever went out and rolled it over in the big surf just for fun. He replied quite emphatically that they didn't ever do that, because whenever the boat rolled over there was a lot of paperwork to fill out, explaining where, why etc. etc.
I'm sure he mentioned they were all strapped in their seats while crossing the bar, but that was a long time ago and I could be mistaken.
Pretty brave people who do that for a job. IMHO
By the way, the biggest waves I ever saw were in a big storm in March of 1966 when we came out of Naden Harbor into the teeth of a real screamer.
We basically held position next to HMCS Yukon for a day or so and were closed up in action stations the whole time, which put me up in Radio Three, the UHF and VHF room up on the same level as the bridge, 20 or 30 feet above the waterline when it was calm. It was not calm and we were doing 42 degree rolls as we quartered up 40 or 50 foot wave faces and watched the tops of them being blown flat by the wind, creating long spume trails.
I have been told the sonar bubble on the keel of a Destroyer is 70 feet back from the bow. On several bigger waves we could see it come out of the water as the Yukon climbed slowly up the face, before falling into the trough behind the swell. She was 360 feet long.
Our Frigate was 306 feet long and a stiffer riding ship and it was no fun for a couple of days there until we got inside Vancouver Island and out of the weather. During the height of the storm we had no radio communications nor any broadcast as our antennas were all wiped out and we couldn't go out to try to fix them. Took about three days to get from Naden Harbor to inside the top of Vancouver Island if I recall correctly. By far the worst weather I ever endured at sea.
Oh, should mention that if one is facing truly large and/or near breaking waves it's almost always better to go slow, maintaining steerage but realizing that things floating in big swells simply go up and down as the energy passes under them, and that applies to boats too for the most part.
Taking on big waves at speed is folly.
I've watched it happen a few times on the bar at the mouth of the Jordan River. LOL
Take care.
I was getting sea sick reading your brilliant post above. In 1953, my family went by ship to France to set-up house for 3 years in Verdun. I’ll never forget, USS Hodges, a left over Destroyer troop ship from WWII. I was 8 years old and sick for the entire voyage. We were on a mid-deck and looking down the side of the ship it seemed everyone on below decks were at the rails puking non-stop. On the trip back to the US we were on the SS America. My folks assured me I wouldn’t get sick because, “it’s a big luxury liner.” They lied. I remember eating saltine crackers most of the trip and the only time I wasn’t sea sick was when I was in the salt water swimming pool where I learned to swim…. I’ve admitted before in the forum, I’ve hurled off the side of my board when paddling out in storm chop (commonly called Victory at Sea). John
I have been lovesick, flu-sick, drunk-sick, car-sick, air-sick and puked from a Ferris wheel once with a girl sitting next to me, but nothing is as bad as being sea-sick for a number of days and praying for a moment of calm that never comes. Ma nature doesn't care, whereas all other types of being sick can be handled quite quickly in most cases or don't last very long.
There are three levels of it too.
1...You think you're going to die.
2...You wish you would die.
3...You're afraid you're not going to die.
There was no "patch" during the 60's to combat motion sickness either, so I tried Gravol, Dramamine and hypnosis.
Nothing helped.
In a bit of irony, the only time I wrote an exam during my service time and didn't get the highest mark was on a Seamanship exam where a Leading Seaman with five years in got one mark higher than I did, and I'd not been drafted to a ship yet.
He was part of the group of east coast guys who came out west in the mid 60's to boost our manpower and we ended up on the same ship, HMCS Sussexvale.
On our first trip out after refit and hitting the swells as we approached Cape Flattery many of the crew were lined up rail-side and feeding the fish.
I had fought it off as best I could but could feel it coming along and was waiting for Leading Seaman Ron Alcock to back off the rail before I ran out and puked, because he was downwind of me. He puked and then started to pull back so I took that as a sign to move forward and start my barfing.
Unfortunately, Ron had to barf again so moved forward just as I let go a large hurl that quickly was whisked away and down the rail where it hit Ron full splat. I watched with a sense of horror as it happened.
He backed off, wiped himself with his shirt sleeve, glared at me and yelled out: "For phucks sake Hadden, get downwind of me you idiot. I outrank you."
I apologized profusely and quickly changed positions with him, feeling quite bad that I'd actually puked on him, but a part of me felt good about it too, 'cause he was the only man who ever beat me on any exam I ever wrote during service which included 10 months of Comm School. Somehow it seemed right that he was the guy I'd barfed on.
I am a world ranked expert at puking from a Frigate, believe me.
Take care.
There are three levels of it too.
1...You think you're going to die.
2...You wish you would die.
3...You're afraid you're not going to die.
There was no "patch" during the 60's to combat motion sickness either, so I tried Gravol, Dramamine and hypnosis.
Nothing helped.
In a bit of irony, the only time I wrote an exam during my service time and didn't get the highest mark was on a Seamanship exam where a Leading Seaman with five years in got one mark higher than I did, and I'd not been drafted to a ship yet.
He was part of the group of east coast guys who came out west in the mid 60's to boost our manpower and we ended up on the same ship, HMCS Sussexvale.
On our first trip out after refit and hitting the swells as we approached Cape Flattery many of the crew were lined up rail-side and feeding the fish.
I had fought it off as best I could but could feel it coming along and was waiting for Leading Seaman Ron Alcock to back off the rail before I ran out and puked, because he was downwind of me. He puked and then started to pull back so I took that as a sign to move forward and start my barfing.
Unfortunately, Ron had to barf again so moved forward just as I let go a large hurl that quickly was whisked away and down the rail where it hit Ron full splat. I watched with a sense of horror as it happened.
He backed off, wiped himself with his shirt sleeve, glared at me and yelled out: "For phucks sake Hadden, get downwind of me you idiot. I outrank you."
I apologized profusely and quickly changed positions with him, feeling quite bad that I'd actually puked on him, but a part of me felt good about it too, 'cause he was the only man who ever beat me on any exam I ever wrote during service which included 10 months of Comm School. Somehow it seemed right that he was the guy I'd barfed on.
I am a world ranked expert at puking from a Frigate, believe me.
Take care.
A childrens book set at Cape Flattery,
Ghost Canoe:
(Description from Amazon)
After a sailing ship breaks up on the rocks off Washington's storm-tossed Cape Flattery, Nathan McAllister, the fourteen-year-old son of the lighthouse keeper, refuses to believe the authorities, who say there were no survivors. Unexplained footprints on a desolate beach, a theft at the trading post, and glimpses of a wild mystery man convince Nathan that someone is hiding in the remote sea caves along the coast.
With his new friend, Lighthouse George, a fisherman from the famed Makah whaling tribe, Nathan paddles the fierce waters of the Pacific searching for clues. And once alone in the forest, Nathan may have found some: a ghostly canoe and a skeleton that may unlock the mystery of ancient treasure, betrayal . . .and murder.
This thrilling middle grade adventure from Will Hobbs, a former teacher and the author of beloved books such as Far North, was chosen for Georgia's Children's Book Award Masterlist.
I bet I would read that straight through.
Ghost Canoe:
(Description from Amazon)
After a sailing ship breaks up on the rocks off Washington's storm-tossed Cape Flattery, Nathan McAllister, the fourteen-year-old son of the lighthouse keeper, refuses to believe the authorities, who say there were no survivors. Unexplained footprints on a desolate beach, a theft at the trading post, and glimpses of a wild mystery man convince Nathan that someone is hiding in the remote sea caves along the coast.
With his new friend, Lighthouse George, a fisherman from the famed Makah whaling tribe, Nathan paddles the fierce waters of the Pacific searching for clues. And once alone in the forest, Nathan may have found some: a ghostly canoe and a skeleton that may unlock the mystery of ancient treasure, betrayal . . .and murder.
This thrilling middle grade adventure from Will Hobbs, a former teacher and the author of beloved books such as Far North, was chosen for Georgia's Children's Book Award Masterlist.
I bet I would read that straight through.