[Paddlewise] Fwd: Ferries and wakes

Return-path: JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com
From: JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com
Full-name: JCMARTIN43
Message-ID: <b94cc1ef.251cc795_at_aol.com>
Date: Fri, 24 Sep 1999 08:24:53 EDT
Subject: Ferries and wakes
To: PaddleWise_at_lists.intelent.net
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After four months experiencing computer "technical difficulties" --- slow learner --- I'm back on PaddleWise with a note from an article in September's periodical, Marine Log, a professional journal for shipbuilders, the text of which, unfortunately, does not appear in their web site, <www.marinelog.com>.  

It's probably of greatest interest to those U.S. readers in the upper corner of this country's left coast --- and the lower left for Canadians --- where fast ferries seem to be most prevalant.  Maybe for those in Alaska as well --- (greetings, Dave).  The story, titled "Unwanted Waves", centers on "solitary waves" that can be generated by a high speed vessel --- or any vessel in close quarters --- which can become very dangerous.  (The leadin for the article says, "fast ferries can generate a wave type that's 'first cousin to a tsunami'."

Apparently, it hadn't been scientifically proven before that highly destructive solitary waves could be generated by vessels of this sort, but there are court cases in Washington that will require fast ferries to slow to conventional speeds in an area called Rich Passage because of the environmental effects caused by these solitary waves.  The article also discusses the death in July of a fisherman in the U.K. who was washed overboard when his boat was hit by a solitary wave in relatively calm seas.

The read-across for kayakers is pretty obvious: tsunamis are not our friend.  And, especially with all the fast critters in the Pacific Northwest --- and all the sea kayakers, to boot --- it might become an issue.  If there's interest, I can try to digitize this article, or, if you have a personal or professional interest in the subject, contact Marine Log at <marinelog_at_sbpub.com>, and maybe they'd make the text available.

Having written all this, I hope I'm not jumping back on the list just as you wind up an extended discussion of fast ferries and tsunamis!  But it's good to be back.  Have missed the info and the banter.

Jack Martin
(no longer, unfortunately, on the banks of the St. Mary's River in Southern Maryland)
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