>Good morning Darrel, > > I have to admit that the 200' swell that > > capsized the Andrea Gail was hard to stomach, but the > > visual effect was > > gripping. > >I have operated tug boats in average seas of 35' +, and rode >out >seas of up to 50' .... thank God, I've never seen a 200' >wave. I >know other captains that claim to have been in 90' seas. > >But, even in 50' (a true 50' wave) you might well think it >was >200' ..... especially in a tug or a fishing vessel ... no >fun >at all. > >Capt. Donald R. Reid I wouldn't imagine anyone who's seen a 200' wave from sea level is around to tell the tale. I believe the typical size of the waves mentioned, in the book at least, was 100 feet - half the size, but still more than enough. I saw "The Perfect Storm" movie on Saturday. Judging from my experience "breaking out" through the surf zone in my whitewater boat, the computer animators did a superb job of capturing the dreadful moment when a wave peaks and breaks "too soon", before you can power over the top, the awful, achingly long seconds during which you realise this is happening, and the wild, out-of-control back-surfing that happens before the boat is flipped. In the book, the author mentions that the Coast Guard term for a wave that is too steep and fast for a given boat to power up the face of is "non-negotiable". My kayak surfing buddies and I have adopted this term as very descriptive: "Wow, that wave was totally non-negotiable - it maytagged me completely, and then window-shaded me back to shore!" Philip Torrens N49°16' W123°06' *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Mon Jul 10 2000 - 10:56:30 PDT
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