"Jim Farrelly" <JFarrelly5_at_comcast.net> wrote: > I paddled the mouth of the Savannah River Friday. [snip]. My back was to > the marsh as I watched the jousting tankers pass each other. The amount > of water being moved by the bulbous nose of each ship was amazing [snip] > As both ships retreated I looked across the channel to the > South Carolina side to see huge muddy waves repeatedly slamming against > the stone piles of the channel edge. The waves were at least six feet > and came in with incredible speed. Here is a reasonably informative pdf file (2.8 Mb download) detailing formation of such surge wakes in confined channels: http://chl.wes.army.mil/research/navigation/GulfportWorkshop/StephenMaynord1.pdf The photos are the best part ... dig through towards the end for these. Jim's case would be horrific, I suspect, because of the involvement of two ships. I've seen these things on the Columbia River generate vertical excursions of 3-4 feet, which can produce quite a lateral flow on the right shoreline ... enough to sweep wading kiddies off their feet. If you are prepared for them, they are fun to play in ... or you can derive perverse joy in watching your PFD'ed buddies "learn" about them. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Jul 24 2005 - 12:05:25 PDT
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