Freak Waves

There was a most interesting programme on TV last night about freak waves at sea.

As one who has done plenty of rock and surf fishing on the Cape and Natal coasts of South Africa - where many of the largest ocean wave have been recorded, I can tell you these waves are fact.

They used to tell you: NEVER turn your backl to the sea. Every year a number of anglers are drowned on the SA coast by a wave that comes out of nowhere and totally swamps an angler who might be standing 30 feet up on a rocky ledge. One club near Knysna used to have eye bolts concreted into the rocks so that you could harness yourself incase of a freak wave.

Of course certain scientists don't believe in such phenomena.

The problem I have with many scientists is that they spend too much time in cloistered environments in universities with nice comfortable little mathematical formulae instead of getting of their backs and into the real world.

They often don't believe the truth, even when it is staring them in the eyes.

How many of you have experienced freak waves at sea?

Ron i saw the same program as you as an ex skipper i can relate to what they were saying I saw some extremely large waves both in the north sea and irish sea and now that i have taking up beachcasting again you can see the same afect by counting the waves coming ashore about every 7TH seems to be the largest greg

Being a surfer, you tend to gets waves (at the beach)in "sets" of three, the third is normaly the largest. the sets tend to come in at regular intervals on a building swell, say every 10 mins or so, and are seperate to the "normal" waves. the bigger the swell, the longer the lull in-between
FYI Ron, the largest waves tend to be generated in the far south/north hemispheres ie north atlantic/pacific or far south atlantic/pacific-mainly due to the tidal range being much larger than nearer the equator(where there isn't any!) largest recorded wave(by boat) was in the north atlantic off iceland(i believe) largest ridden was one of 70+ft on the Cortes Bank
Go Here If your interested
Thats not to say SA doesnt get good waves!!

Didn't I read (Guiness B O Records?) years ago that some guy rode a Tidal wave to save his life & succeded?

I know off a stretch of rocks in Bantry bay where a few large ones appear as if by magic. Strange as inside the bay, but the locals say it's the Tankers moving to Whiddy Island.
I'd hated to have been on the rocks when Whiddy blew up those years ago.

Mind you there is a little inlet I was fishing near the end of the bay 4 years ago. The day before it turned out a French chap had been showing off in front of 2 girls. A wave took him under & it appears wedged his head in the rocks. When the next one came in he came free but unfortunately his head didn't.
(The extra rubby dubby didn't work!)

Casting the memory back (25 years) did I read about a place called something like 'Tubbs Rock' in this country. Meant to be 100 - 150 ft up & anglers had been taken by freak waves?
Probably totally wrong!

I once got my gear swept away while fishing the east side of Portland (where I lived). I should have taken more notice of the warship exercise in Weymouth Bay - one minute it was lovely and calm, the next a wave probably stirred up by a frigate turning at 25 knots washed all my gear into the pool behind me and I got drenched. And my mate nearly went for a swim on Chesil, when an extra-big wave reached his feet. All the pebbles rolling back under his feet meant he couldn't scramble higher up the beach. In the end, I grabbed his rod tip (steady, boys) and that helped him get back up.
These days, the auto lifejacket goes on whenever I'm taking the slightest risk.

Me too Mark I don't care if I look a idiot with it.
I was at Looe Bar in Cornwall, one of those shingle beaches, and witnessed a piece of beach disappear & the wave wasn't that big.

I bet your mate was glad he had a big rod??

I havent expereiced on myself, but I know someones husband who got killed by a freak wave in cornwall 'perranporth' i think, quite a few years ago.

it can get very dangous on the rocks down here, i have had some lucky escapes mind you!

I was returning from Ireland on the Sea Cat [little version] in pretty rough conditions, about Force 8 Easterly, when we were hit by a huge wave that seemed to engulf the whole vessell and almost stopped it. People, tea, coffee and Guinness where sent flying. All except the Irish waiter who had a full tray of Guiness etc, who managed to waltz back and forwards without spilling a drop! We all cheered and called for an encore, but he just bowed and excepted the applause.

Colin

I was sitting in the bath after the xmas food & booze, when suddnenly there was this bubble & resulting freak wave.
Nearly washed me out & left me stranded on the floor??????

A Tsunami, I assume, probably caused by an underwater volcano exploding. Very dodgy with lots of Sulphorus fumes. You were lucky to get out alive.

Colin

A fond memory i hold. when i was 8 or 9 (some years ago!) i was fishing for mackerel at Benllech in Anglesey off some rocks in a camp/caravan site. approx 8 feet up from a very calm ocean when a wave came from nowhere and went over me and my father (a few feet over him too) he grabbed a rock and me...
He said "dont tell your mother"


so we went home and guess what the first thing i said was!