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World's Tallest Wave
ctwxman writes "With all the talk of December's tsunami, it's easy to lose sight of the larger waves often found in mid-ocean. The three components for building a huge wave are wind speed, duration and fetch. All three were in play for a massive record breaker.
As reported by The Times (UK), "It happened on September 16 last year when Hurricane Ivan stormed across the Gulf of Mexico and tore into the coast of Alabama, accompanied by 130mph winds and storm surges 8ft high.
While still out at sea, oceanographers report, the hurricane also produced a series of giant waves, one of which stood 91ft (27m) from crest to trough, the height of a ten-story building and a new world record for a wave recorded by instruments." There might have been taller waves, but the sensors aren't deployed fulltime!"
There was a good amount of water/wave damage on the 80 foot and higher decks of several rigs. In one instance moving a 4 story rig/drill, that was sitting on top of the 80 foot deck, about 40 feet.
Wish I could post pics.
Ask Slashdot - google for stupid people.
It's annoying that while their diagram shows wavelength as a paramenter, they don't mention it at all in the story. I'm curious what the wavelength is on those waves they mention. I know the Tsunami wavelength is enormous, hundreds of miles sometimes. Do hurricane waves also have an big wavelength?
The site has pictures of ships and large waves.
Army of One!
...from Jack London's short story, _Samuel_, in _The Strength of the Strong_. (Online here).
"Dud I say ut was a God-Almighty gale? Ut was worse nor thot. The devil himself must ha' hod a hond un the brewun' o' ut, ut was thot fearsome. I ha' looked on some sights, but I om no carun' tull look on the like o' thot again. No mon dared tull be un hus bunk. No, nor no mon on the decks. All honds of us stood on top the house an' held on an' watched. The three mates was on the poop, with two men ot the wheel, an' the only mon below was thot whusky- blighted captain snorun' drunk.
"An' then I see ut comun', a mile away, risun' above all the waves like an island un the sea - the buggest wave ever I looked upon. The three mates stood tulgether an' watched ut comun', a-prayun' like we thot she would no break un passun' us. But ut was no tull be. Ot the last, when she rose up like a mountain, curlun' above the stern an' blottun' out the sky, the mates scattered, the second an' third runnun' for the mizzen-shrouds an' climbun' up, but the first runnun' tull the wheel tull lend a hond. He was a brave men, thot Samuel Henan. He run straight un tull the face o' thot father o' all waves, no thunkun' on humself but thunkun' only o' the shup. The two men was lashed tull the wheel, but he would be ready tull hond un the case they was kult. An' then she took ut. We on the house could no see the poop for the thousand tons o' watter thot hod hut ut. Thot wave cleaned them out, took everythung along wuth ut - the two mates, climbun' up the mizzen-ruggun', Samuel Henan runnun' tull the wheel, the two men ot the wheel, aye, an' the wheel utself. We never saw aught o' them, for she broached tull what o' the wheel goun', an' two men o' us was drownded off the house, no tull mention the carpenter thot we pucked up ot the break o' the poop wuth every bone o' hus body broke tull he was like so much jelly."
"How to Do Nothing," kids activities, back in print!
I sailed through 80 foot waves on board the USS Carl Vinson back in the late '80s. Nuclear carriers are big and we were tossed around. My berthing, all the way forward, just below the flight deck, had 2 port holes. One was blown in by a wave. Normally that port hole would sit roughly 90 feet or so above water level.
The glass and the brass ring around in were pushed in. They flew across the space into a gear locker. It put a dent a couple inches deep into the locker. A guy sitting on the deck, below the port hole was fortunate he wasn't standing instead.
When we got back to Alameda you could see how the bow was pretty banged up. That event gave me an entirely new respect for the power of the ocean. I don't know how the small boys in our group felt, but I would think it would be much worse for them.
It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?