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To: Dutch Boy
So where did the 70 foot wave go? Did it hit shore somewhere?

It probably dissipated shortly after doing its thing on the cruise ship. A "freak" wave is called that because it's the product of two or more wave-generating sources -- two storms, for example -- that send out waves and they pile up on one another. This may have been a storm that sent out a forty-foot wave that encountered a thirty-foot wave from another storm that piled up on it and they traveled together for a while. Result: a 70-foot wave. But only temporary.

In 1965, my cruise ship to Vietnam, the USNS Gordon, was laid into by one of those at night while we were watching a movie on deck (Lawrence of Arabia); it was terrifying. I thought we were going to capsize.

36 posted on 04/17/2005 5:29:17 AM PDT by Snickersnee (Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?)
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To: Snickersnee

There actually are some pictures of a few of these on the net (and some of the damage wrought); if I didn't have to leave for a fencing tournament right now I'd post some.

They're out there if you search on rogue waves though; One off South Carolina I remember. Some from South Africa.


40 posted on 04/17/2005 5:31:37 AM PDT by Strategerist
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