Lack of Respect for the Sea

[boatman61]

Well the city folk have done it again... 7 students rented a place on the coast for the Christmas season... last night they went down to a beach to sit around drinking and partying... and ogle the big sea's...
An extra large wave dumped on them and swept them away..
1 managed to reach the beach and raise the alarm...
So far 1 body recovered badly beaten up on the rocks... 5 still missing.
Bearing in mind this is a coast that is famous around the world for producing waves of 100ft plus... remember the famous TV World Record surf ride at Nazere..
How come folk continue to be so stupid... and further evidence that a university education does not exempt you from a Darwin Award..
What a waste...

[Snore]

They don't teach common sense in school.

But a tip of the cap for "doing the right thing".

[S/V Alchemy]

Seriously? Please tell me these weren't Portuguese natives. I could (almost) understand if foreign students were ignorant of what happens on that stretch of coast, but Portuguese young people? Here in Toronto, I live in an area filled with Portuguese immigrants and there's a couple of restaurants called "Nazare" or travel agencies with posters of "Nazare" or some variant...they all have huge waves in their logos or photos. It's like mentioning Niagara without breathing a word about the Falls.

That's what I call "tragic AND predictable", like those many, many YouTube videos these days that start with "here, hold my drink and watch this!" just before "the accident" happens.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Well the city folk have done it again... 7 students rented a place on the coast for the Christmas season... last night they went down to a beach to sit around drinking

SNIP

My organic chem prof always use to say there are two types of alcohol. If you drink one it will kill you, if you drink the other kind it will kill you really quickly.

Guess they were drinking the second kind.

[boatman61]

They were all Portuguese...
It happened down near Sesimbra, the big headland S of Lisbon and the Tagus... a place called Praia Meco.. a similar set up to Nazere where the headland of Peniche creates a build up of back flow and mounting waves.. confused currents and all that stuff in heavy weather...

[nimblemotors]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Well the city folk have done it again... 7 students rented a place on the coast for the Christmas season... last night they went down to a beach to sit around drinking and partying... and ogle the big sea's...
An extra large wave dumped on them and swept them away..
1 managed to reach the beach and raise the alarm...
So far 1 body recovered badly beaten up on the rocks... 5 still missing.
Bearing in mind this is a coast that is famous around the world for producing waves of 100ft plus... remember the famous TV World Record surf ride at Nazere..
How come folk continue to be so stupid... and further evidence that a university education does not exempt you from a Darwin Award..
What a waste...

That would be called YOU having LACK OF RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

That would be called YOU having LACK OF RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE.

Well if my lack of Respect for others lives makes even the slightest effect on others showing more respect and consideration for their own..
I'll be disrespectful till the cows come home...
Sorry.. but I do not share the US thing of praying and bleeding for some ones loss of a cat, dog, cow or whatever...
A fool is still a fool... alive or dead..
Don't get me wrong.. I feel for the families of these kids and the pain they are going through but for the kids themselves..?
They made their choices and screwed up.. that simple.. and there's fools this happens to every year on this coast.. its nothing new.

[captain58sailin]

I don't see how pointing out a tragic occurrence, can be construed as a lack of of respect for human life. #1 They are already dead. #2 If they would have had proper respect for the ocean and their own lives they would not now be a cautionary tale. #3 Familiarity can breed contempt, and children, the ocean will tolerate neither contemp or complacency, I am truly sorry for the families who lost their children.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Well the city folk have done it again... 7 students rented a place on the coast for the Christmas season... last night they went down to a beach to sit around drinking and partying... and ogle the big sea's...
An extra large wave dumped on them and swept them away..
1 managed to reach the beach and raise the alarm...
So far 1 body recovered badly beaten up on the rocks... 5 still missing.
Bearing in mind this is a coast that is famous around the world for producing waves of 100ft plus... remember the famous TV World Record surf ride at Nazere..
How come folk continue to be so stupid... and further evidence that a university education does not exempt you from a Darwin Award..
What a waste...

I had to re-read this a couple of times - at first glance I thought you were the hero but then I notice the difference between 1 & I.

Yes, it is sad for their family & friends but it remains a common occurrence wordwide, perhaps I am not so harsh as to give them a Darwinian Award, we all seem to have a fascination with the ocean - from beachside party folk right across the sea-going spectrum to the old men with salt in their veins.

Some get it wrong and pay the price.

[boatman61]

More info coming out.. seems they were sat on the beach around 1am, night was warm for the time of year and the sea appeared fairly calm when a huge 'freak' wave dumped on them and swept them away...
1 survivor, 1 male body recovered, 1 male and 4 girls still missing..
Seems I was a bit harsh in my first post..

[SunDevil]

I don't know about your beaches there, but short of a tsunami, I don't understand how a wave could be that big. Especially on some of the beaches I've been to where you hang out a hundred or two hundred feet from the water.

[S/V Alchemy]

Do you have a news link for this, Boatman? Google is not really so good with non-English. I have friends in Peniche and Cascais who might know even more.

[LakeSuperior]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

I don't know about your beaches there, but short of a tsunami, I don't understand how a wave could be that big. Especially on some of the beaches I've been to where you hang out a hundred or two hundred feet from the water.

I think if you check several tourists are lost every year in the Hawaiian Islands where the 3 sigma waves snatch them from the beach and take them out to sea.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

I don't know about your beaches there, but short of a tsunami, I don't understand how a wave could be that big. Especially on some of the beaches I've been to where you hang out a hundred or two hundred feet from the water.

Then you may be unfamiliar with the area. You can get hit by waves on the cliff top:

Portugal: Belgian tourist killed after being swept off Peniche cliff top by wave | Tourist Killed

[foggysail]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

That would be called YOU having LACK OF RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE.

Really??? Don't know how you got to that opinion