A nasty wave!

[Snowpetrel]

I just got back from 7 weeks onboard the Icebreaker Aurora Australis. I managed to get a great bit of footage of a very nasty wave. conditions we not to bad, your average yacht would have had no real issues, but this dumping breaker was nasty and a pretty rare sight. I wouldn't have liked to be under it when it broke. Our height of eye on the bridge was 15 meters. Comments?

hopefully the video link will work...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pu4og...ature=youtu.be

https://youtu.be/pu4ogCy5d4k

[406Columbia]

I have to say, I don't have any interest in running into a wave that large lol.

[Don C L]

Ah don't worry, a Columbia 29 would just ride right up and over that thing!It's the being splashed by 32 degree water that bothers me!

[olaf hart]

Hmmm, tightens ones sphincter doesn’t it?

[daletournier]

Absolutely no interest in those waters, seeing that thing coming would freak me out, way out of my comfort zone........ 5k northerlie, flat water and coconut trees here in the Seychelles today, much better.

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by daletournier

Absolutely no interest in those waters, seeing that thing coming would freak me out, way out of my comfort zone........ 5k northerlie, flat water and coconut trees here in the Seychelles today, much better.

Sounds perfect! I can't say I love nasty stuff, but it is thrilling tp watch from a nice heated bridge on a supertough icebreaker, even down south this sort of weather is pretty rare, at least with a fully developed sea to go with it, particularly with decent weather routing these days.

What struck me most though is just how violent that smaller breaker was. The big explosion of water thrown up by the toppling crest is pretty impressive. I don't recall seeing anything quite like it in open water with no appreciable currents before. Normally you get a rolling crest that tumbles down the wave front. Still nasty but no where near as violent.

If you were at the top of the wave it would throw the boat into midair. Lending credibility to the stories of boats being launched into freefall and hitting the bottom with a lot of damage. To be at the bottom with the plunging breaker landimg on top would be nasty but I would hope your average ocean going yacht would cope with the weight and impact ok, but hatches and washboards would be vulnerable, and possibly even weak cockpits or cabintops. Targa bars, solar panels, canvas dodger etc would be destroyed.

I guess a series drogue could provide some protection, by minimising the time on the crest and the chance of a freefall, but it probably wouldn't stop the impact. On the positive side these waves are very very rare in open water without currents. A much higher chance of a multicar pileup on a motorway. I suspect these kind of plunging waves are what cause most heavy weather incidents like the 98 Syd Hobart casualties. Just the wrong time at the wrong place. The only real defence is a strong boat.

[Paul Elliott]

The southern ocean is pretty humbling. My wife and I took a small cruise ship from Ushuaia Argentina to Antarctica (the Hurtigruten "Fram", 114 meters LOA), and while the passage south was smooth, some real weather hit us on the return passage. In the first part of the video below we were hiding between some islands in the South Shetland Islands group, and being blasted by 120 kt williwahs. At 1:45 in the video we are in the Drake Passage and seeing 30-40 ft seas, 60-80 kt winds. The video was shot looking out our cabin window. You can hear the engines revving as the props pitch out of the water. At 2:45 in the video I have moved up to the deck-7 observation lounge.

It was a great trip, and we want to do it again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oj2I3rR0xo

(windspeed and wave height info per the ship's Captain)

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Snowpetrel

I just got back from 7 weeks onboard the Icebreaker Aurora Australis. I managed to get a great bit of footage of a very nasty wave. conditions we not to bad, your average yacht would have had no real issues, but this dumping breaker was nasty and a pretty rare sight. I wouldn't have liked to be under it when it broke. Our height of eye on the bridge was 15 meters. Comments?

hopefully the video link will work...

https://youtu.be/pu4ogCy5d4k

And this, -^^^^^- gentle readers, is why sensible sailors don't sail to windward

I think something like that ate my innivane

Ben, I hope you were getting paid to put up with that...

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

The southern ocean is pretty humbling. My wife and I took a small cruise ship from Ushuaia Argentina to Antarctica (the Hurtigruten "Fram", 114 meters LOA), and while the passage south was smooth, some real weather hit us on the return passage. In the first part of the video below we were hiding between some islands in the South Shetland Islands group, and being blasted by 120 kt williwahs. At 1:45 in the video we are in the Drake Passage and seeing 30-40 ft seas, 60-80 kt winds. The video was shot looking out our cabin window. You can hear the engines revving as the props pitch out of the water. At 2:45 in the video I have moved up to the deck-7 observation lounge.

It was a great trip, and we want to do it again.

(windspeed and wave height info per the ship's Captain)

That looked very nasty Paul, thanks for the video. There is a world of difference between 60 knots and 45 knots. Fortunately 60 knots with fully developed seas is incredibly rare.. The three trips I did down and back from the penisular we mamaged to avoid anything too nasty. Had one unpleasant 6 hrs as we approached the horn and the wind built to 55 knots, but the sea didn't get time to get too wild, and we were in under the lee of the Islands before it really wound up. I did feel sorry for the two yachts behind us.

[Snowpetrel]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

And this, -^^^^^- gentle readers, is why sensible sailors don't sail to windward [emoji3]

I think something like that ate my innivane

Ben, I hope you were getting paid to put up with that...

Ha luckily we had a big V16 engine and a huge slow reving variable pitch prop to help us get to windward. And yes I was being paid. Have you got a new auxilary rudder yet?

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Snowpetrel

..... Have you got a new auxilary rudder yet?

Yes , built by the shipwrights at Club Nautico in 16/17.... works good.... has survived so far... which hasn't been very far... just a shopping trip to the FI and back late last year....

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

And this, -^^^^^- gentle readers, is why sensible sailors don't sail to windward

I think something like that ate my innivane

Ben, I hope you were getting paid to put up with that...

i thought most of CF sailors only sail to windward ?! Thats the only talk in town especially for cats. So whats going on here - are CF sailors not sensible ?

[bletso]

I was stationed on a light cruiser in the navy, 610 ft long 66 ft beam, 28000 lb displacement. In some of the Pacific's games I saw green water over the forward 6 inch turret some 100 ft aft of the bow. On the 02 deck some 4 stories above the waterline the horizon was the wave crest above you! Neptune, when irritated can throw a right fit! Oh and the Atlantic is just as bad!

[Malabarista]

Right. That’s it. I’ve seen enough. Anyone wanna buy a boat :-)

[Pauls]

I've been hit by two rogue waves in my career. I believe in very strong boats.