Okaaaay....
a reply to:
SwampFox999
Let me try to explain and draw the best picture I can of for you of one absolutely insane incident that happened back in 92 or 93 I think.
There were a few boats working within 12 miles of each other when the VHF suddenly blew up with frantic calls.
We were far enough offshore so no land based VHF could possibly have heard all this. VHF radio has limited range unlike the single side ban radios we
also had onboard.
We used to make collect phone calls home over the VHF radio through the marine operator when homeward bound at trips end but we had to be close enough
to land for the marine operator to be able pick us up.
VHF stands for Very High Frequency.
It began with a boat yelling over the radio, “what the hell is that, does anyone see this bubble of water over here?”
Picture a flat sheet on a bed with a basketball under it and roll the ball around the bed but while it does so it does not disturb the sheet in any
other way than simply lifting it up.
No wrinkles, no folds, nothing but a rounded lump moving around the bed.
Now take that same picture and apply it to the ocean surface.
This lump raced all around for about 20 minutes, probably more. It passed by our boat about thirty yards off and it appeared to be just a smooth lump
maybe 6-7 feet high.
It passed between two boats that were towing past each other by a distance of 100 yards or so, it circled another three times then it moved away and
circled maybe a half dozen boats that were within a mile or so of each other.
The craziest thing this lump did was come straight at one boat from it’s starboard side and slowly lowered into the water and disappeared then it
slowly came back up again as it moved away from the boats port side and off to the east where disappeared forever.
Everyone agreed this lump of water was doing maybe 20 knots the entire time. We all compared notes for maybe five minutes then it was dropped like a
red hot rock.
I’ve never once heard it talked about around the docks, not once. I certainly didn’t bring it up.
It’s weird now looking back, everyone just clammed up. Period.
It scared the crap out of me I can tell you that!
Maybe that’s why it was never spoken of again, at least to mu knowledge it wasn’t.
Maybe that and the fear of being laughed at, becoming laughing stocks amongst the fleet, IDK.
That’s the story....believe what you will....🤪
Another time, way up on the edge during a winter blow during the night, in the glare of the sodium overheads, for just a split second I saw, thought I
saw, what looked like a merman on the face of a smooth wave between the patches of ocean froth the wind and waves create.
Yeah, one see’s weird chit offshore. Especially in fog!
Phew......
.
edit on 08-19-2021 by PiratesCut because: wording