Rogue waves injure spectators at CA surfing contest.

Just saw this on the news and thought i'd add a thread to see if anyone else heard about it of has some more links.

HALF MOON BAY, Calif. – Despite big wave warnings, two walls of water caught dozens of spectators off-guard and knocked them to a rocky beach as they watched a Northern California surfing contest Saturday, leaving some with broken bones but sparing them from being pulled into the ocean.

Apparently the waves were 5-6 ft high and just left a couple of spectators with some broken bones, no deaths which is fortunate.

"walls of water overwhelm N.Cali surf contest"

Thirteen people swept from a seawall had significant injuries, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Battalion Chief Scott Jalbert. The waves were 5 feet to 6 feet high by the time they hit - "small but strong," he said. "Nobody was swept away into the water. They were just swept onto the beach area pretty hard," Jalbert said. "It's pretty rocky."

Rogue waves at Maverick's injure spectators

reply to post by bkaust


Hey bkaust,

Those are some massive waves!! Thank God nobody got killed...

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/fa386006a89ce026.jpg[/atsimg]
source: Surfing


Peace



[edit on 14-2-2010 by operation mindcrime]

yeah it is really lucky because apparently alot of people were smashed into the rocks, they said on the news they couldnt alert people as the speakers were washed away too!

they don't look too massive, but it looks choppy as hell!

reply to post by bkaust


Maybe my idea of big is a bit off but when i see waves like this..

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/e684f0808057458e.jpg[/atsimg]

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/9770333c0d36d71f.jpg[/atsimg]

I get the idea that those are pretty big.

But then again, what do i know. I live 200 miles inland and hardly ever visit the ocean...

Peace

reply to post by operation mindcrime


Hahah yeah those ones are freaking massive but the ones that washed to shore were about 5 feet - still enough to freak me out (i dont like beaches! ;p) but lucky those big boys didnt continue through!

The first 2 pictures show the date as being 2009.

The last 3 get the date right.

People want to "play" with the ocean. How cute. Oceans and humans don't mix. If it weren't for FEMA insurance all the idiots that choose to build their houses beside the ocean would be gone by now dangit. Darn government stepping and messing up social darwinism. Cool pics though, glad I wasn't there.

It doesn't take a very big wave to come up and pancake you while you're standing on the beach. Trust me, I know... I was standing on the beach with my back to the ocean(bad idea I know) talking to some friends one day and saw both their eyes get big all of a sudden. I tried to turn around but was instantly face-planted into the sand. My friends were both losing it of course and, when I finally got done coughing up seawater, I asked them how big the wave was and they said around 4 feet. I was all skinned up from smacking into the sand but it was my pride that was wounded most on that one.

Yeah i remember when i was about 15 i went into the water with a mate and the waves werent massive but i got one that pushed me under and it was like being stuck in a washing mashine, eventually crawled out of the water about 300m down the beach - last time i was in the waves - the thought of drowning is now a massive fear for me.

Thats why i posted this, any sort of wave just freaks me right out! Like i said earlier, the one in Ca wasnt huge height wise, but i'll find a vid and post it, because you can see how powerful it was, it knocked down stage supports and people just got completley bowled over!

Hopefully next time they will have a limit to how close you can be to watching the comp, esp when its nothing but rocks to get smashed into!





[edit on 15/2/2010 by bkaust]

5-6 feet? i was riding those almost every day up in Morro Bay, California not very big by a surfers standard, but pretty powerful nonetheless, the biggest i ever rode was probably 15-18 footers at mavericks
great thread

reply to post by l neXus l


15-18 feet?! you are crazy! I guess it would be a pretty good feeling once you make it back to shore, but the thought of it just makes me shudder! Not as much as the guys who have to get jet skied to the waves because of their size, but still, that # gives me nightmares!

well i was actually going to go and do a tow in, but the day i had scheduled to do it the waves died, literally, they were going off and we towed out (on a jet ski) they were probably about 25-30 ft and then they just died, down to about 8 feet, so we didn't go, i haven't had a chance to try it again,

Huge waves! Indeed lucky that nobody was killed.

I just have to add my congratulations to my fellow South African who won the Maverick against all the odds!

reply to post by Asktheanimals


hey! I play with the ocean all the time and we mix very well, haven't gotten eaten by a shark and i have been surfing for about 12 years now, although i did have a sea lion knock me off my board in San Diego, because he wanted to "play"

I don't think it was how tall the wave was, it was that it had enough speed/energy to travel that much further up the beach than where the tide was, that is ALOT of power.

Of course their are those 30-40 ft. Hawaii waves that are just terrifying to watch.