You will recall that the boat in "Perfect Storm" was swollowed by a wave, that if scale means anything, the wave must have been about 600 feet high.(This assumes you saw the movie, but did not read the book). A wave that high would have almost magical qualities. For instance it would not require teeth in order to swollow it's victims whole. It would have enough energy to light up the city of Los Angeles for perhaps a whole minute, just before it covered it up in foam. Makes you wonder where the human mind gets this kind of silliness. The misunderstandings about LARGE waves are almost beyond getting under control. A few pictures of waves so large that the pictures themselves are legends. The Mojo crossing the Moro Bay Bar, California. The freighter in the Bay of Biscay, with a wave that more resembles a 60' plunging breaker, overtaking the ship from behind.(from the Drag Device Data Base book). Then there are the stories. The USS Ramapo, and the wave 112 feet high, as measured in the cross trees at the bow of the ship. The stories from magazine articles and books going back at least a thousand years. Stop and think about it. We have the ability to collect the stories and pictures, but our ability to put this into perspective is colored by our individual inexperience and natural tendency to overblow that which almost everyone of us will never be a witness to. . Fact is the ocean is full of freak waves. It's just that most of them are no problem. And you may live an entire lifetime and never see one that is worthy of note. Most professional sailors live an entire lifetime without ever seeing anything like the picture in the Drag Device Data Base. On the other hand. The ocean is full of freak surprises and the shallower the water, the more likely you are to attract the attention of one of them. More about this some other day. Capt. Mike Maurice Near Portland Oregon.

        Mr. John W. Norton, Jr. E.I.T
   Doctoral Student - Geotechnical Engineering
  University of Michigan: office-(734) 764-3648

   http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~jnorton/

Hey all, The biggest wave ever recorded ran up the water's edge almost 1,400 feet above sea level. The event was an earthquake induced landslide which fell into the Lituya Bay, Alaska, on July 9, 1958. Boats were carried OVER trees which were 80 - 90 feet high, and huge trees were entirely stripped from the soil. (Another huge wave was caused by the Vaiont Dam failure in Italy on October, 1964. The wave was caused by a huge landslide into the water behind the dam. The landslide was almost 2 miles wide, 1/2 mile long, and hundreds of feet thick, and the resulting wave swept up the river with a wave about 850 ft high. The water completely washed away a village, and then rebounded back downriver. When the wave went over the edge of the concrete dam, it was estimated at 820 ft. high. It should be noted that the concrete dam suffered no damage (other than a slight spalling at the top) and is still in use today for energy generation. Does anyone have a copy of the picture Michael is referring to here? >The Mojo crossing the Moro Bay Bar, California. >The freighter in the Bay of Biscay, with a wave that more resembles a 60' >plunging breaker, overtaking the ship from behind.(from the Drag Device >Data Base book). This is a very interesting subject! Best all, John At 09:17 PM 7/26/01 , Michael Maurice wrote: >You will recall that the boat in "Perfect Storm" was swollowed by a wave, >that if scale means anything, the wave must have been about 600 feet >high.(This assumes you saw the movie, but did not read the book). >A wave that high would have almost magical qualities. For instance it >would not require teeth in order to swollow it's victims whole. It would >have enough energy to light up the city of Los Angeles for perhaps a whole >minute, just before it covered it up in foam. > >Makes you wonder where the human mind gets this kind of silliness. > >The misunderstandings about LARGE waves are almost beyond getting under >control. >A few pictures of waves so large that the pictures themselves are legends. -------------------------------------------------------- Mr. John W. Norton, Jr. E.I.T Doctoral Student - Geotechnical Engineering University of Michigan: office-(734) 764-3648 "Teaching and motivating the engineers of the future!" http://www-personal.engin.umich.edu/~jnorton/ -------------------------------------------------------- I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many months of struggle and suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I say it is to wage war by land, sea, and air. War with all our might and with all the strength God has given us, and to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory. Victory at all costs -- victory in spite of all terrors -- victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival. --Winston Churchill, First address to the House of Commons as Prime Minister, May 13, 1940 --------------------------------------------------------