High seas

[ob]

I thought this might be interesting to get some input from some of you salty dogs.It's sort of a spin off of one of Ladyfishs' questions on the daily Q&A topic.<br /><br />Question:What is the heaviest seas you've ever experienced? Navy ,merchant ship,or otherwise. <br /><br />Biggest I've ever personally encountered was around 30+ foot while riding out a typhoon in the South China Sea aboard an ATS class US Navy vessel.You could literally jump from the deck to the bulkheads in the forward passageways.Ships clinometer recorded numerous rolls in excess of 65 degrees.Made quite a mess in the engine rooms as well as the salvage holds.Lots of brave sailors.The only guys that could sleep in their racks were bottom ones that had been triced up by a shipmate.Everyone else slept on the deck in the berthing compartment and occasionally got bunched up together on one end.<br /><br />Any other high sea stories?

 

[JoeW]

Re: High seas

Nothing like that. I've come onto some big swells going underneath the Golden Gate Bridge on deep sea fishing trawlers. I've soaked my shoes while standing on the deck of a 60 ft trawler. That was pretty much normal for that area, nothing like a typhoon. I don't think I'd like to be in that situation.

 

[matthews_jim]

Re: High seas

Over 90 feet!!!! It was around March of 1972. I was serving on the destroyer USS Meredith DD890 – 390 feet long. We were part of an aircraft carrier group headed for the Mediterranean Sea when we encountered a large North Atlantic storm. Half of the group went north and the other half went south of the storm. Our group, with the carrier, hit the worst of it. We heard the carrier was taking ‘green’ water across the flight deck and ‘white’ water on the bridge. Flight deck is about 90 feet above the water line and the bridge is about 7 decks above the fight deck. One of the other destroyers lost their motor whaleboat. You just lash anything and everything down and hold on to something. It was better than an ‘E’ ticket ride at Disney World (showing my age).

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: High seas

I was a soldier and due to my skills, or probably lack of them, I was exchanged with a Brit Navy Royal Marines Commando. He went to my unit, I to his.<br />I sailed in the HMS Albion, an old Pommy Aircraft Carrier with a straight thru flight deck, converted in to a Royal Marine Command Carrier. I recall there were a thousand or 2 of us idiots.<br />Anyway when we left Subic Bay for Hong Kong we struck, (or it struck us) a typhoon. Holy Mother of God, what a ride it gave us.<br />I am no sailor and know nothing about ships, but every few minutes the ship would vibrate like all hell and get a rear end shimmy, which would stop dead, throwing you around. The PO told me it happenned because the props were coming to the surface as the nose dived and the sudden stop was when the bow rose and the fast spinning props bit back in. I took his word for it.<br />Most of the Commandos were in the rear Hangar in Multi tiered bunks.The spu use to wash across the floor. You could hear it comming, so you would grab a cot and pull yourself up so it went under neath. As for the smell, who cares, put up with it and get on with life.<br />I never got sick. The benefits were, no que for meals in the mess. There was no one there. <br />the disadvantages were, those in good health got the "really" good jobs. Me, well I was put in the 40mm gun pit at the top of the island with a big big pair of binoculars. I think above the bridge. A merchant ship had put out a mayday/crew were in the water or something, and we were to look for them visually. Never saw a thing. Poor buggxrs.<br />Anyway from our position from the gun pit, you could see the nose dive, and all this water race over/or up (can't recall) the flight deck, hit the bottom of the Island and come straight up. Absolutely amazing.<br />They gave me one of those cots with sides that free wheel on single posts either end. I use to sleep with the light on, and watch one wall slowly come right around, then go down and the other wall come around from the other side. Every time i use to think to myself, this is it, its going right over.<br />Anyway I ate well and often, and really enjoyed Wan Chai when we got it.<br />Cheers<br />Phillip

 

[mattttt25]

Re: High seas

i think we've had this question before. everyone seems to overestimate seas. i've been told there are 3-4' seas in the bay by others, only to find it's a choppy 1'. must like fishing stories, it grows with time.<br /><br />i've taken my 20' cc into 4 footers, and i thought i would die. on my last ship, we hit 15-20 footers about 100 miles south of hawaii. lots of people getting sick.

 

[Jack Shellac]

Re: High seas

A hurricane in the Carribbean in the 1950's. Was part of a detachment sent along for security when President Eisenhower went to Bermuda for a meeting. He was aboard the heavy cruiser Canberra and we were on the destroyer USS Stribling DD867. The destroyers picked up a submarine contact just before arrival and while a hurricane was bearing down on us. Guess who stayed out to keep the sub under watch? You guessed it-- the smallest ships, the destroyers. Took rolls in excess of 60 degress according to ship's instruments. This went on for several days as the destroyers followed the sub up the East coast. On the last day of contact, the weather had cleared and the sub just started pulling away underwater and the destroyers couldn't keep up. It was, of course, one of the early nuclear subs that had just been toying with us. No doubt a Russkie as, at the time, the Carribbean was full of Russian subs. I have read many times since then that the safest place for a ship was at sea during a hurricane. Since we all made it safely, I guess I'm a believer.<br /><br />Jim in Orlando: BTW, the Meridith was in the same squadron as the Stribling back then and I saw it many times. Don't recall if she went on this particular trip though.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: High seas

Back in the 70's, a friend and I, launched my trusty (not so old then) 20' Gulfstream out of Oxnard, Ca. We were headed out to Anacapa Is. for a little fishing. It took us about 20 minutes, with a calm glassy rolling sea, to get out there. We fished around the seaward side of the island and on down toward the south end. About early afternoon we decided it was time to head back. <br /><br />We rounded the south end of the island looking back toward Oxnard. EEK! Whitecaps as far as we could see into the channel. By now the typical So Cal haze had set in and we could not see the coast line.<br /><br />The swells were about 8' high. Thank goodness they were consistant. We could not possibly run due east. We had to quarter those swells. Luckily I had a pocket compass which we used to head north east for a period. <br /><br />Fortunately my Gulfstream has a good flaired bow. As we rode up the sides of the swells the breaking whitecaps would be deflected outward instead of over the boat. It would get a bit scarey, coming down the backside, as the bow dug in and wanted to steer the boat. Looking behind, the towering swells looked like they would come and swallow the boat. At times I thought that I may need to throw out my sea anchor to control the boat coming down the backsides.<br /><br />After a period of time I guessed that it was time to tack southeast. It was a good guess as about a mile from the coast the breakwater loomed dead ahead. It took us over two hours to get home. When I stepped out of the boat, onto the dock, I could hardly stand up from the exhaustion of constantly steering and throttling that boat at low speeds .

 

[ndemge]

Re: High seas

Reading all these storys... I'll stick to my inland small lakes

 

[LubeDude]

Re: High seas

Originally posted by ndemge:<br /> Reading all these storys... I'll stick to my inland small lakes

Not an ocean story, but hair raising anyways.<br /><br />When fishing Bass Tounaments years ago, I had a 15' Ranger tri hull. I was fishing a lake on the coast that has an average depth of about 15-20 feet. I happened to be fishing in an arm of the lake that was at the far N E end of the lake and there had been a wind from the S W that started to push the water to my end of the lake. When weigh in was about 30 minutes away I came out of the arm to be faced with 4-6 foot waves, very close together, and I was at the back side of them. I hit the first one head on and took 2' of water ovr the bow and my fish finder flew off the mount into the water. I made a pass and netted it with my fish net and headed for the bank with my bilge pump running. I was able to get to the weigh in by going along the bank with my bow up in the air. Scared He*l out of me.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: High seas

25 to 30 foot seas in Monterey Bay in a 44' MLB. We towed in a 70' sailboat that had broken it's mast in 80 knot winds. We were mostly abeam to the seas the whole way in. The 44 footer handled it very well. Never even came close to rolling.

 

[kd6nem]

Re: High seas

How are seas measured? Top to bottom of the swell, or the average deviation from msl?<br /><br />I sailed a mini-fish out of Mission Bay just barely into open ocean just so I could say I had done so. Beyond the entrance the swells were about 6-7 feet in amplitude, but far apart. (Is this 3' or 6' seas?) We'd start to go backwards up the swell, then really zoom going back the other side. That water looks pretty big when your rump is basically four inches off the surface and you can't see the mast of a 21' sailboat nearby! Basically surfed our way back into the bay. This of course is absolutely nothing for a real ocean going sailor in a real boat, but was quite an adventure for a kid with a borrowed tiny 14' sailboat!<br /><br />I've seen "seas" much rougher than that on San Luis reservoir, which is in a "mountain" pass between the coast and the San Joaquin Valley. I've seen pretty big boats get pretty beat up trying to wait out the winds in a cove. There were probably 6+ foot whitecaps really close together. Winds must have been 60 mph. There is some good striper fishing there, but I have a healthy respect for that lake. A local man just lost his twin sons out there a few months ago. I don't trust my abilities that well yet to brave that one.

 

[Drowned Rat]

Re: High seas

Bearcat, swells are measured from trough to crest.

 

[matthews_jim]

Re: High seas

To Jack Shellac,<br /><br />The Stribling and Meredith were sister ships in the early 70'ed while I was assigned to the Mederith. Both went to the Med. in 1972 and I think it was the ship that lost the motor whaleboat on the way over. We had a 'black box' installed in Norfock before we left for the Med. so most of the time in the Med., we were alone. You know, all that spy stuff!!!

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: High seas

USS San Bernadino (flat bottomed LST), 1987 or 88, S. China sea during a typhoon. 60' seas and there was a whole bunch of pukin' goin on

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: High seas

An interesting web site related to this topic:<br /><br /> Oceanweather <br /><br />Aldo

 

[Boomyal]

Re: High seas

Originally posted by gaugeguy:<br /> USS San Bernadino (flat bottomed LST), 1987 or 88, S. China sea during a typhoon. 60' seas and there was a whole bunch of pukin' goin on

As someone who can get seasick, I always wondered, can you puke your way to loosing the penchant to get sick? In other words can people get over being seasick or is it like being an alchoholic?

 

[ob]

Re: High seas

Lots of rough sea stories from some old salts.Jim in Orlando WOW <br /><br />Kiwi Phil and guageguy,We definately ate some of the same salt.<br /><br />Boomyal, Believe it or not ,you actually do get used to it after a while ,some quicker than others , and get what we refered to as sea legs after being at sea for weeks on end.Seems we could never get enough to eat when we were at sea.And eating was about the only pleasure you got.That and actually sleeping sound for a few hours.Strange feeling waliking down a stationary pier on your first step ashore after an extended cruise.

 

[mattttt25]

Re: High seas

boomyal, motion sickness is something people can adapt and overcome. sailors and pilots do it all the time. first time my ship deployed, we hit moderate seas for several days. with the stress of a new job, working long hours, and being above and below decks throughout the day, i got pretty sick. next few underways, i felt bad but didn't get sick. by the end of my sea tour, i rocking and rolling became natural to me. pilots are the same way. many of my buddies got very sick the first few times they went up during primary. they now fly f-18s off of carriers for a living, and regularly pull high g's. their bodies just get use to it.<br /><br />what someone can't do is get used to it on that same trip if they already got sick. once someone gets sick, it's hard to keep them hydrated and they should be brought back to land relatively soon. if it's not possible, medicine should be prescribed (nothing you can get over the counter).

 

[Mercury140-I6]

Re: High seas

I was stationed on the Coast Guard Cutter Boutwell (378') out of Seattle in Late 86 - early 87. On an Alaskan "Cruise" near Unimak Pass we hit 40 - 60' swells and set a record for the ship of a 72 degree roll. At that very point in time, I was climbing from the Bridge to the Flying Bridge (Outside Of Course), I had dislocated my left shoulder a week before so I was only able to use my right arm. When we took the roll, my feet slipped and I was hanging by my right hand over the water far away from the side of the ship. When it finally did recover from that roll (The manuals said that it shouldn't have recovered) I went back down and refused to go up there again as long as my shoulder wasn't 100%. But that's another story.<br /><br />Craig

 

[gaugeguy]

Re: High seas

Originally posted by ob:<br /> Strange feeling waliking down a stationary pier on your first step ashore after an extended cruise.

Back on land, I think I rocked from side to side for 3 or 4 days after being aboard ship. I think it was much easier getting my sea legs than losing them