Do you BELIEVE... in Rogue Waves?

Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Many of us here on SBO sail on lakes and inside passages. The concept of a Rogue wave, out there in the water, could rush upon us consuming our boat. A wave that would rise up to ruin our sailing enjoyment, never enters our mind.

But if you are among the adventurers that untie the lines and head out onto vast bodies of water the lore, of Rogue waves so tall that they block the sky, lingers in the back of our minds.

It is only since the 1990's that "Science" has declared the existence of "ROGUE WAVES" fact.

How they develop or where they may strike is still a debated mystery.

Exist? Well they have been observed and measured, so yes they are real, not sailor fantasy.

If you sometimes wonder, then I suggest the fluid dynamics article "The Grand Unified Theory of Rogue Waves" by Charlie Wood is worth investigating.

 
Jul 27, 2011
4,989
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Actually, the term “rogue wave” seems to be misapplied much of the time. A rogue wave is principally one that travels contrary to prevailing seas. If the boat is oriented bow to the prevailing seas and a large wave appears approaching the beam, it would be a “rogue.” Yes, they are usually quite large as well. But a vessel may also face a large or giant wave that arrives in line with the other seas. Rogue waves, which approach the beam if the boat is lying bow to the seas, cause the vessel to roll hard, perhaps taking a knock down, or even rollover. We see a knock down in the movie Perfect Storm, when the Andrea Gail while facing seas to recover the gear was struck abeam by a large rogue. It was announced with the cry “Wave!” Rogues may be giant, but not all “giant” seas are “rogue.”

I recall being at sea on a oceanographic research vessel about 100 n.mi. or so west of San Diego, working on deck with the ship lying to the seas, when suddenly a large wave arrived on the starboard beam. We rolled pretty hard, but as jacklines had been strung athwart the fantail, we had something to grab onto. That was a rogue wave!
 
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Mar 6, 2008
1,078
Catalina 1999 C36 MKII #1787 Coyote Point Marina, CA.
That is when several waves add their height to make unusually high wave. Those waves are found at Point Conception off of California coast north of Santa Barbara.
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
A rogue wave is one that travels contrary to prevailing seas.
Certainly such a contrarian approach would catch the unwary off guard.

But why does it necessarily come from a different direction? What if it is just 2 or 3 times as tall as the prevailing waves.... The measured wave in the North Sea occurred, considered "rogue", because the height was more than 2 times that of the rest of the sea.

"New Year’s Day in 1995, when a rogue wave struck the Draupner oil installation in the Norwegian North Sea. Equipped with a downward-pointing laser, the platform recorded a 26-meter wave spiking out of a sea filled with 11.8-meter waves."

As portrayed in the Perfect Storm, the wave that sank them was greater than the previous waves they had endured.

The recount of Miles Smeeton, in his tale "Once is Enough" they were doing ok running down wind and down the seas when the wave hit them, lifting them and careening them down the face pitch polling the boat. Was it a rogue wave?
 
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Jan 1, 2006
7,040
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
There are too many accounts of vessels at sea who were overwhelmed by a huge sea to dismiss the notion of a rogue wave. Often it is heard before it is seen.
But you don't need to go offshore to see this phenomenon. Even in protected waters you can see waves that exceed the average of waves seen for the particular wind, tide condition. Sometimes they spurt up, which I think may occur at sea but on a much larger scale - sometimes pushing a cruise ship to dangerous heel.
I applaud the efforts to predict these events but I think it's going to take a lot more technology. I'm glad the Mathematicians are on it. Although their equations evade me.
 
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Feb 17, 2006
5,274
Lancer 27PS MCB Camp Pendleton KF6BL
Radar should detect a rogue, if one has radar and is watching it. But I too believe in rogues. So does the SS Poseidon. However, if a rogue ever gets close to land, isn't it then a tsunami?
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,989
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
The recount of Miles Smeeton, in his tale "Once is Enough" they were doing ok running down wind and down the seas when the wave hit them, lifting them and careening them down the face pitch polling the boat. Was it a rogue wave?
NOS (National Ocean Science) of NOAA says “Rogues … are those waves which are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves, are very unpredictable, and often come unexpectedly from directions other than prevailing wind and waves.” The word rogue in contemporary usage may be associated with unpredictable, or maverick-like behavior; someone failing to follow the script, etc. A much-larger-than-normal wave running with the seas and that pitch-polls a boat probably would fit the definition as most see it; however, it would not be arriving from an “unexpected direction.”
 
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Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
However, if a rogue ever gets close to land, isn't it then a tsunami?
Rogue waves typically form from the interference pattern of multiple wave systems coming together. They don't, because of this, usually travel very far. They can lift up seemingly or of nowhere and fade away as the wave energy that built them diverges back into the two or three or more other waves that came together to form them.

-Will
 

capta

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Jun 4, 2009
4,766
Pearson 530 Admiralty Bay, Bequia SVG
I know they exist; I've seen the damage they have done to freighters. But these "rogue waves" under 40 feet that the yachties see anywhere other than the Southern Ocean or the North Sea, just aren't real rogue waves, in my mind.
I've had huge waves in storms, big enough that the waves were taller than the boat was long, and when surfing the face of these waves there is most certainly 10 or more feet of wave below and above the boat. But rarely are these storms so big that there is enough fetch or the water shallow enough, to get a 40 footer mounting a 50 footer. That takes very special conditions, which usually happen in the two places mentioned above.
 
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Oct 26, 2010
1,883
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
NOS (National Ocean Science) of NOAA says “Rogues … are those waves which are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves, are very unpredictable, and often come unexpectedly from directions other than prevailing wind and waves.” The word rogue in contemporary usage may be associated with unpredictable, or maverick-like behavior; someone failing to follow the script, etc. A much-larger-than-normal wave running with the seas and that pitch-polls a boat probably would fit the definition as most see it; however, it would not be arriving from an “unexpected direction.”
Not to mince words, but notice the word often. The definition is straighforward per NOAA. "those waves which are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves, are very unpedictable and OFTEN (emphasis added) come unexpectedly from directions other than prevailing wind and waves." The word "often" does not mean "always" and in fact would simply describe the perdominate case, not the exclusive case. So coming from the same direction as the prevailing wind and waves doesn't preclude it from being called a rouge wave.
 
Jul 27, 2011
4,989
Bavaria 38E Alamitos Bay
Not to mince words, but notice the word often. The definition is straighforward per NOAA. "those waves which are greater than twice the size of surrounding waves, are very unpedictable and OFTEN (emphasis added) come unexpectedly from directions other than prevailing wind and waves." The word "often" does not mean "always" and in fact would simply describe the perdominate case, not the exclusive case. So coming from the same direction as the prevailing wind and waves doesn't preclude it from being called a rouge wave.
Just recognize the word “Administration,” i.e., National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. Ultimately, we’re talking consensus “definitions” here, as with so many other subjects. AKA: “Be safe!” Just recall the Michael Crichton axiom delivered in a (infamous) speech to CalTech on global warming: “If it’s consensus it isn’t science; if it’s science it isn’t consensus. “Rogue” and “gigantic” are not synonyms. Not all gigantic waves are rogue; I suspect that there’s no science that says they are, etc., or even any saying at what frequency they might be. I can hardly guess at what “unpredictable” means, unless it’s that they appear suddenly, not as part of the regular ambient wave set.
 
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Jul 7, 2004
8,402
Hunter 30T Cheney, KS
A friend of mine's brother was drowned by what was described as a rogue wave back in 2010.
 
Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
On the Oregon Coast, we have what are termed "Sneaker Waves".
Waves that re larger then the normal set. The "sneak" in behind you if you are not paying attention. You better have your "sneakers: on to run up the beach and escape the rolling logs that are often swept ashore on these waves.

What Is A Sneaker Wave?
A sneaker wave is an unexpectedly large wave that travels with great force and speed up the beach. These waves travel further up the beach than expected, often catching people unaware and sweeping them away into the ocean.


Kind of Oregon's version of Mother Nature thinning the flock....
 
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