Anyone Encountered a Rogue Wave

[5waldos]

Another cruise ship has encountered one of these mega- waves (discussion http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1319663) and I wondered if any of you have ever seen or encountered one of these while cruising? Fasinating book about them The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey, although probably not great for onboard reading.

[viaggi_per_mare]

Obviously, they happen and they get much press when they do. Tsunamis happen too, but they are also rare. It certainly would not stop us from cruising, as we have cruised quite a bit and we have never experienced anything more than a good storm with heavy winds and waves (caused a little damage in some falling things and many had motion sickness, but everything went on as usual)

 

We have also never had anyone we have cruised with tell us that they experienced anything of that nature. There was some pretty dramatic footage from a cruise ship security camera that made us think that if we ever have the ship tip a lot in one direction, we will be fleeing to a stairway or hallway where there is no moving furniture. The video was in a dining area setting and everything and everybody slid back and forth for a bit and you can see where you could be injured. Head for places like hallways without moving chairs/carts etc is what we got out of it, but we would never stop cruising because of the possibility of one.

[golfadj]

No and with any luck we never will.

[elcuchio24]

I have heard of larger than typical waves impacting liners on a few occations. None recently. I am from a maritime community where waves, rouge waves, sea smoke, etc etc are a way of life. I have noticed in the past few years that 'rouge waves' have become like a catch phase for people to use, it sounds cool and dangerous and thus popular in media. I've seen all these specials on the discovery channel, etc about them. Probably a few movies like Perfect Storm and Poisidon made them a popular topic as well. There is a real danger, but probably much less than a casual oserver would expect. Rouge waves are not common, and even when they do pop up it's usually a 40 footer in 20 food seas, not a 100 footer on a dead calm.

[elcuchio24]

Rouge waves aside, occationally up here when there is a real howler Noreaster, the weather man will point out little blips on the radar that are giant waves over 100feet so that the radar picks them up way out in the Gulf of Maine. Doesnt' happen often, but not weather anyone wants any part of.

[5waldos]

I have heard of larger than typical waves impacting liners on a few occations. None recently. I am from a maritime community where waves, rouge waves, sea smoke, etc etc are a way of life. I have noticed in the past few years that 'rouge waves' have become like a catch phase for people to use, it sounds cool and dangerous and thus popular in media. I've seen all these specials on the discovery channel, etc about them. Probably a few movies like Perfect Storm and Poisidon made them a popular topic as well. There is a real danger, but probably much less than a casual oserver would expect. Rouge waves are not common, and even when they do pop up it's usually a 40 footer in 20 food seas, not a 100 footer on a dead calm.

 

Their existence has only recently been confirmed although I agree- seems to be the danger de jour. But the book is quite interesting.

[elcuchio24]

Their existence has only recently been confirmed although I agree- seems to be the danger de jour. But the book is quite interesting.

 

Ya, seems like it was one of those commonly know, or at least accepted if not proven, phenomenon in a very small segment of the nautical world and pretty much unknown elsewhere, and now being more publicized and making a splash (pardon the pun). It certainly is an interesting topic, the fluid dynamics alone are astonishing to consider.

[Forchunut1]

I don't know if it was considered a "rogue" wave, but on one cruise we were abruptly awakened at 3:00 a.m. by the ship listing severely and stuff sliding off the desk onto the floor.

 

The next day we received a letter under our door from the captain saying it was an "unusual" wave, but there was never any danger. :eek:

[urbanhawk]

I don't know if it was considered a "rogue" wave, but on one cruise we were abruptly awakened at 3:00 a.m. by the ship listing severely and stuff sliding off the desk onto the floor.

 

The next day we received a letter under our door from the captain saying it was an "unusual" wave, but there was never any danger. :eek:

 

I see on your signature that you were on the Destiny in '07; We may have been on the same sailing, as it was exactly, as you stated about the ship listing-there was a big storm off of Haiti, if I remember correctly-I remember waking up, and all my belongings on the nite stand, went sliding off...then it was over. People opened their cabin doors (I was in an inside cabin), and we all looked at each other then went back to sleep. Alot of chatter in the dining room at breakfast.....

[H82seaUgo]

i also don't know if it was a rogue wave, but our ship tilted so bad one morning all our stuff in the room, including the beds, with us in it, slid toward the door.

 

people were running around in their life jackets.

 

the pools emptied, the gift shops were trashed, and the plates in the mdr were quite smashed.

[elcuchio24]

i also don't know if it was a rogue wave, but our ship tilted so bad one morning all our stuff in the room, including the beds, with us in it, slid toward the door.

 

people were running around in their life jackets.

 

the pools emptied, the gift shops were trashed, and the plates in the mdr were quite smashed.

 

The listing incidents are usually when the ship has to make quick navigation adjustments (like a car swerves) to avoid something at sea. Doesn't have anything to do with waves. A rouge wave would be a giant impact, but not a sharp listing as above.

[H82seaUgo]

The listing incidents are usually when the ship has to make quick navigation adjustments (like a car swerves) to avoid something at sea. Doesn't have anything to do with waves. A rouge wave would be a giant impact, but not a sharp listing as above.

 

so I should dismiss what the captain told us and go with your story?

[elcuchio24]

so I should dismiss what the captain told us and go with your story?

 

You didn't say what the captain informed you in your post only "I don't know if it was a rouge wave, but......"

 

So the captain came on and said "Everyone, we've just been hit by a rouge wave?" If not, and it's just fun to tell people how you 'survived' a rouge wave, go for it. But more likely the ship had to quickly turn to avoid a shipping container or a marker buoy that had come un-moored.

[H82seaUgo]

You didn't say what the captain informed you in your post only "I don't know if it was a rouge wave, but......"

 

So the captain came on and said "Everyone, we've just been hit by a rouge wave?" If not, and it's just fun to tell people how you 'survived' a rouge wave, go for it. But more likely the ship had to quickly turn to avoid a shipping container or a marker buoy that had come un-moored.

 

he didn't describe the wave, nor did i ever think to ask him to describe it.

 

there was a bunch of speculation all day until the night show,:rolleyes: when he made an appearance. hardly any containers or buoys in the middle of the pacific ocean.

 

but he certainly never mentioned any color.

[5waldos]

Well- I like the story anyway. And if the captain mentioned a wave- go with it.

 

Stories of rogue waves were often put in the same category as the huge whale and fish that big. And yes- the physics of it all are rather mind boggling. There was an interesting interview recently with one of the members of the research team on the British ship stuck in a series of them which had the appropriate monitoring equipment onboard and thus were able to document a--? 100 ft wave perhaps?

[elcuchio24]

he didn't describe the wave, nor did i ever think to ask him to describe it.

 

there was a bunch of speculation all day until the night show,:rolleyes: when he made an appearance.

 

but he certainly never mentioned any color.

 

Sure, so it could have been anything. The crew/captain/line are purposefully vague about things like that. But you can be pretty sure it was not a rouge wave, they are so rare, the listing is not really symptomatic of a rouge. Many folks work on the ocean their whole life without having any problems with rouge waves, and the Caribbean does not have allot of the tectonic shoals that would cause allot of rouges.

[H82seaUgo]

Well- I like the story anyway. And if the captain mentioned a wave- go with it.

 

Stories of rogue waves were often put in the same category as the huge whale and fish that big. And yes- the physics of it all are rather mind boggling. There was an interesting interview recently with one of the members of the research team on the British ship stuck in a series of them which had the appropriate monitoring equipment onboard and thus were able to document a--? 100 ft wave perhaps?

 

i'm just sorry i didn't think to make it to the casino to that machine you insert quarters in to make the money fall off the "precipice"!

[jrmende63]

No and with any luck we never will.

I agree!

[5waldos]

Sure, so it could have been anything. The crew/captain/line are purposefully vague about things like that. But you can be pretty sure it was not a rouge wave, they are so rare, the listing is not really symptomatic of a rouge. Many folks work on the ocean their whole life without having any problems with rouge waves, and the Caribbean does not have allot of the tectonic shoals that would cause allot of rouges.

 

My understanding is that rogue waves are in fact a lot more common than thought- so not common, but not that rare. And of course, many of the people who have problems with rogue waves aren't back to tell the story.

 

The one that frightened me was the 1,800 ft one in the bay in Alaska and that not so long ago. Again, another interview with a boy who lived through it. Will have to look carefully in May and see what I can see.

[H82seaUgo]

Sure, so it could have been anything. The crew/captain/line are purposefully vague about things like that. But you can be pretty sure it was not a rouge wave, they are so rare, the listing is not really symptomatic of a rouge. Many folks work on the ocean their whole life without having any problems with rouge waves, and the Caribbean does not have allot of the tectonic shoals that would cause allot of rouges.

 

the caribbean is blue, and the pacific is no where near the caribbean.

[5waldos]

i'm just sorry i didn't think to make it to the casino to that machine you insert quarters in to make the money fall off the "precipice"!

 

Now that would have been smart for sure. You need to keep your head in these situations to take advantage of things.

[elcuchio24]

the caribbean is blue, and the pacific is no where near the caribbean.

 

????

[5waldos]

????

 

rouge=red the waves are rogue

I think they said in the Pacific, not the Carribean

[5waldos]

Oh wait- they mention Haiti- that is not the Pacific. Maybe they are talking 2 incidences. Sorry.

[Forchunut1]

I see on your signature that you were on the Destiny in '07; We may have been on the same sailing, as it was exactly, as you stated about the ship listing-there was a big storm off of Haiti, if I remember correctly-I remember waking up, and all my belongings on the nite stand, went sliding off...then it was over. People opened their cabin doors (I was in an inside cabin), and we all looked at each other then went back to sleep. Alot of chatter in the dining room at breakfast.....

 

 

Yes, I'm sure that was the cruise it happened on! It was a rough cruise with lots of folks not making it to dinner several nights. After the incident during the night, I too remember the ship recovered quickly and people were a little unnerved standing in the hallways afterward. And, yes, I still have the letter from the captain explaining that it was a wave. :p