Rogue Wave Capsizes Coast Guard Vessel

**WhiteFeather** · January 7th, 2008, 08:31 PM

This is wild and got caught on film.

http://www.surf.co.nz/news/local/new...=5805&archive=

Rogue Wave Capsizes Coast Guard Vessel During Training in California

30 December, 2007 : Big waves are nothing new in California's Morro Bay Harbor. Each year for the last decade, the bay has claimed two lives, putting it near the top of the Coast Guard's list of dangerous waterways.

On Dec. 4, a Coast Guard crew on a training mission found out first hand just how treacherous Morro Bay can be. The crew's 47–foot rescue ship–a "Motor Life Boat" built to withstand the roughest surf–was out on a training exercise, jumping 12 to 15–foot waves, when it got slammed by a mammoth whitecap.

Photographer Gary Robertshaw was there taking pictures of the wave action for the Coast Guard. From his vantage point, high above sea level, he could see some huge swells breaking–even bigger than the 15–foot waves that prompted small craft advisories in the area throughout the day.

He knew the Coast Guard crew wouldn't be able to see the waves until it was too late. "By the time they could spot these waves from the boat, I seriously doubt they had many choices as to what action to take," he said. "The first wave of the set passed by them without incident, but the second, much larger one followed very quickly."

Robertshaw kept clicking, but didn't know until later that he had captured images so amazing, that some people doubt they are real (the Coast Guard confirmed their authenticity).

In a sequence of 10 photographs, a towering wave tosses the boat high atop its crest, and then swallows it entirely. And for a few breathtaking frames, the vessel, dubbed "unsinkable” by the Coast Guard, disappears in the roiling surf. Just as Robertshaw began to worry the boat wouldn't resurface, it popped up. "It was definitely exciting," he said.

A Coast Guard spokesman in Long Beach said no one aboard the boat was hurt that day, although the crew did take a beating. The wave that battered the boat was estimated to be 22 to 25 feet high. "Everybody was alright," the spokesman said. "That boat's made to roll."

The 47–foot Motor Life Boats are a more recent addition to the Coast Guard's fleet. It is built to withstand the worst sea conditions, and the Coast Guard said the boat passed the test that day in the surf. "It absolutely did what is was supposed to do," the spokesman said.

The boat is self–bailing, self–righting and has a long cruising radius for its size. It is the replacement for the aging 44–foot fleet. The Coast Guard has 81 of the boats in the water today, with a total of 200 scheduled to be operational within the next few years. There were four crew members aboard the boat the day it rolled. They had decided to train in some big waves created by a storm coming down the coast.

Any given day at Morro Bay, waves pummel the harbor's breakwaters, often sweeping people off the rocks above the water. The harbor entrance is also prone to huge waves, making navigation so difficult that the Coast Guard closes the entrance about 50 times each year.

But on Dec. 4, the usual five- and 10-footers were growing to three times that size, the Coast Guard said. That same day, the Coast Guard helped rescue a small vessel capsized in the over–sized waves. No one was hurt, but the small Coast Guard station in Morro Bay has been busy as storms in the Pacific swirl up big surf.

"The fact that no one was hurt or killed, and that the boat made it through and was immediately operational really attests to the competence of the crew and the equipment," Robertshaw said.

Complete photo series by Gary Robertshaw available at Mad Mariner