inspector747

iTrader: (3)

Someone said that was Darr driving it....lol

Matt Trulio

That incident happened off Ocean Beach in San Francisco last year either the same day or the day before the Mavericks surfing contest down the coast in Half Moon Bay. The sea forecast was predicted well in advance of the contest—hence the green light for the event. Even without a VHF radio tuned into the marine forecast (not a bad idea considering how quickly the seas can get huge off San Francisco), it would have been very hard to miss what the sea conditions were going to be like (giant) that day. The Mavericks contest is big news up here, and every local network affiliate was talking about it days before on every broadcast from morning till night.

What's more, the sand bars that create the breaking waves off Ocean Beach extend into the Pacific Ocean for miles, meaning deep-water swells can become breaking waves far offshore where a boat operator might believe he his "safe" but is anything but.

The lack of good judgement in this case is substantial, but here's what makes it even worse: On that day, there were a lot of (brave as hell) big-wave surfers in the waters off Ocean Beach. Had that boat been hammered back into the surf line by a massive wave, those surfers would have had more than giant surf to contend with.

Pilotpete

Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt... (SMH)

Looking at the conditions before you launch? Learning the area you're going to/through? Advance planning??? That's just crazy talk! What the heck are you thinking man?

thirdchildhood

iTrader: (6)

They found themselves in a jam and didn't have many options. I think the driver had no idea that the wave would grow that steep and he was already committed to climbing it. BTW, how much were the surfer dudes paid to do the commentary?

Matt Trulio

I have to gently disagree with you. They didn't "find" themselves in a jam. They put themselves in a jam. Even someone with zero experience and understanding of the ocean would have looked at those conditions—lines of giant swells stacked to the horizon—seen the potential for big trouble in that environment and stayed far away. I was on the coast in the area that day and at Mavericks on a photo boat the day before and, trust me, it wasn't subtle.

You don't play chicken with 40-foot waves and that, based on what I see in the video, is what was happening in this case. They popped over a 30-footer only to find a "feathering" (meaning about to break) 40-footer behind it. That they didn't kill themselves on anyone else was pure luck. No sympathy and no excuses.

One "thing" never causes an accident. Accidents are caused by a series of things, in this case one bad choice after the next. That's something I learned from my skydiving days a million years ago.

thirdchildhood

iTrader: (6)

Yes, Matt, their mistake was going too close to shore and getting caught in the giant breaking waves. Sooooo, how much were the surfer dudes paid?

Matt Trulio

Never bothered to turn up the sound so your guess is as good (probably better) as mine.

thirdchildhood

iTrader: (6)

You're totally missing out then. That's what makes the whole video. I literally laugh out loud every time I listen to it! In hindsight they should have beached the boat but they did not know about that steep 30' wave behind the first one. Once committed to climbing it they had no choice except maybe to reduce speed as breaching would have certainly resulted in capsizing and also major boat damage (salt water) and injury or death risk. They really put themselves in a jam. Glad everyone held on and there were no really serious injuries.

Matt Trulio

OK, well now I have to listen to it! Thanks.

It's funny—when you look at Ocean Beach during a big swell and try to guess how big it really is, you're usually guessing. One thing that 43-foot Donzi did was take all the guesswork out of judging the size of those waves.

And no doubt, had they allowed the second wave to take them back "over the falls," the resulting carnage likely would have been major.

phragle

iTrader: (3)

REading on HT, A witness stated he was there and playing in the surf on purpose and had been at it for a bit. He didn;t suddenly get caught in the swells, hr didn't accidently find himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He simply let his balls get bigger than his brain.