And nor am I,
I am wondering why the Great Laker that isn't a sailor is passing a
judgement on Ocean sailors. I said in the thread numerous times I do not
question the power of the body of water. I do question hard core salts being
green in it.

Patrick

wrote in message
oups.com...

Matt Barrow wrote:
"W P Dixon" wrote in message
...

One of the theories behind the tragic sinking
of the famous freighter Edmund Fitzgerald is that she was downed by a
rogue
wave during a major storm on Lake Superior back in November 1975. No
one
will know for sure as everyone perished. from an article in Boat/US
Magazine

From the same article about waves in the ocean that just poof there it
is
,
not even a storm....

Imagine cruising on a perfect sailing day and suddenly staring at a 35-
to
40-foot wave that comes out of nowhere. "I remember as a boy cruising
off
of
Cape Hatteras in a calm sea, seeing a rogue wave come out of nowhere,"

This hardly describes the wave(s) that destroyed the Fitzgerald.

IIRC, it was 100 knot winds over shallow water. Imagine a nosedive into
the
lakebed 200 feet below (for a 700 foot ship).

Windspeed and water depth are not the only variables. You also have to
consider the "fetch" or the distance the wind is blowing over the water
behind that wave, building up its energy. More fetch=taller waves.

Also, as windspeeds approach 100kts, they will actually begin to blow
the peaks of the waves over, and you will get breaking seas in the
middle of the North Atlantic.

The Great Lakes are plenty big enough and located in enough of a wind
tunnel to generate plenty of deadly-serious weather. That being said,
the difference to open-ocean sailing is one of choice. In the Lakes you
are likely to have better warning of a storm's approach, and more
likely to be able to find safe harbor before it hits. If you do end up
in distress, help is possibly much nearer. Out in the middle of the
ocean, you may have no choice, and the nearest help may be another
vessel just as far up ---- creek as you. But once you're in the stuff,
being one mile offshore can be just as bad as one thousand. No
knowledgeable oceangoing mariner would look down on the experience of a
Great Laker.

-cwk.