WAVES

As I do every morning, I was enjoying a hot cup of Donut House coffee while browsing through the Daily Pilot, our local newspaper.  Given that our town is located around a beautiful harbor and has miles of beaches, there is much coverage of salt water related happenings, which is of interest to  sailors, fishermen, surfers, beachgoers and others.  This particular morning the Daily Pilot was reporting a storm In New Zealand was sending huge waves our way. 

A quick check with Google tells me New Zealand is 6,882 miles by sea from Southern California.  
Visualizing throwing a pebble in a lake and watching the ripples pulse off toward the other side I tried to imagine a wave rolling across the Pacific Ocean and maintaining any size.  The pebble would have to be a rock the size of the moon.  But these waves were obviously not sent on their journey by a pebble but by a winter storm.  What kind of wrath had God unleashed in New Zealand that had the force to push water some 6,882 miles and still muster the strength to pulverize the distant shore?

I drove down to a bluff overlooking a spot along the beach we call The Wedge.  So named because waves marching from the south wedge themselves between a rock jetty and a sandy beach, creating a peak affect that can turn an already large wave into a snarling monster.  These waves usually arrive in sets of four with brief periods of relative calm between sets. 

From my perch on the bluff I could see these lines of waves approaching the beach.  I tried to imagine their journey.  I would guess the birthplace of the storm was on the Antarctic side of New Zealand.  Whatever stirred the pot there created such havoc that mountains of water said to themselves “I’m out’ a here” and headed north. 

Save for Tahiti, Hawaii and a smattering of other small islands, it was clear sailing for these waves all the way to California.  Mid ocean they represent little more than a gentle rise as they pass beneath fishing boats, sail boats, freighters and cruise ships.  With God given instincts ocean birds watch respectfully from high above as they glide by. 

As they move over the horizon and approach shore the lines become more definitive and as the water becomes shallower the ocean bottom begins to tug on the lower reaches of the wave.  This tugging causes the surface water to begin to move forward.  As the majestic wave reaches shore the surface water says “Thanks for the ride” and hurls itself forward. 

At the Wedge there is a squeezing of this water into such a small area that the only place for the additional tons of water to go is straight up.  What may have been a 10 to 12 foot wave on a normal sandy beach is suddenly jacked up to 20 feet plus.  As all this water catapults upward and then forward it creates this magnificent sight and sound only God can create.  I scream to myself “Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah”!