January 4, 2006 Oregon swell

On the Oregon coast we regularly have large ocean swells in the winter, but rarely with an offshore wind and no rain. This was one of those rare days and, unfortunately, I only had an old Super 8 video tape recorder, no tripod and dead batteries. I had to stay plugged into my truck and shoot from roof level battered by the wind. Where the truck is parked at the mouth of the Siuslaw River is 2,500 feet fro the end of the jetty, so you can see the the breaking waves were probably a mile away.I slowed some of the clips down to compensate for the wobbly camera. The swell was large enough that no boats were getting out of the river mouth and I could not find anyone even remotely interested in unloading their surfboard to tempt fate in the cold water. The amount of spray coming off the last wave in this video would be enough to fill a very large swimming pool. I only wish that I could have found something to use for a scale. The Hecetahaed Lighthouse (built in 1894) is 56 feet tall.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Oregon
• coast
• big
• wave
• swell
• Heceta
• Beach
• Florence

[woahinkfish]

Sorry about the music. Our host said something about copyrights and disabled the Hendrix tunes.

From offshore bouy data for this date, the largest swell was 8.72 meteres, or about 28 feet.

[clarkewi]

@woahinkfish That makes it about a 70 foot face.

[fishtrap777]

You know it's big when regular speed looks like slow motion...

[f47lbx3]

OUTSIDE!

[barrelsauce]

yea agreed thats actually good music for this footage. i almost could feel the power through my computer. cool stuff

[mac99og]

25ft plus sets stacked past the horizon!!! freakin awesome footage...I'll forgive the no tripod..hah..ha

[FinManWindansea]

Some of the most staggering surf I've ever seen footage of. At 62, I'd be just sitting, watching and taking photos all day. Even in my 20's or 30's, I would realize that I'd be taking my life in my hands if I tried to get out and ride it. I think 009 Soundsystem is a better match to the images than Hendrix.

[doelger123]

thaats coooool

[9720680]

dude! those are some wicked waves! i would have done the same as you did, just stand and watch the beauty instead of trying to paddle out in that!