Our Beautiful and POWERFUL Coast
Undoubtedly, countless places on the Oregon and Washington coasts beg for your visitation. I have many personal memories “down at the beach,” from numerous surf trips with buddies to large family gatherings. And it was the latter just this last weekend that reminded me, once again, of just how special a place our coast is. So gorgeous, so powerful. I will touch on both in this post.
A view of Bella Beach from our beach house deck. Oh so pretty! Image Courtesy: Dan Meyers
The Beauty
The Oregon Coast, in particular, is storied worldwide for its beauty. I think it should be one of the wonders of the world. Rocky headlands, flat and steep beaches strewn with golden agates, caves, lighthouses, sea lions, jellyfish, silky sand, and beautiful blue water. Wow, it’s just such a pretty place, so full of wonder. I love exposing my kids to the beach here. My earliest memories of the coast are some of my favorites, so I’m all for passing them on. Here are a few snaps to illustrate the unique elements of our coast, this time indexing at beautiful Bella Beach (just north of Depoe Bay, Oregon).
My sister took this shot of my family and I down on Bella Beach, from the beach house deck. We look pretty tiny here, up against the grandeur of the giant ocean. Image Courtesy: Sally Kohnstamm
The Power
As a longtime surfer of the NW coast, I am quite familiar with just how powerful and dangerous it can be. That said, in almost 40 years of plying the waves on our shores, I have yet to see something so scary as I did this last weekend. Yes, it was all over the radio and local TV, “Be aware of sneaker waves; a warning has been issued.” Well, I’ve seen the signs at just about every beach, heard the warnings, and even experienced a small sneaker while in a wetsuit (which is not a big deal). But this last weekend was another story altogether.
Steve Raplee, the owner of the High Tide Cafe in Coos Bay, was recording the scene at the beach when a sneaker wave came in, sending him and others scrambling for safety. (Video courtesy of Steve Raplee)
We decided to “hit the beach” on Sunday, November 24th, as the weather was great. Blue sky, no wind, a bit chilly, but for this time of year? Fabulous. A few of us decided on Beverly Beach, which sits just north of Newport, Oregon. Some others in our crew went to nearby Agate Beach, in search of, well, agates ;).
While down at (extremely flat) Beverly Beach we contended with a couple incoming waves that fetched up the sand, all of 2” tall. No big deal, and easy to avoid. Far from scary, even though my late grandmother had warned us all “not to go to Beverly Beach at all” as a couple had been swept away from there years ago by a large, sneaker wave. Nevertheless, we were there, and all was good. However, this was not the case just a but south of us, at Agate Beach.
Down at Agate, my younger sister and her family were out hunting agates. Many others were on this large, flat beach, enjoying the day. Then, out of nowhere a large sneaker wave decided to make landfall. This was no 2-incher. No, this was a full-on, 3’ deep roller that went all the way up the beach past the high tide line. My brother-in-law (thankfully) had a grip on his 3 year old, while his 5 and 8 year old made it successfully to high ground. However, my brother-in-law and little sister were deluged by the wave and soaked all the way up past their waists. They barely held on and were almost taken out.
Look what happens when a woman is filming the stormy sea from her beachfront Condo on 10-24-10 and saw this scene unfold. It was stormy and warnings were out all over to stay away from the water. Video Courtesy: Jyn Meyer
Sadly, at this very same moment, a man just up the beach from them was not as lucky. He was taken off his feet and taken straight out. At last note, he hadn’t been found. ;(. So I write this blog post today as a double…Enjoy the beautiful coast we have, but please-oh-please heed the warnings of sneaker waves and NEVER turn your back on the ocean. I never will again!
Check out these two sneaker wave videos shot on the Oregon Coast. If these two clips don’t get your heart rate cranking (and your plans to stay aware pumped up), well, nothing will! Be safe and enjoy!!
The National Weather Service had issued a "High Surf" warning for waves around 18' along the beaches of the Oregon coast for Saturday so I decided to go and shoot some video and pictures. The NWS also mentioned the possibility of 'Sneaker Waves'. I got a little too close for comfort to one of them. Video Courtesy: ric2flylow
Learn More About Sneaker Waves
Got your attention I’m guessing? Want to learn more about these crazy waves and how to deal with them when they happen? Check out the video below which goes into the particulars. But know that while the conditions for sneaker waves can be somewhat predicted, there’s no real scientific understanding of what causes these phenomena and, well, you just can’t ever let your guard down…ever. Stay safe!
The weather is warming up and between spring break and more trips to the coast, the National Weather Service wants you to know about sneaker waves. Video Courtesy: The National Weather Service