Roger ,,, look at the buoy reports .. I can't seem to remember off my head
but some web page has the reports from the offshore buoys. Such info as
wave height, wind, water temperature, etc.

This might be a weather report site ???????? I am going to look...

If the sailor was on a 27' boat and the waves were 40' high .... that is
over 4 stories high.

If he is going into the waves? What if he is going with them? Holy ****
,,, that is one huge surf ride.


=====================
"Roger Long" wrote in message
news
NE Sailboat wrote:
"I got involved in 40 foot waves with a 27 feet sailboat. ..."

I don't believe this for one moment. 40' waves? And you were in a
27' boat?

The waves were 20 feet. How do I know this? During the time that I was
researching sailing vessel casualties and working on the project to help
write the stability regulations for sailing school vessels, the accuracy
of wind and sea state reports were a significant issue so I looked into
these questions quite a bit.

There are solid physical reasons why even the most experience sailors
overestimate wave heights by about 100%. These have to do with the
motion on the wave face that makes the local "down", or direction a
pendulum would point, be perpendicular to the face of the wave instead of
towards the center of the earth. This is one of the illusions that
promotes seasickness.

There is a fairly precise method of measuring wave height. Even knowing
all these things, I look at waves I've just measured as six feet and I
could still swear that they are 12. In fact, a very reliable way to
measure wave height is to simply take your best guess and cut it in half.

--
Roger Long