Capsizing Boat

A series of photos of a ship being capsized by a large wave and then righting itself is doing the rounds. (That's a bit of a pun.) The photos are real. According to an article in the Mad Mariner (mirrored here), they were taken in California's Morro Bay Harbor by Gary Robertshaw on Dec. 4, 2007. The boat is a Coast Guard vessel on a training mission. From the Mad Mariner:

In a sequence of 10 photographs, reprinted here with Robertshaw's permission, a towering wave tosses the boat high atop its crest, and then swallows it entirely. And for a few breathtaking frames, the vessel, dubbed "unsinkable” by the Coast Guard, disappears in the roiling surf. Just as Robertshaw began to worry the boat wouldn't resurface, it popped up... A Coast Guard spokesman in Long Beach said no one aboard the boat was hurt that day, although the crew did take a beating. The wave that battered the boat was estimated to be 22 to 25 feet high. "Everybody was alright," the spokesman said. "That boat's made to roll."

Photos

Posted on Wed Feb 20, 2008


Comments

Coast Guard rescue boats have had this capability for decades. There is nothing new here, although it is a nice sequence of pictures.
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Wed Feb 20, 2008  at  07:26 PM
i wanna go on THAT ride!
Posted by Nona  on  Thu Feb 21, 2008  at  05:25 AM
That would be one heck of a training mission for new folks in the Coast Guard!
Posted by TvLover  on  Thu Feb 21, 2008  at  10:22 AM
And I don't think it's as cool as this one (also real):
http://www.snopes.com/photos/accident/towboat.asp
Posted by JoeDaJuggler  on  Thu Feb 21, 2008  at  11:31 AM
Better link (YouTube video) of the barge push boat:
http://tinyurl.com/39k4nx
Posted by JoeDaJuggler  on  Thu Feb 21, 2008  at  11:34 AM
"A Coast Guard spokesman in Long Beach said no one aboard the boat was hurt that day, although the crew did take a beating"

So it was apparently a very gentle beating?
Posted by Ledasmom  on  Fri Feb 22, 2008  at  09:30 AM
This is real. I actually read this article in the 38th Parallel, a free sailing newspaper for folks in the bay area. Still really cool. . .
Posted by Sailor  on  Sat Feb 23, 2008  at  08:40 AM
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