As the wind reaches gale force in the UK and the swell gathers in the Atlantic, surfers must be looking forward to another trip to the Cornish shores next week where the swell will probably be several feet.
For those of us whose first sight of surfing was the opening sequence to "Hawaii 5 O", the very idea of taking to those 50 footers would seem ludicrous. The title sequence was never updated - for good reason... Such waves, even in Hawaii are not that common.
But they're there now. World-class surfers were quick on the scene for a rare big-wave competition despite the fact that these giants were crashing over the highway. 'Oahu Civil Defense' advised the public to stay off the beaches and out of the water. The temptation to catch such a biggy is too great and crowds were gathering before dawn.
What's the cause of such seas? It's got to be steady wind to raise the swell or maybe a seismic shock, ie earthquake. The "Ring of Fire" seems to have been seismically active recently. So, an earthqake or maybe the still active typhoon season in the western Pacific are possibilites.
Open ocean swell was measured at 26 feet/9 metres some 200 miles northwest of Kauai. Waves rise as the ocean gets shallower close to shore and even though the Hawaiian Islands are volcanic, not on a continental shelf, these waves could come in at 50 feet/15 metres.
Flights from Cornwall to Hawaii are rare but Heathrow would be a good starting point...
