One hundred years ago, on Dec. 31, 1914, the lighthouse at Trinidad Head was assaulted by a wave of monstrous proportions. Although the details are unclear, we know that the storm that produced the waves was unusual and that the wave was greater than 100 feet and perhaps much more. The only eyewitness was the keeper of the lighthouse at Trinidad Head at that time, Captain Fred Harrington, and here is his account of the notorious wave.
“The storm commenced on December 28,
1914, blowing a gale that night. The gale continued for a whole week and
was accompanied by a very heavy sea from the southwest. On the 30th
and 31st, the sea increased and at 3 p.m. on the 31st seemed to have
reached its height, when it washed a number of times over (93-foot-high)
Pilot Rock, a half mile south of the head. At 4:40 p.m., I was in the
tower and had just set the lens in operation and turned to wipe the
lantern room windows when I observed a sea of unusual height, then about
200 yards distant, approaching. I watched it as it came in. When it
struck the bluff, the jar was very heavy, and the sea shot up to the
face of the bluff and over it, until the solid sea seemed to me to be on
a level with where I stood in the lantern. Then it commenced to recede
and the spray went 25 feet or more higher. The sea itself fell over onto
the top of the bluff and struck the tower on about a level with the
balcony, making a terrible jar. The whole point between the tower and
the bluff was buried in water. The lens immediately stopped revolving
and the tower was shivering from the impact for several seconds.
Whether the lens was thrown off level by the jar on the bluff, or the sea striking the tower, I could not say. Either one would have been enough.......MORE
That's a big wave.
Also at Dr. Abalone:
Cortes Bank: the Largest Wave on the Planet
