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The Wave

Page 31

by Susan Casey


  Hawaii proved to be far more than the main location for The Wave. It became my home, and a place of solace after my father’s sudden death in July 2008. I had barely started writing at that point, and in the aftermath I didn’t even know how I could, but the people and the land and the ocean helped me through that dark time. Everywhere in Maui I encountered outlandishly giving people, and I will never forget their kindness: Rich and Ann Marie Landry (and all the Maui pink cap swimmers!), Gary Ryan, Marie Cruz, Ed and Kerri Stewart, Felice and Paul Miller, Chelsea Hill, Cheyenne Ehrlich, Ian Horswill, the Reverends Shelley and Kedar St. John, Skeeter Tichnor and everyone at The Studio Maui, Chinta Mackinnon, Tim Sherer, Doug Fujiwara, Skip Armstrong, and Eddie Cabatu. I send a special super-aloha to Phyllis Tavares, the founder of Ninth Life, a no-kill cat shelter in Haiku. Phyl adopted the family of stray cats that took up residence on my porch, nestling together behind my surfboards. If you want to read the inspiring story of a local hero, check out her Web site: www.9thlifehawaii.org.

  Back on the mainland, as well, I am grateful to many friends. Andy Astrachan read the earliest version of this work, and his encouragement buoyed and inspired me. My deep thanks also go to Hilary Laidlaw, Niccolo Ravano, David Lynch, Sharon Ludtke, Kristin Gary, Samantha Carey, Eldar Beiseitov, Ann Jackson, Susan Scandrett, Tim Carvell, Tom Keeton, Celia and Henry McGee, Susan Orlean and John Gillespie, Jill Meilus, Vic Calandra, Peggy Dold, Isolde Motley, Maria Moyer, Ace Mackay-Smith, Mark Taylor, Paula Blanchet, Susan King, John and Jane Clarke, Mary Lou Furlong, La Mura Boelling, Dr. Guldal Caba, Dr. Lionel Bissoon, and Leslie Fischer.

  As always, I owe much to my family: my mother Angela Casey, my brothers Bob Casey and Bill Casey, along with Pam Manning, Beth Oman, Mike Casey, Caroline Casey, Kellie Casey, John Casey, Wilda Alford, Lorna Walkling, Tom Walkling, Chris Walkling, and Sarah Walkling-Innes.

  Among my colleagues I am especially indebted to Martha Corcoran, whose help throughout this project was invaluable. Tom Colligan and Cathay Che contributed key reporting and fact checking. Sara Corbett and Lucy Kaylin read a galley version of the manuscript and offered much insight and support, as did Terry McDonell, David Granger, and Tim Carvell. At ICM I would like to thank Kristyn Keene, Niki Castle, and Molly Rosenbaum for their constant help and goodwill; and John DeLaney for his legal expertise. I owe a giant wave of thanks to my editor, Bill Thomas, whose expert guidance is present on every page, and to his amazing associate Melissa Ann Danaczko.

  During the five years I spent working on The Wave, one person was always there: my agent, Sloan Harris. His passion and vision for this project were ever-present, and there are no words to express my gratitude for that. On any path there are ups and downs and twists and the odd obstacle and, sometimes, a lip crashing down on your head. With great humor, Sloan helped me navigate all of them.

  SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

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  Bruce, Peter. Adlard Coles’ Heavy Weather Sailing. Camden, ME: International Marine, 1999.

  Bryant, Edward. Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001.

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  ————. Mavericks. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2000.

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  SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS, PERIODICALS, AND NEWSPAPERS

  Abruzzese, Leo. “Nature’s Fury.” The Economist, November 16, 2006.

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  BBC News. “Giant Wave Could Threaten U.S.” October 4, 2000.

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  Becker, Markus. “Vessel Measures Record Ocean Swells.” Der Spiegel, March 31, 2006.

  Bojanowski, Axel. “Study Sees North Sea Tsunami Risk.” Der Spiegel, October 10, 2006.

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  Draper, Laurence. “Severe Wave Conditions at Sea.” Journal of the Institute of Navigation, vol. 24, no. 3, July 1971.

  Emanuel, Kerry. “Increasing Destructiveness of Tropical Cyclones Over the Past 30 Years.” Nature, August 4, 2005.

  European Space Agency (ESA). “Ship-Sinking Monster Waves Revealed by ESA Sa
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  Haver, Sverre. “Freak Wave Event at Draupner Jacket.” Paper from Ifremer Rogue Wave Symposium, 2004.

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  Holliday, Naomi P., Margaret J. Yelland, Robin Pascal, Val R. Swail, Peter K. Taylor, Colin R. Griffiths, and Elizabeth Kent. “Were Extreme Waves in the Rockall Trough the Largest Ever Recorded?” Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 33 (2006).

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  ————. “IUMI Facts and Figures Committee Report.” Vancouver, BC, 2008.

  Kolbert, Elizabeth. “Outlook: Extreme.” National Geographic, April 2009.

  Komar, Paul D., and Jonathan Charles Allen. “Increasing Wave Heights Along the U.S. Atlantic Coast Due to the Intensification of Hurricanes.” Journal of Coastal Research, 2008.

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  Lloyd’s of London. “360 Risk Project: Catastrophe Trends 1.” Report from Lloyd’s of London, England, UK, 2006.

  Lohr, Steve. “Puzzled Scientists Find Waves Off Britain Are Growing Larger.” New York Times, April 19, 1988.

  Lovett, Richard. “The Wave from Nowhere.” New Scientist, February 24, 2007.

  Magnusson, Karin Anne, Magnar Reistad, Øyvind Breivik, Rasmus Myklebust, and Ellis Ash. “Forecasting a 100-Year Wave Event.” Presentation from the 9th International Workshop on Wave Hindcasting and Forecasting, 2006.

  Mallory, J. K. “Abnormal Waves on the South East Coast of South Africa.” Institute of Oceanography, University of Cape Town, 1997.

  Mangold, Tom. “Scandal of the Rotting Tankers.” Reader’s Digest, November 1993.

  Masson, D. G., C. B. Harbitz, R. B. Wynn, G. Pedersen, and F. Lovholt. “Submarine Landslides: Processes, Triggers, and Hazard Prediction.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 2006.

  MaxWave. “Minutes from the MaxWave SAP Meeting at BP Staines, 5th of November, 2001.”

  McCredie, Scott. “When Nightmare Waves Appear Out of Nowhere to Smash the Land.” Smithsonian, March 1994.

  McGuire, Bill. “Climate Change: Tearing the Earth Apart?” New Scientist, May 27, 2006.

  ————. “Global Risk from Extreme Geophysical Events: Threat Identification and Assessment.” Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, vol. 364 (2006): 1889–1909.

  ————. “Ground Deformation Monitoring of a Potential Landslide at La Palma, Canary Islands.” Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, vol. 94 (1999): 251–65.

  ————. “There’s a Storm Brewing.” The Guardian, April 28, 2008.

  Mercer, Phil. “Extreme Waves Worry Australia.” BBC News, December 1, 2008.

  Mertie, J. B. “Notes on the Geography and Geology of Lituya Bay, Alaska.” U.S. Geological Survey, 1931.

  Miller, Don J. “Giant Waves in Lituya Bay Alaska.” U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 354-C, 1960.

  Moss, J. L., W. J. McGuire, and D. Page. “Ground Deformation Monitoring of a Potential Landslide at La Palma, Canary Islands.” Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, vol. 94 (1999): 251–265.

  Paulson, Tom. “Secrets of Tsunamis Not Easily Revealed.” Seattle Post Intelligencer, January 17, 2005.

  Peeples, Lynn. “The Bigger Kahuna: Are More Frequent and Higher Extreme Ocean Waves a By-Product of Global Warming?” Scientific American, February 2010.

  Peeples, Lynn. “The Real Sea Monsters: On the Hunt for Rogue Waves.” Scientific American, September 2009.

  Perkins, Sid. “Dashing Rogues.” Science News, November 18, 2006.

  Rosenthal, W., and S. Lehner. “Rogue Waves: Results of the MaxWave Project.” Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, vol. 130 (2008).

  Ruggiero, Peter, Paul D Komar, and Jonathan C. Allan. “Increasing Wave Heights and Extreme Value Projections: The Wave Climate of the U.S. Pacific Northwest.” Coastal Engineering, vol. 57 (2009): 539–552.

  Slunyaev, A., E. Pelinovsky, and Guedes C. Soares. “Modeling Freak Waves from the North Sea.” Applied Ocean Research 27 (2005): 12–22.

  Taylor, Paul, Dan Walker, and Roy Rainey. “On the New Year Wave at Draupner in the Central North Sea in 1995.” Presentation from the 20th International Workshop on Water Waves and Floating Bodies, Spitsbergen, Norway, 2005.

  Tisch, Timothy D. “Tsunamis: A Rare but Real Marine Hazard.” Professional Mariner, August/September 2005.

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  Wang, David W., Douglas A. Mitchell, William J. Teague, Ewa Jarosz, and Mark S. Hulbert. “Extreme Waves Under Hurricane Ivan.” Science, August 5, 2005.

  Ward, Steven N., and Simon Day. “Cumbre Vieja Volcano—Potential Collapse and Tsunami at La Palma, Canary Islands.” American Geophysical Union, 2001.

  Witze, Sandra. “Bad Weather Ahead.” Nature, vol. 441, June 2006.

  Wynn, R. B., and D. G. Masson. “Canary Islands Landslides and Tsunami Generation: Can We Use Turbidite Deposits to Interpret Landslide Processes?” Southampton Oceanography Center. Southampton, UK, 2003.

  Yanchunas, Don. “Crew of British Research Vessel Gathers Extraordinary and Dangerous Data on Waves.” Professional Mariner, August/September 2006.

  Yeom, Dong-Il and Eggleton, Benjamin J. “Rogue Waves Surface in Light.” Nature, December 13, 2007.

  WEB SITES

  Weather and Forecasts

  Surfline: www.surfline.com

  Stormsurf: www.stormsurf.com

  Wavewatch III Climate Model: http://polar.ncep.noaa.gov/waves/wavewatch

  Institutions and Organizations

  Aon Benfield Hazard Research: www.abuhrc.org

  Billabong XXL Competition: www.billabongxxl.com

  Lloyds of London: www.lloyds.com

  National Oceanography Center (Southampton): www.noc.soton.ac.uk

  National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration: www.noaa.gov

  United States Geological Survey: www.usgs.gov

  Characters

  Arabonis, Jean Pierre: www.osis.co.za

  Clark, Jeff: www.jeffclarksurfboards.com

  Doerner, Darrick: www.dd-sea.com

  Gabeira, Maya: www.mayagabeira.com

  Gerlach, Brad: www.bradgerlach.com

  Hamilton, Laird: www.lairdhamilton.com

  Harrington, Tony: www.harroart.com

 
; Hornbaker, Jeff: www.thirdeyeworld.com

  Kalama, Dave: www.davidkalama.com

  Lickle, Brett: www.surfball.net

  Long, Greg: www.greglong.com

  McNamara, Garrett: www.garrettmcnamara.com

  Mel, Peter: www.petermel.com

  Miller, Sonny: www.worldwavepictures.com

  Mitchell, Jamie: www.jamie-mitchell.com

  Prickett, Mike: www.prickettfilms.com

  Shearer, Don: www.windwardaviationmaui.com

  Sloane, Captain Nicholas: www.svitzer.com

  Illustration Credits

  INSERT

  1 Tom Servais

  2 Tom Servais

  3 Tom Servais

  4 Tom Servais

  5 erikaeder.com

  6 erikaeder.com. Inset: Image courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech AIRS Project

  7 N. Penny Holliday

  8 N. Penny Holliday

  9 National Oceanography Centre

  10 Arnulf Husmo/Getty Images

  11 Brian Ingpen

  12 Tim McKenna/Courtesy of Surfer magazine

  13 Tony Harrington

  14 Susan Casey

  15 Tom Servais

  16 Dana Edmunds

  17 Tom Servais

  18 Courtesy of Tony Harrington

  19 Courtesy of Tony Harrington

  20 Courtesy of Tony Harrington

  21 Robert Brown Photography.com

  22 Robert Brown Photography.com

  23 U.S. Geological Survey

  24 SSPL/Getty Images

  25 Bloomberg via Getty Images

  26 The Granger Collection, New York

  27 Karsten Petersen, www.global-mariner.com

  28 D. J. Miller/U.S. Geological Survey

  29 D. J. Miller/U.S. Geological Survey

  30 D. J. Miller/U.S. Geological Survey

  31 U.S. Army/U.S. Geological Survey

  32 U.S. Geological Survey

  33 Andrew Ingram / The Cape Times

 

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