[CINC] tsunami surges and Adventure

[Debbie shelley]

tsunami surge
1 gray whale very shy
50 common dolphin
 
As I was driving from Santa Barbara I noticed a lot of helicopters cruising the beach wondering what the heck was happening and I remember reading something about a earthquake in Japan.  I decided to turn on my car radio and discovered we were under a tsunami alert.  When I got to Ventura Harbor there were 4 helicopters and a lot of people at the beach, but the harbor patrol truck would not let anyone close to the surf.  When I checked in at Island Packers everyone  was kind of oh yeah big deal nothing is going to happen.  Well while we (all seven of us, school group had canceled) were waiting to load on boat we saw a rush of water going out and the crew measure a 46 inch drop on the dock in about 20 minutes.  We loaded the boat and started out of the harbor.  The small coast guard boats were trying to catch the red marker buoys as they had broken lose.  As we were trying to get out of the harbor all the water started rushing back in.  it was a sight to be seen.  Our first real tsunami.  It was a real bronco ride out.  Everyone was in awe.  Winds were really kicking up and a large swell, everyone on board was very sea worthy.  We saw one gray whale for only about 15 minutes and a few common dolphin.   When we got back second trip was canceled so I walked down to the headquarters.  A few people were on the deck and we watched in amazement as another huge surge came though.   Mother nature always amazes me.   A very interesting day.   Thanks to the crew Captain Jimmy, Danni and Joel.   Debbie Shelley 		 	   		  
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