Biggest Unexpected Wave You Ever Hit

I was crossing LI Sound in my brother's 25 foot Chris Craft, bluefishing, out of Norwalk Harbor, CT. Water was like glass at 7 pm. In the distance ahead was a barge going toward NYC. Thought nothing of it. About 10 minutes later, what looked like a huge glass tube across the horizon began to get closer to us.

At about 500 feet, we realized it was at least a 10 foot wake wave. Steered into it, held on, and that thing threw us way up and down.

A little excitement on a summer night.

 

There have been a few, but one in particular comes to mind.

I was slow-trolling live sardines off St John, USVI when I crossed a wind-against-current area and a 8-10 ft wave suddenly popped up right under me. I was in a little 12ft aluminum boat and I skipped sideways down the face of the wave, fortunate not to capsize.

I promptly got the hell out of there and back into the lee.

Lance.

 

I don't know if it was the biggest I ever hit but it was certainly the pointiest and sent the bow the deepest

I've ever been. It was a covered 30 foot, 12-passenger tour boat and I had a lady on the aft deck in a

cruiser suit holding onto the back rail. It was a wind against tide situation. Another tour operator saw it

from infront of me, he said he could see the entire bottom of our boat as I pulled to neutral on the crest,

switched on the bilge pump and held my breath as we plunged down into the trough and submerged into

the next wave. The lady on the back was having the thrill of her life she later told me. We promply went

to the nearest dock. The wind was blowing so hard off the dock I couldn't make the landing. I had to nose in,

let the fuel attendant take and tie the bow line so I could thrust the stern around and get along side.

There were no tips on that trip.

-Tom

 

In Long Island Sound?? Probably a 55ft sport fisher passed by on the southern side of the sound 20 mins. before you noticed the wake approaching. Rogue waves aren't so common on that flat body of water. Definitely the biggest, monohull interior thrashing wakes I've ever experienced in the Americas were in the LIS.