It started yesterday with a 7.6 foot high tide and about 10 foot waves. However, today it was around the same height of King Tide but with larger waves by far. The combination eroded a lot of the beaches away along with any cliffs nearby. This is the time of year where I live that beaches often go away in some areas not to return until summer or fall. But, this was on a level I never have seen before because the ocean water levels are also rising. I was listening to a Fire Captain talking about his how boulders were being thrown out of the sea up onto roads and fences along with logs and trees and other detritus.
The roads in sections of the ocean were closed this morning from at least 10 am to maybe 2 pm in order to protect drivers and walkers from the flying sand and detritus coming across the roads and possibly damaging cars or sending walkers or bicycle riders to the hospital.
The biggest problem we always deal with is tourists when it gets like this because locals know NOT to stand on beaches and only the craziest of big wave surfers go out into the ocean to surf waves like this.
One local hangout (a big rock in the ocean) where sea Lions and Cormorants hang out had waves breaking over it even though it is already at least 30 to 50 feet high. I took a picture of a wave breaking over it and at one point it was breaking 50 to 75 feet high well above the rock. When I enlarged the photo my daughter and I remarked that there were at least 3 stubborn sea lions still hanging on there likely because it would be too dangerous for them to come down from this rock until the oceans settle down a little. So, yesterday, today and also tomorrow the King High Tides are still around 7.6 feet which is a lot because of the full moon this time of year. Normal high tides are only around 3 to 4 feet vertical most other times of the years. However, when you at waves heights of 20 to 40 feet like we are having lately it washes across paved roads and breaks wooden fences with boulders and logs and trees washed up in the surf. So, you don't want to be near waves this big especially during a King Tide. So, the only place really safe during these conditions is to be standing way back where the paved roads are and usually not on any beach.
This is because the waves aren't all 20 to 40 feet high. But, these big ones will come at least once every 8 to 15 minutes. So, if you turn your back on the beach while walking on the beach it it might be the last thing you ever do.
8 people in Ventura went to the hospital today because of not watching properly the waves when they got bigger as rogue waves or also sometimes called "Sneaker Waves".
A few years ago around Christmas vacation I was with my daughter and she told me to climb up on a rock about 4 feet high. So, I thought I would be safe from sneaker waves there. However, then a really big one came in and went up to my waist and I was almost swept out to sea. So, even someone who used to surf in the old days (1960s) can be caught off guard by sneaker or Rogue Waves much bigger and stronger than the rest.
So, most people who die from sneaker waves from being washed off of beaches or off of rocks aren't used to what an ocean can do because they don't live here. You MUST stand way back from the ocean when it gets like this or it just isn't safe to be there.
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