Coast Guard Fights 20-Foot Waves During Hurricane Erin (Video)

Hurricane Erin spawned a lot of hype as it spun across the Atlantic.

Much of the hysteria was warranted, since the storm grew exponentially, threatening coastlines from the Caribbean to the Florida to North Carolina and beyond. There was damage to seaside homes, wild weather, and glimpses of brilliance for surfers.

While the waves may not have been unimaginably massive – like one meteorologist predicted (“100 feet”) – they were still big. And this footage from the North Carolina Coast Guard, as they plow through the impact zone in a boat, shows that sheer power.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/dy2h08EdohQ

According to the U.S. Coast Guard Station Oregon Inlet regarding the video:

“Here is a first person point of view from our lifeboat operating in surf today in the wake of Hurricane Erin. The storm has passed but offshore sea state is still extremely dangerous.

“For those wondering: Oregon Inlet is in Nags Head, North Carolina. This footage is of a training evolution on our 47 foot motor lifeboat in the surf zone. Crews must “square up” to waves of this caliber, as striking them anywhere but the bow could knock down or roll over the vessel. We train in these conditions as mayday calls don’t only come in when the water is calm.”

The boat goes toe-to-toe (bow to crest?) with waves measuring, let's say, in the 20-foot face range. They batter through them, like they’re in a real-life scene from The Perfect Storm.

But they come out unscathed.

This is what they do. This was a training session, so that they can be prepared for the worse. Specifically, this type of training – battling boats through big waves – is for what the Coast Guard call “surfmen.” Out of approximately 40,000 members of the Coast Guard nationwide, only about 130 of them are active duty surfmen.

Dramamine, anybody?