Freak waves also known as Rogue waves (Part 1)

Freak waves also known as rogue waves, monster waves, episodic waves, killer waves, extreme waves, and abnormal waves are relatively large and spontaneous surface waves that occur far out in open water, and are a threat even to large ships and ocean liners.

In oceanography, rogue waves are more precisely defined as waves whose height is more than twice the significant wave height, which is itself defined as the mean of the largest third of waves in a wave record. Therefore, rogue waves are not necessarily the biggest waves found on the water; they are, rather, unusually large waves for a given sea state. Rogue waves seem not to have a single distinct cause, but occur where physical factors such as high winds and strong currents cause waves to merge to create a single exceptionally large wave.

Few pictures of Freak waves. They are scary, no doubt:

My Alama Mater- St.Joseph's College, Colombo, Sri Lanka

St. Joseph's College is a Catholic educational institution in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was established in 896 by French missionaries, with Rev Christophe-Etienne Bonjean playing a leading role. The college has over 4500 students with a staff of over 400. Distinguished former students include Cardinal Thomas Cooray the first Cardinal from Sri Lanka, and President Ranasinghe Premadasa. The motto of the college is "In Scientia et Virtute", meaning "In Knowledge and Virtue" in Latin.

                                                          

                                                   Showing part of front view of the college.

                                                     Showing the Chapel of St. Joseph’s College.  

                                                                            

                                                                       Logo of the College

St. Joseph's College is a Catholic educational institution in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It was established in 1896 by French missionaries, with Rev Christophe-Etienne Bonjean playing a leading role. The college has over 4500 students with a staff of over 400. Distinguished former students include Cardinal Thomas Cooray the first Cardinal from Sri Lanka, and President Ranasinghe Premadasa. The motto of the college is "In Scientia et Virtute", meaning "In Knowledge and Virtue" in Latin.

Religious affiliation(s): Roman Catholic

Established: 2 March 1896

Present Rector: Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel

Staff:450

Grades: 1 to 13 Local Syllabus & London A/L's

Gender: Boys

Age:5 to 19

Color(s): Blue & White

        

Why are Ships called She?

 "A ship is called a she because there is always a great deal of bustle around her; there is usually a gang of men about; she has a waist and stays; it takes a lot of paint to keep her good-looking; it is not the initial expense that breaks you, it is the upkeep; she can be all decked out; it takes an experienced man to handle her correctly; and without a man at the helm, she is absolutely uncontrollable. She shows her topsides, hides her bottom and, when coming into port, always heads for the buoys.”

 But seriously: why are ships and countries (and sometimes cars and other vessels and vehicles) often referred to with the feminine pronoun? Although the practice has been in steady decline for some time now, thanks no doubt to feminism and PC journalistic style guides it’s nevertheless been historically ingrained in nautical language and lore for many centuries. One prosaic explanation is that the gender of the Latin word for “ship” — Navis — is feminine. But people generally agree on the more romantic notion of the ‘ship as a she’ phenomenon: that it stems from the tradition of boat-owners, typically and historically male, naming their vessels after significant women in their lives — wives, sweethearts, mothers.

Similarly, and more broadly, ships were once dedicated to goddesses, and later also to mortal women of national or historic significance, thereby bestowing a benevolent feminine spirit on the vessels that would carry seafarers across treacherous oceans. Figureheads on the prows of ships were often depictions of such female namesakes, denoting the name of the ship for a largely illiterate maritime population. This practice dated from the early 18th century, before which superstition had it that the presence of women aboard sailing vessels — whether in human or representative form — was an omen of bad luck.

The practice of naming boats and ships after women continues today, although certainly not exclusively, as does the habit of feminizing our sailing vessels.

My Old Home Town - and little bit of its history

Galle is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the southwestern tip, 119 km from Colombo. It is the administrative capital of Southern Province, Sri Lanka and is the district capital of Galle District. Galle is the fifth largest city in Sri Lanka after the capital Colombo, Kandy, Jaffna and Negombo.

Galle was known as Gimhathiththa (although Ibn Batuta in the 14th century refers to it as Qali)before the arrival of the Portuguese  in the 16th century, when it was the main port on the island. Galle reached the height of its development in the 18th century, during the Dutch colonial period. Galle is the best example of a fortified city built by the Portuguese in South and Southeast Asia, showing the interaction between Portuguese architectural styles and native traditions. The city was extensively fortified by the Dutch during the 17th century from 1649 onwards. The Galle fort is a world heritage site and is the largest remaining fortress in Asia built by European occupiers.

Other prominent landmarks in Galle include the city's natural harbor, the National Maritime Museum, St. Mary's Cathedral founded by Jesuit priests, one of the main Shiva temples on the island, and Amangalla the historic luxury hotel. On 26 December 2004 the city was devastated by the massive Tsunami. Thousands were killed in the city alone. Galle is home to a cricket ground, the Galle  International Stadium which is considered to be one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in the world. The ground which was severely damaged by the tsunami, was rebuilt and test matches resumed there on December 18, 2007.

Important natural geographical features in Galle include Rumassala in Unawatuna, a large mound-like hill, which forms the eastern protective barrier to the Galle harbour. Local tradition associates this hill with some events of Ramayana, one of the great Hindu epics. The major river in the area is the Gin River (Gin Ganga), which begins from Gongala Kanda and passes villages such as Neluwa, Nagoda, Baddegama, Thelikada and Wakwella, reaches the sea at Ginthota. The river is bridged at Wakwella by the Wakwella Bridge.

Western side of Galle Harbor and Galle Fort.

Clock tower in Galle Fort

                                                                  

                                   

                                   

National Maritime Museum 

Our house was in Richmond Hill and was very close to Richmond College.  At that time, about 90% of the families who lived in Richmond Hill were Sinhala, Buddhists. Christians were the minority but we all lived in harmony as one family.

My parents made early plans about my education. When I was about four years old, they discussed with the Parish priest of the Kalegana church (our local parish) who opened a Montessori school for little ones in the area and very specially for me. Eventually I first attended the Montessori school in Kalegana, Galle

My family left Richmond Hill and moved to Colombo in 1961.

Richmond Hill Railway Station

Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, at Galle,

Ceylon (1868)

The Richmond Hill railway station is the first railway station in Sri Lanka built and named after a school. The Richmond Hill Station is located on the Coastal line between the Piyadigama railway station and Galle Railway Station. It was constructed during the early 1900s for the benefit of children who attend the many schools around the area. The station is located at the base of the hill approximately 200 m (660 ft) from the Richmond Hill Road.

Tsunami - part 2 (SFGD)

Generation mechanisms

The principal generation mechanism (or cause) of a tsunami is the displacement of a substantial volume of water or perturbation of the sea. This displacement of water is usually attributed to either earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, glacier calvings or more rarely by meteorites and nuclear tests. The waves formed in this way are then sustained by gravity. Tides do not play any part in the generation of tsunamis.

Seismicity

Tsunami can be generated when the sea floor abruptly deforms and vertically displaces the overlying water. Tectonic earthquakes are a particular kind of earthquake that are associated with the Earth's crustal deformation; when these earthquakes occur beneath the sea, the water above the deformed area is displaced from its equilibrium position. More specifically, a tsunami can be generated when thrust faults associated with convergent or destructive plate boundaries move abruptly, resulting in water displacement, owing to the vertical component of movement involved. Movement on normal (extensional) faults can also cause displacement of the seabed, but only the largest of such events (typically related to flexure in the outer trench swell) cause enough displacement to give rise to a significant tsunami.

Drawing of tectonic plate boundary before earthquake:

 Generation mechanisms

                                       
The energy released produces tsunami waves.

Tsunami

Tsunami is originally from Japanese language meaning: "harbor wave". It is also known as a seismic sea wave, is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater   explosions including detonations of underwater nuclear devices, landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami. Unlike normal ocean waves which are generated by wind or tides, which are generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun, a tsunami is generated by the displacement of water.


Tsunami waves do not resemble normal sea waves, because their wavelength is far longer. Rather than appearing as a breaking wave, a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide, and for this reason they are sometimes referred to as tidal waves, although this usage is not favored by the scientific community because tsunamis are not tidal in nature. Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called "wave train". Wave heights of tens of meters can be generated by large events. Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with at least 230,000 people killed or missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.