Learning the ropes and getting paid to do it!

With the gray sky's and the ocean a raging torrent caused by an enormous storm that brought 25 foot breakers all the way from the gulf of Alaska, I ventured my way down to Eureka California for a dental appointment. I had to drive the coastal route of HWY 101. The drive was not that spectacular since the coastal fog had made viewing the ocean quite difficult. I had brought my video camera just in case there was something worth filming. I arrived at my dental appointment, I noticed a newspaper article showing the Humboldt Bay's north jetty. In the picture from the news article was a large wave and a surfer doing what surfers do, surfing the wave. I thought this would make a great video! Once my appointment was over I headed over a large bridge traversing the Humboldt Bay. I arrived at the north jetty. I noticed a large crowd had gathered on the dunes over looking the the Humboldt Bar entrance. I walked towards the the crowd of people and noticed something out of the ordinary, It appeared to be a boat going over an extremely large wave. I climbed to the top of the dunes and was amazed at what I had seen. In the entrance to the bar sat two United States Coast Guard lifeboats doing training maneuvers in the large breakers. I was amazed at how these boats would just punch through the waves of this size. I would estimate that the wave heights of some of the very large set of waves were close to eighteen feet tall. I asked a coast guardsmen what the size of those lifeboats doing maneuvers in the bar entrance. He replied"Those are 47 feet in length where you see the radar above their heads is eighteen feet above the water." The size of the waves dwarfed the lifeboats as they would head straight towards the waves. The boats it seemed would almost go straight up into the air as they punched through the approaching wave. I witnessed one wave break right where the coast guardsmen had told me was eighteen feet above the water. That's right the wave hit right at the top of the radar located on the lifeboats mast just above the crews head's I noticed approximately 5-6 people on the flying bridge as the wave hit them. The two lifeboats took turns maneuvering in the waves as there was also two surfers out enjoying the waves with their jet ski partners. That's right I said jet skis, These surfers were being towed in to the large waves with the help of two jet skis. It reminded me of Hawaii's out reef called Jaws. I had noticed one of the lifeboats heading full steam towards a large breaker. The boat hit the wave and about a third of the boat came out of the water. I didn't know that a 47 foot lifeboat could move that fast. I filmed these guys for over a half an hour. The training they did was quite amazing to watch. I commend them on the free show they put on for us. The thing that got me was these guys and gals of the United States Coast Guard get paid to do this! What a fun way to make a living. Here is a video documenting the story Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4lA6UcYKTw