Knowing what his father had told him about the “angry waters” outside the dam, the boy acted quickly and plugged the stream of water with his finger. Resolute, he stayed there through the night until he was found and, by doing so, saved an entire city.
Dr. Tim Janssen, a professor of geosciences at San Francisco State University, may or may not be familiar with the tale about his home country. He is, however, familiar with angry waters.
  
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Recently, the professor and El Granada resident published his research in the Journal of Physical Oceanography on the conditions and statistics of extreme or “freak” waves. Janssen described his work, which strives to explain not only the formation of such waves, but also their chances of occurring in a given sea state.
“My research is focused on near-shore ocean dynamics or wave-driven dynamics, and we’re looking at how statistically waves change due to interaction with things like reefs and current,” he said. “In other words, we’re studying the likelihood of running into a large wave.”
While the professor conceded that he could not predict the occurrence of any individual wave, his work does help to understand what factors contribute to favorable big wave conditions.
Freak waves, canonized in surf films and conquered by only the bravest of surfers, can be three times as large as the average wave on a given body of water. Witnessed in places like Pipeline in Hawaii and Cortez Banks in California, these waves have become an archetype of Mother Nature’s awe-inspiring power.
Janssen’s examination of freak waves goes far beyond mere aesthetics. For him, these waves are a matter of numbers, as he crunches figures and probabilities together in computer simulations to identify big wave hot spots.
“There’s a lot of theory involved, a lot of physics,” he explained. “Also, in order to describe the evolution of wave, it’s not just [using the] computer, you also have to go out in the ocean and measure what is there.”
And with Mavericks in his backyard, Janssen may have no better place to view and understand the watery monsters.
“I have no particular theories or anything [on Mavericks],” he said. “It’s a schoolbook example of the focusing of waves at a unique high energy spot.”
While he went on to describe studies which focused on the “surfability” of waves, Janssen turned his attention to the passion he discovered during his Ph.D. research in Monterey.
“When I got to California the first thing I had on my mind was that I had to learn to surf,” he recalled. “I never regretted that.”
And he’s been surfing ever since, even taking a board with him back to his native Netherlands, to brave the frigid waters of the North Sea. Now settled in El Granada with his wife and dog, Janssen has become a regular at local surf spots, though recent teaching commitments have come into conflict with his beach-going.
“Starting as a professor is not a good thing for your surfing career,” he laughed.
Janssen will be starting school this week and is teaching one class at SFSU aside from continuing his research. He’ll be paddling out whenever he gets the chance as well.
Yet, when asked if he’ll be taking his chance at Mavericks any time soon, the professor explained a dream he once had.
“I always thought that if I’d work really hard and surf everyday I would be able to go out there,” he said. “It’s not realistic though. I’d be a threat to myself and everyone else involved.”
Looks like Dr. Janssen will stick to the normal waves for now.
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