# You're onboard the Poseidon. Do you stay or go? (minor spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2006, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719 "2006-06-07T11:18:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/21 "2006-06-08T00:48:57Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > I may be completely wrong here, so feel free to correct me on what I’ve gotten wrong. > > I haven’t seen Poseidon, but I did watch a thing on Discovery or somewhere about the making of it. One of the scenes they showed was, as best I can remember was the computer animation of the wave hitting the ship and being at least 3-4 times the height of the ship. > > I just got off a cruise ship a few weeks ago and the thing was over a hundred feet tall. So we’re talking about a wave 300-400 feet high **in mid ocean!** > > Now I do recall that in mid ocean, typical tsunami are a few inches tall, they only rise up when the water gets shallower. So applying that ratio to the movie, that wave would have been…what?..over 6,000 feet high when it hit land? What causes a wave of that magnitude? > > I’m thinking a big mofo asteroid strike, one big enough to eliminate all humankind from the earth. > > So, I would stay, preferiring quick drowning in the ship to the sheer hell that would be waiting for me if I made it out of the ship. No, thanks, I would’ve stayed. (If I had been able to see the size of the wave that hit us) As mentioned, it was NOT a tsunami wave (at least not in the new one.) It was a [rogue wave.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_wave) Which, while not as large as sown in the movie (at least, not ot my knowledge) are otherwise as shown. A single, very large wave, out in deep ocean that does not reach land. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/22 "2006-06-08T00:58:45Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > As mentioned, it was NOT a tsunami wave (at least not in the new one.) It was a [rogue wave.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freak_wave) Which, while not as large as sown in the movie (at least, not ot my knowledge) are otherwise as shown. A single, very large wave, out in deep ocean that does not reach land. OK, I do stand corrected, then. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/23 "2006-06-08T01:16:03Z")
I would follow Josh Lucas. 😃 I’d probably try and get out so at least I’d be doing something, as opposed to just sitting there. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/24 "2006-06-08T03:21:21Z")
I would have gone simply because I can’t stand waiting and like to feel as if I’m taking an active role in getting things done. If there is a group going and a group sitting, I’m probably in the group going (not that that’s always a good thing, but there you are). ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/25 "2006-06-08T05:53:57Z")
It should be noted, however, that no rogue wave has ever been seen that reached 400 feet high. That may well be beyond physical limitations for wave size discounting something like a large meteor strike. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/26 "2006-06-08T14:27:59Z")
What bizarre quirk of fate ever put me on a _cruise ship_? I probably capsized my catamaran rowing across the Atlantic and got rescued… In which case I have my own lifegear in my cabin etc… so I’m looking for deck access to swim out to my own boat, which would now be upright 😉 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/27 "2006-06-10T11:21:49Z")
> [@Barbarian](#): > > What bizarre quirk of fate ever put me on a _cruise ship_? Ha, I don’t know. Since I don’t like open water I wouldn’t be on the ship by choice myself. I’d probably been forced to go for some reason or other - a work function, kidnapping… ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/28 "2006-06-10T22:07:05Z")
A real life example of this is the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. People calling 911 were told to stay in their offices and wait for assistance. Most of these people died. There are only 28 identified people of the 130 who made 911 calls, and only one of them survived. [Here’s](http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/404897p-342888c.html) a link to a newpaper article. Most of the ones who said “screw this” and headed down the stairs survived. Sometimes authority is an ass. I’d make my own decision based on what I knew of the situation, not what I was told. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/29 "2006-06-10T22:10:19Z")
We once awoke on the 25th floor of a Manhattan hotel to fire alarms. I looked out the window and there were fire trucks on the street in front of our hotel. We didn’t even discuss it- just jumped into the first clothing we could find, grabbed our sleeping children and headed for the stairs. Luckily it was a false alarm, but you don’t screw around with things like that. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/30 "2006-06-11T21:20:05Z")
If the chances of swimming down and out of the boat were impossible, I’d look for an acetylene torch. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719/31 "2006-06-11T21:21:27Z")
P.S. Acetylene rigs also have an oxygen tank. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-onboard-the-poseidon-do-you-stay-or-go-minor-spoilers/359719.md?page=1)