Defiant Japanese boat captain rode out tsunami (JAPAN)

[AsahinaKimi]

Oshima, Japan (CNN) -- Susumu Sugawara looks bemused and a little embarrassed at all the attention he's getting.

The 64 year old has become a local hero on the Japanese island of Oshima. Smashed boats adorn the coastline of this once-idyllic tourist spot, but Sugawara's pride and joy, "Sunflower" is intact and working overtime transporting people and aid to and from the island. It can hold around 20 people at a time.

When the tsunami came, everyone ran to the hills. But Sugawara ran to his boat and steered it into deeper waters. "I knew if I didn't save my boat, my island would be isolated and in trouble," he tells CNN.

As he passed his other boats, used for fishing abalone, he said goodbye to them, apologizing that he could not save them all.

Then the first wave came. Sugawara says he is used to seeing waves up to 5 meters high but this was four-times that size.

"My feeling at this moment is indescribable," he says with glistening eyes. "I talked to my boat and said you've been with me 42 years. If we live or die, then we'll be together, then I pushed on full throttle."

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/03/japan.tsunami.captain/?hpt=C1

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And...another hero.

[aquart]

1. I'm glad he said goodbye to the other boats.

Just am.

[slipslidingaway]

2. knr - thanks. n/t

[Texasgal]

3. Wow....

What an amazing story... thank you for sharing.

[Poll_Blind]

4. Video of a Japanese coast guard vessel heading right into the first of the tsunami waves:

Tsunami Climbing: Incredible video of ship heading into wave in Japan

Absolutely incredible video but still probably not as severe as what the boat captain in the article went through.

PB

[AsahinaKimi]

5. in this footage

There is first one boat, then you see two, both appear to make it..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqhKzMNTdZ4&NR=1

[Poll_Blind]

6. Oh my god that's awful. Damn. At the end, the waves! But no, this from a...

...much larger vessel than anything depicted there, probably a mid-side (or lower mid-size) full sea-going ship. Which is why even though the wave is still pretty big, they're far up enough from the deck that it's not looming over them so much.

That rush of water at the end of the video you linked to is astounding. I can't imagine what kind of forces would be in play to make that much seawater behave like that.

Do you know of other continued footage from that same video? That's just unbelievable.

PB

[Poll_Blind]

7. I actually just managed to find the video which continues where yours leaves off:

Japan tsunami footage - no comment

Unreal.

PB