Going to extremes

NEWPORT BEACH — Since he was a young man, Balboa Peninsula resident Craig Smith has been a sailor.

Although he’s rented boats and sailed off and on since he was young, his hobby really developed once he bought his dream sailboat, aptly titled Dreams, about 10 years ago.

Smith has another hobby that’s important to him: writing. Over his long career as an engineer he wrote and edited seven books about his trade, and since his retirement, he’s completed two books aimed at the general public.

On Sunday, the merging of both those hobbies will be on display when Smith’s latest book “Extreme Waves” will be the attraction at the first of four programs in the Balboa Performing Arts Theater’s “Season Without Walls.”

The theater is embarking on a $6.5-million restoration project, which is under Coastal Commission review, but the show must go on, said Balboa Performing Arts Theater foundation’s executive director Mary Lonich. The foundation has partnered with arts organizations including the Pacific Symphony and Opera Pacific.

“We thought, ‘Why are we waiting? Why can’t we partner with these organizations right now, and instead of using our venue, why don’t we go out in the community to other venues?” Lonich said.

Smith, who serves on the foundation’s board, was a natural choice for the season’s opening show, Lonich said. The event will be at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Beckman Center in Irvine — the three others will be held at a Newport Coast villa, the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana and the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The Surfrider Foundation and the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum sponsored the program featuring Smith.

“Extreme Waves” tells the story of mariners, surfers and others who have encountered giant waves in their travels. He explores with scientists the causes of huge ocean waves that have been known to swallow up boats on the high seas.

“I had just finished [“How the Great Pyramid Was Built”] and one of my sailing buddies e-mailed me about an idea,” Smith said. “And I thought, ‘I ought to write a story about these rogue waves.’ ”

To tie all the stories together, Smith weaves in tales of adventure aboard his own boat— a heavy duty Hans Christian sailboat he uses to sail the coast and Channel Islands.

During his research he found studies based on European satellites that show huge waves, which can measure up to 100 feet, popping up more frequently.

Before these kinds of technological advances, Smith said, many people discounted sailors’ tales of monstrous ocean waves that seemed to come out of nowhere and damage their boats. But there seems to be something to those stories.

“Over the ages an amazing number of boats were lost,” Smith said, sitting in the cabin of Dreams.

He said about 300 large merchant ships were lost at sea every year during the last few decades.

Smith tells the harrowing story of his sailing buddy, Brad Van Liew, who entered an around-the-world sailing race. During the race, as he rounded the tip of South America, he faced a particularly violent storm. After sloshing him around quite a bit, waves Van Liew compared to a five-story building, suddenly flipped his boat upside down, leaving him to only hope for survival.

“All of a sudden it got really quiet and suddenly the light coming through the cabin was blue light, not white light,” Smith said of his friend’s experience. “All he said he could see was water.”

Miraculously, his boat righted itself and his mast was still intact when he pulled into port.

Another account comes from a couple who dove off the coast of a small Thai island in December 2004 and churned as they dove about 60 feet below the surface while the deadly tsunami wreaked havoc on the islands. When they were able to focus on their dive computers, they found they had been pushed down to 120 feet. When they finally reached the surface and found the dive boat, they saw the damage the tsunami had done and helped gather floating bodies and debris. After helping the relief effort for a couple of days, an airline flew the couple back to the United States — even though they had lost their tickets, passports and luggage because of the wave.

Smith’s talk will describe how each type of wave is created, and how each of his subjects reacted when they faced one.

In February, the theater foundation will host its Opera in the Raw, which is aimed at younger audiences and will feature cabaret style music and performances in casual clothes. The April performance, Emilio in Concert, will feature flamenco guitarist Emilio and dancers, preceded by a Spanish wine tasting. The final show will be a springtime music festival called Pacific Symphony Pulse Concert & Reception. It will be held in June.

Smith’s lecture will fit well with the theater’s future plans for an entire lecture series.

“We want to have lecture demonstrations once the theater is open, and this is a perfect example of something we can offer the community,” Lonich said.

IF YOU GOCraig Smith talking about his book “Extreme Waves,” in the first installment of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater’s “Season Without Walls.” Appetizers and wine will be served.

WHAT:

WHERE: Beckman Center, 100 Academy, Irvine

WHEN: 3 p.m. Sunday

COST: $25

INFO: (949) 673-0895, www.thebalboatheater.org