That rogue wave showed up on another forum I frequent and this was my reply.
Some of this is similar to what I've posted here recently, but some is new.
Serving aboard HMCS Sussexvale from September 1965 to September 1966 I enjoyed a few big storms, saw a few really bad ones and generally barfed my guts out many times.
Ironic that some years after finishing my navy service I'd become a surfer, chasing waves, after enduring the sea-sickness that plagued me during my time at sea. Anyway.....
Back some time ago, late 70's or early 80's I was on one of my summer trips to Westport Wa. seeking some surf and I met a surfer named Jim ??? who was the skipper of one of the Coast Guard self-righting rescue boats that work the bar there. They go out in some horrendous stuff down there, believe me. I want to recall the boat as being in the 40 foot long range, but not sure and haven't looked it up.
I remember asking him if they (crew of four) ever went out and rolled it over in the big surf just for fun. He replied quite emphatically that they didn't ever do that, because whenever the boat rolled over there was a lot of paperwork to fill out, explaining where, why etc. etc.
I'm sure he mentioned they were all strapped in their seats while crossing the bar, but that was a long time ago and I could be mistaken.
Pretty brave people who do that for a job. IMHO
By the way, the biggest waves I ever saw were in a big storm in March of 1966 when we came out of Naden Harbor into the teeth of a real screamer.
We basically held position next to HMCS Yukon for a day or so and were closed up in action stations the whole time, which put me up in Radio Three, the UHF and VHF room up on the same level as the bridge, 20 or 30 feet above the waterline when it was calm. It was not calm and we were doing 42 degree rolls as we quartered up 40 or 50 foot wave faces and watched the tops of them being blown flat by the wind, creating long spume trails.
I have been told the sonar bubble on the keel of a Destroyer is 70 feet back from the bow. On several bigger waves we could see it come out of the water as the Yukon climbed slowly up the face, before falling into the trough behind the swell. She was 360 feet long.
Our Frigate was 306 feet long and a stiffer riding ship and it was no fun for a couple of days there until we got inside Vancouver Island and out of the weather. During the height of the storm we had no radio communications nor any broadcast as our antennas were all wiped out and we couldn't go out to try to fix them. Took about three days to get from Naden Harbor to inside the top of Vancouver Island if I recall correctly. By far the worst weather I ever endured at sea.
Oh, should mention that if one is facing truly large and/or near breaking waves it's almost always better to go slow, maintaining steerage but realizing that things floating in big swells simply go up and down as the energy passes under them, and that applies to boats too for the most part.
Taking on big waves at speed is folly.
I've watched it happen a few times on the bar at the mouth of the Jordan River. LOL
Take care.