On Mon, 19 May 2008 11:07:34 -0400, John H.
wrote:

I guess if one were in a much smaller boat, like a 25'er, one would just
stay on the crest of one of those waves and ride it out.

Until you get caught in the curl and it breaks down on you, or you go
flying off the front edge into the trough. If you haven't done so
already, go read the "Perfect Storm", the book not the movie. There
is almost an entire chapter devoted to all of the ways you can sink a
boat in a storm.