The problem with waves is that they may be the wrong length for your vessel. For example, a 1,000ft container vessel might find that very long waves cause stress on her keel which is not fully supported evenly. A hogging or sagging stress may occur and fractures caused by this type of wave have been blamed for the sudden disappearance of many large vessels.
However, the same very long waves may cause no problems at all for our little boats while we happily ride up and down them. I say happily, but this may not relate to an unfortunate crew suffering motion or sea sickness.
Hogging is the name given to stress on a ship’s keel and hull that can cause the centreto be in the trough of two waves. This may cause the middle of the ship to bend down slightly and may also cause the hull to fracture. Smaller but short, steep waves may cause all sorts of problems for a little boat but would go unnoticed by a container vessel.
