Not a cat story, but my favorite ocean swell one.

99 or 2000 Coastal Cup somewhere near Monterey heading south on a pitch dark night, I say to Billy (my name for a French guy named Guillome, cuz I couldn't pronounce it), "why is the water in front of the boat glowing?" We're both really tired a don't know where the red and green light in the water could be coming from. It gets really bright and the boat (an Express 27) goes from 17 knots to 0 in about five feet as the stern lifts out and we pirouette onto our side.

The glow was from the bow lights going into the wave in front of us -- My wife and other sleeping crew got an eticket ride from the pipe berths aft to the forward bulkhead.... I remembered to carve across the troughs a bit more after that.

Good fun. I miss CA ocean sailing sometimes.