Fear of death by freaque waves

I just came across this article in the newspaper site called Nooga.com, a newspaper of Chattanooga, TN of course.  I was somewhat amused by this article's title "Five ways I hope I don't die" by Sean Phipps and one of his five ways happens to be Rogue wave!  Here's what he has to say:

Rogue wave

I think about this every time I step onto a boat. Even if we’re just in a lake, I’ll inquire as to the possibility of a rogue wave capsizing the boat. Waves are terrifying to me. This fear has everything to do with childhood accidents involving bathtubs full of water and swimming pools I thought I could touch the bottom of. I’ve always imagined being on a small fishing boat in the middle of the ocean. The winds start to pick up—nothing too crazy, yet—and clouds start building in the distance. Suddenly, everything is silent. And then a low rumbling begins as the boat begins to succumb to a massive undertow. We all look up, and our worst fears are realized: An enormous wave—20 stories high, at least—is rising above the boat. We have only 10 seconds to prepare for the impact. The wave crushes the boat and everyone inside. This scenario always bums me out.

I have no idea where he got his idea about freaque waves.  I am also interesting to here what kind of answer he gets when he inquired about the "possibly of a rogue wave capsizing the boat" before he stepped onto a boat.  But his imagination of "being on a small fishing boat in the middle of the ocean" and encountered a sudden enormous wave is not too far fetched.  Though the wave may not be "20 stories high, at least" still sufficient to " crush the boat and everyone inside".  He may be happy to learn that even what he had imagined happens, with Coast Guard and all the available rescue services all around the world, he just might survive and not die.  Now here's the catch, there are obviously plenty of fear of freaque waves, worrying, and half-cooked informations out there, they can all be half-valid since scientifically or otherwise, no one really know what is really going on anyway.  Mr. Phipps' fear seems to be not very well founded!