Absolutely incredible. I loved being in a good storm at sea, but of course that was in the comfort of a dry frigate or destroyer. The worst storm I sailed through was on a larger replenishment ship, off the east coast in late February many years ago. We were looking up at the tops of the waves from the bridge. By the time we got into Halifax the ship was literally encased in ice, over 150 tons of it...just like the old WW2 convoy photos from the North Atlantic. The ship took a fair bit of damage to upper deck equipment as well.
I never could get comfortable on sailing ships, even knowing their design allowed for extreme rolls. I sailed on the HMCS Oriole (102' Marconi rigged ketch, 2 masts, no power winches, everything set by manpower alone) and seeing the gunwale slipping underwater always unnerved me.
I can't imagine enduring that sort of weather under the conditions those men sailed through. And most of them went back for more!
