i fished neah bay and sekiu in my old 13' smoker craft alaskan a few times. not something for a nasty day, but definitely doable as long as you watch the weather and be careful. i wouldn't have hesitated to take it out to the westport jetty on a nice day, either. there aren't a lot of boats under 20 feet that i would have been any more comfortable in out there. big boat, or small boat, if you put it up on the rocks, you're likely screwed anyhow.

that said, it sounds like the the unfortunate guys out there were probably in some sort of low-sided lake boat, and likely weren't too experienced. not a good combination.