Personally, I think Tim and I have a disconnect in our descriptions.

Where I paddle, wind waves are choppy, steep, chaotic, can come from different directions at different moments and have very short periods when organized, something like 7 seconds or less and the organization is haphazard ... it may be organized in one location but not 100 yards away. At 2-3 feet those can be a bit of a giggle as they say, and they can be kinda fun ... but no way can I see 6 to 9 foot wind waves of that nature as something reasonable to paddle in, even if the swell is zero (granted Tim has already clarified that he doesn't want to paddle in those conditions, he just wants a boat capable of those conditions).

I'm wondering if Tim is really referring to mixed swell.

Ground swell is swell with a period of 14 seconds or greater.

Wind swell is swell with a period of less than 14 seconds. Wind swell is not the same thing as the local wind waves we're all accustomed to. It's swell. Wind swell is based more on a regional area (as opposed to a global area) rather than a local area. Wind swell often comes from a different direction than ground swell. In my area they are often on the order of 100 degrees apart. By definition, the periods of the wind swell are less than the ground swell (but usually larger than that of locally organized wind waves) and the heights are generally less.

When swells are coming from more than one direction, it's called mixed swell. Mixed ground and wind swell is common in my area as is mixed wind swell.

If Tim is really referring to mixed swell conditions, then we might finally be on the same page. To clarify what this would look like ... imagine paddling in a constant 9 foot south swell at 12 seconds with occasional 6 foot east swell at 9 seconds with a little 1-2 foot local chop on top of all of it. Tim, does that sound closer to what you're talking about?

BTW ... Crickey ... I had to look that one up ... too kewl! I've always wondered how the Australians come up with such kewl words!

Ken Blanton