Ocean waves are very far apart so even a 30 foot wave is no big deal,
great
lakes waves are very close together and very steep. Get down in the
trough
of an ocean wave and the water just rolls underneath you. Get in a trough
of a good sized wave on the great lakes and you are looking at a near
verticle wall of water.

Remember the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"? That was a giant (729 foot)
lake freighter, which was either broken in two or driven under by the waves
of a Great Lakes November storm. See http://www.ssefo.com/ fore more info.

The Great Lakes are nothing like an inland lake. I've watched many awesome
storms (thankfully from shore) that generated waves of almost unbelievable
violence, frequency and intensity.

And the closest I've ever felt to death was on a small car ferry, crossing
"Death's Door" (the gap between Washington Island and Gill's Rock, at the
tip of the Door Peninsula in Lake Michigan) during an October storm. The
waves were awesome, and the skeletons of many, many wrecks litter the bottom
of Lake Michigan in that area.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"