Use Buoy Weather to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable experience on the water.
Significant Wave Height - most all professional forecasts use 'Significant Wave Height'. It is the average of the one-third highest waves thus about half the waves will be bigger and half smaller. The statistical distribution of wave heights follows a Poisson distribution (ie. not a normal or "bell" curve): 10% of waves will be about 10% higher or more, 1% of waves will be 50% higher or more, 0.1% of waves will be 85% higher or more. Those numbers are for off shore locations. In shallow waters the really big waves cannot develop.
Bumpy - wave heights above 1 foot to 2.5 feet.
Very bumpy - wave heights 2.5 feet to 3.5 feet.
Lumpy - same as bumpy except for a longer "per" ie less chop and more rollers.
Doable - if the size and type of your craft is able to handle the wave heights and if your crew can handle the craft the seas will be doable.
Virtual Buoy Reports - our reports are based on Virtual Buoy locations that we have developed based on our years of boating experience and data that we get from www.buoyweather.com. They use weather data from numerous services etc inc NOAA.