Swell is no problem till it reaches land? That's a very general statement. If you're talking about paddling in glassy long period swells ... I'd prolly agree. If you have the possibility of paddling in big steep gnarly short period swells that have a steep lip and are spilling or breaking ... especially in beam or following conditions ... I don't agree.

Now, you know your expected conditions, I don't. I paddle on the west coast in CA and we have some scarry stuff over here. In the places I paddle, it's not generaly glassy and wind waves are ever present. I've often paddled in 4 meter swells in the 8+ second range with wind chop of 1 to 2 feet coming from various directions ... but I've never seen 4 meter swells with 2-3 meter additional wind chop as you describe in your origional post. That's a 12 foot swell with a 6 to 9 foot superimposed wind chop. I'd like to see a pic of these conditions. If your chop is chaotic, confused and has short period organization ... IMO this is still not a realistic expectation. If it's sporatic ... I dunno ... but hey ... it's your dime! If you think you can paddle in that stuff ... all I can assume is you have a different vision of it than I do based on your description.

Regarding your pic of Andrew McAuley ... sadly deceased. Is this an example of the conditions you want to paddle in?

Sorry to give ya a hard time!

Ken Blanton