When I look at my webcam I always know that what the image is displaying is not reality. The actual waves are larger. If you go to
www.rattlesnakecam.com/watch.htm you can scan the whole lake. If you go here
http://www.rattlesnakecam.com/snakeeyesall.htm you can view the previous 40 minutes or so to get a feel for what has been going on in the broads. My rule of thumb is to look at the weather applet on the first link above. If it says N at 13 mph, NW at 13 mph, N at 13 mph, or WNW at 13 mph and above I am not going out there. This may not be the actual wind speed out on the broads, but my 15 years of watching the waves and that weather applet tell me that 13 and above from those directions are going to be very umpleasant out on the broads. I am not thrilled going out at 11 mph either. From the southern and eastern directions the fetch is much less making for bumpy but not dangerous.
We see other brave souls out there in the high winds and they get tossed around a lot. Having been caught in high trecherous winds... I like to play it safe.
IG