"Wayne.B" wrote in message

It would probably be as well known as Mavericks if the North
Atlantic
was consistently prone to the same sort of large swells that the
Pacific has.

You're the wrong side of the Atlantic then!

I have seen some very impressive swells near Block
Island and also on the coast of Maine after a hurricane has
passed a
few hundred miles offshore.

The Bay of Biscay is notorious for amplifying big ground swells,
and during winter, these are frequent. The interesting spots are
the 8m deep banks 1 to 3nm off the entrance to A Coruna and other
harbours in NW Spain. Just a 1m ground swell creates 3m breaks,
and as the ground swell increases, so you'll see many examples
like this photo.

It's pretty daunting following the lead lines into A Coruna with a
big ground swell running, but they follow flattish water so
they're quite safe. It's the sight of the turmoil around you
that's scary.

Similar spots off Lisbon.

JimB