riverman wrote:

No, you're right. NOAA uses the same standard as river runners: trough to
peak. But surfers (specifically Hawaiin surfers) have their own formula, and
since a lot of the surfer terminology follows the fad, surfers worldwide
tend to follow the Hawaiian model. Which leads to a lot of non-surfers also
following the model, which leads to the confusion. Check out
http://surfing.about.com/library/weekly/aa042001.htm

Ah, that explains it, but that sure is a screwy way of measuring waves. As for
East Coasters doubling the wave height...it's BS.

--
Regards

Brian