Lots of great advice ! I've been reading on this subject for years.... the angle into the waves idea has been very helpful. My old pontoonbarge is not meant for the rough water, but my V-hull takes it well. There is some great information in the Army Corps of Engineers Coastal Engineering Manual. (I found online a few years ago; at present it seems to need a password to get into it..)
It had a very interesting point -- the reason the waves are often bigger in the fall, is that the wind has a higher coefficient of friction when the air is colder than the water.
Anyway it give creedance to what we see out there and to the Edmund Fitzgerald song.
It also showed how the edge of the waves toward an island get slowed down, so that out from the lee end of an island the waves can "wrap around" from both sides, adding and cancelling depending on their phase. It can lead to some unusual wave sizes based on constructive/destructive interference.
My Boat Handling Under Power book says the worst boat for waves is a "flat bottomed ferry barge" (my pontoonbarge??) Interesting.
Be safe
Andrew