From my limited experience usually the higher the wind the choppier it is, but at the end of the day the waves are the one that are going to make your day the most unpleasent.

Hi mate,

I have pretty much the exact same size boat as you, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of going out in anything that makes me feel uncomfortable - afterall being comfortable and enjoying the ride is most of the fun in owning a boat, the fish are just a bonus. I would say that inside the Sound anything below 15/20 Knot winds and 3m swell is fine, starts to get fairly uncomfortable anything more than that. While going outside the islands and into the Ocean is a completely different prospect really, I generally tend to only go out into the open ocean if the winds are about 12 Knots or less and the swell is under 2.5m. It really is just a matter of building your confidence and learning how your boat is going to act in different conditions. Realisitically boats can handle most things thrown at it, and unless you're being silly, you'll be safe! Just to put it into perspective I have been out in my boat in 3.5m+ swell and 20+knots winds at Quobba because we were running out of days up there, while it was uncomfortable the boat was fine.

 The wind is what will make it uncomfortable, especially a south westerly, southerly, westerly. If the swell is up and the wind is down you will generally have rolling swell which is pretty safe as long as you are not near areas that the swell will break on and get back in to sheltered waters before the seabreeze picks up.

over the next few months you will generally find that you will have a south easterly or easterly wind

in the early morning that will shift to a southwesterly by around  10 to 11am onwards. You can tell when the change is starting to happen as you normally find a short period that the water becomes pretty calm, this is when you need to start making your way back in before getting caught in the chop stirred up from the seabreeze.

I generally look for a south easterly or easterly wind no greater then 15 knots with a swell 2 metres or less, just be careful as it can be dangerous to anchor with a larger swell and strong easterly wind as it faces your stern towards the waves. 

hope this helps and whatever you do stay safe.

 Yeah a strong easterly in the morning is always a pain in the arse. Backs the sea up against the swell and is very uncomfortable. I don't mind a strong sea breeze in the arvo as long as you are riding it in. I won't fish anything over 2.4m unless the wind is down.

The danger of a big swell is that it breaks on shallow reefs and if it's big enough it can break in spots that you wouldn't normally expect it to. Once you get out into the open ocean, the big swell doesn't affect you too much. There was a day a few months ago with a 4-5 meter swell and it was complete chaos inside 3 mile reef, but once outside the reef it wasn't too bad. The big swell can also make you sea sick if your prone to it.

The chop or wind waves make the ride really uncomfortable and when they get big they can slow you down. Generally 10 knots or under is ok but 15 knots starts to get uncomfortable. If it's a 15 knot westerly I don't head out. If it's a 15 knot easterly I might head out and stay close to the shore and wait for it to drop off.

It's probably the most dangerous when the chop is coming from behind the boat because then there is a chance you could broach. Trim the engine up when the waves come from behind you so you don't dig your bow into the water. Some boats are more susceptible to broaching than others.

Thanks Guys