Good for sailing and surfing ... up to a point

A very interesting study of trends in wind speed and wave height over the global oceans, conducted by the University of Melbourne in Australia, which would have a vested interest in the subject.

Ocean waves and winds are getting higher and stronger

The Southern Ocean is having the largest increases:

"We found that extreme winds in the Southern Ocean have increased by approximately 1.5 metres per second or 8 per cent over the last 30 years. Similarly, extreme waves in this same region have increased by 30 centimetres or 5 per cent. Generally, winds are increasing at a faster rate than the waves."

But it is happening elsewhere, oceanically:

"In addition to the increases in the Southern Ocean, extreme winds have also increased in the equatorial Pacific and Atlantic, and the North Atlantic by approximately 0.6 metres per second over the 30 year period."

The period covered is 1985-2018, and the study used data from 31 satellites in total, comprising over 4 billion measurements, which is impressive.

Waves can be beautiful and impressive.  This picture is of the wave at Teahupoo, Tahiti, which is surfable.  Sometimes, at least.