The problem with GoA is the waves just stack up on you. There's not really much swell to speak of like you would really think of an ocean swell as mentioned off the east or west coast. That ultra short wave period will absolutely wreak havoc on a small boat.

They said, you would be hard pressed to find a better place for offshore lightering of ships than the lightering area off the coast of Galveston. Literally everything about it is perfect for lightering, one of which being the real lack of a real ground swell.