Basic Marine Weather
7
Looking at it from an aerial view, … as the wind continues to flow over the water, the wave grows larger and larger.  But there are also new small waves being formed next the the larger ones.  Some of these smaller waves  radiate out of the path of the wind and grow no more. This is what causes the water to look chaotic during windy days.  The thick crescent on the right represents a wave that has continued to grow throughout the windy region.

The area where waves are being generated by wind is called the “fetch”