Guys, being new to this big water fishing, I was out Sunday and the Weather Service said waves 2' or less.  That was the largest 2' feet I have ever seen.  Can someone who was out there or at least saw the water give me an idea of what height the waves really were.  I am guessing 4' to 6' or were they actually 2' waves that just freaked me out?

I'm sure they weren't 2 foot or less, Erie changes within hours.  You need to take wave reports with caution.  They might be right at the time and can stay accurate for a while, but if the wind changes direction that lake can kick up in a relatively short amount of time.

I was out Sunday and the waves were about 3ft with some 4's mixed in for good measure. Call walnut and ask them, for the most part they are close. They told me 3's but be careful as smallie said, the lake can change in a heart beat.

In my experience if they forecast 2 ft or less that may only be 1-4 miles off shore ; usually it is around 3-4's out towards the first trench 5 - 9 miles off walnut access. Wave height changes as the wind does so be careful out there . Wind from the south ( hook is in the mouth ) gives you calm conditions near shore but increasing wave height as you get away from shore. Wind from the North do not go forth , wind from the west fish bite best , wind from east fish bite the least . The bold one I follow we can em blow days ......LOL which holds true on many different levels of the term.

I went out of Walnut sunday twice.  Once in the am by myself for eyes.   It was 2 ft and under very early pre daybreak.  When I went back out with the kids for perch at 2 pm I agree with SSTAZ it was 3's with a Few 4's mixed in every once in a while.  It started to lay down a little towards evening, but we left around 6.
 
Trust me, when it gets to 6 you'll know.  That's when you start tying yourself to the seat.

We were in the eastern basin all last week. One day NOAA called sustained 3' while we were there. In that case, 3' waves are intense. Everyone was flying back to the harbor.The Coast Guard was out patrolling. 1-2' waves are the limit for safe boating. 

I still say we should find out who to press about getting a bouy moored somewhere offshore of PI

I'm not sure that you can put a wave height limit on safe boating.  That depends on the boat and the skill of the operator.  I am sure that there are many captains on here that run charters in larger than 1-2 that do not feel that thier clients are in danger. 
 
Start small and err toward caution.

It's a good idea to carry a radio on the lake and monitor NOAA weather forcasts and weather bulletins. I've cut my fishing trips short from hearing heads up weather reports from guys fishing to the west of me.
 
Storms can also pop up out of nowhere. Be real careful outhere.
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwOKYGkX5wU&feature=related
 
Youtube has a lot of storm pics from the great lakes. Do a Lake Erie / Lake Ontario storm -wave search when you get some free time.
Pretty neat to look at...... from a distance....