Observations of ocean surface waves under steady wind conditions show that they do not obey the linear dispersion relation, thus confirming that previously reported results of laboratory experiments also apply to the ocean. It is also shown that mechanically generated surface waves of near-breaking amplitude follow a similar dispersion relation. Observations of coherency of wave signals between two points are also reported, showing the coherency to be higher than in a wave field consisting of independently propagating Fourier components. It is also demonstrated that the observed spectra, coherencies, and dispersions can be described in terms of modulated Stokes-like carrier waves propagating with an angular spread and a lag between amplitude and phase modulations. This is solely proposed as a method of description of observations since there is no present theory for the dynamics of a process where crests are lost due to crest pairing. This violates a crucial premise of modulation theories.