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Since we have dredged this thread out of the past (and an interesting topic it is), I'd like to go back to what I read as the original question: is the Caribbean offshore sailing?
I think it doesn't have to be, which immediately leads to a vocabulary discussion: what the heck is offshore sailing? In my opinion, you are "offshore" when your passage plan takes you beyond the reach of a reasonable weather forecast. I think that's about three days, so somewhere between 250 and 500 miles depending on your boat.
If you accept that, all the "offshore sailors" shuttling between Lake Worth and the Bahamas are coastal sailors.
In my opinion, you can do a lot of neat cruising in light-weight production boats.Watch the weather. You can certainly launch off across an ocean but you are rolling the dice and taking your chances.
The Caribbean makes that easier as you work your way down the US East Coast, across to the Bahamas, down-island as far as Grenada, the ABCs, and coast-wise (ignoring personal security issues) all the way around (if one wishes) back to Florida.
You can do that in a pretty light boat.
The longer a hop is the less confidence you can have in weather forecasting, and the more prepared you must be to be whomped.
sail fast, dave
S/V Auspicious
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