Armchair sailer VS Blue water sailor

[CapnBilll]

Originally Posted by smackdaddy

Personally, I define blue water as where the chart goes white. That's off-shore. That's good enough for me.

While the Great lakes are capable of dishing out anything the Atlantic can, I frequently go more than 24 hours out into the Gulf of Mexico to fish, and I don't consider that a "crossing".

[smackdaddy]

Originally Posted by CapnBilll

While the Great lakes are capable of dishing out anything the Atlantic can, I frequently go more than 24 hours out into the Gulf of Mexico to fish, and I don't consider that a "crossing".

Agreed. But I still call it blue water. I just like the setting the bar really low.

[cb32863]

There is a difference from sailing "Bluewater" and doing a crossing. Also, just because you don't sail the salt and go out of sight of land, does not make one an "Armchair" sailor...... That is reserved for those that never leave the house, let alone the dock.

[ArcherBowman]

I must confess - lake sailor here. Six off-shore day sails in Charleston Harbor are my only salt water experience, although two of those were on my own boat and under my own command.

Three over-nights on freshwater lakes at anchor.

The rest has all been daysailing. No passage-making at all.

*sniff*

[Faster]

A trip from BC to northern California some time ago.. with a stop (usncheduled) in Astoria, so have 'done' the Columbia Bar twice (on benign days) (consider that Coastal for sure). Learned lots on that trip (on someone else's boat)

Mainly coastal cruising in BC waters since, exc several Island hopping trips in the Eastern Caribbean (St Maarten to Grenada to Barbuda) over several seasons, one local short week on Mexico's Pacific coast. These were short hops, 50-60 nm max, stopping every night..

No ocean 'crossing' yet....

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by CapnBilll

You made good time to Honolulu, how was the weather?

On both trips we were prepared to power through high if needed. Both times we had jerry cans lashed on deck.

On the first trip we hit a small piece of fishing net which took out our transmission and had to sail out of the high. (That is a whole other story). Once we hit the westerlys we had winds to 30-35. But once we got within site of land we spent 1.5 days adrift at the mouth of Juan de Fuca.

On the second trip the high shifted north for the last part of the passage and we spent too much time with the wind on the nose.

[smackdaddy]

Originally Posted by CapnBilll

Some of the blue water debate centers around the assumtion that you will run into worse conditions "out there".

I can attest that is not neccessarily so. I have run into some serious sh(*& just 10 miles away from land. I sincerely hope it doesn't get worse further out.

I have rarely gone out past the continental shelf, and have encountered deep stacked seas, high winds, horizontal hailstones the size of pebbles, etc...

The second assumption is that if it gets bad you can always go back in, that not a safe assumption either. Often in Texas the storms form in a line hugging the coast. If your more than 10 miles out you might as well stay there, because you have to cross the line to get back in, and the size of the breaking waves I have seen at the mouth of the jetties would make any attempt to enter, pure suicide, and docking in high winds is no picnic either even if you did somehow manage to enter the bay.

SO that coastal cruiser had better be able to take at least a moderate storm on short notice. And best be able to ride out a period of bad weather in open water, or it would never be safe to leave the bay.

I have left in the morning with a clear day no clouds in sight, a high pressure system and the last cold front passed over, ...suddenly reversed and came back bringing a line of severe thunderstorms along the coast, a few hours later it is pitch dark, just before noon, and huge rolling waves followed by scattered lightening strikes some less than a boat length away, followed by a deluge of rain, and hailstones the size of pebbles hitting my face propelled by 60+ mile an hour winds, the waves are breaking in sheets, deluging the boat, I don't know what will sink the boat first the pouring waves, or the piles of hailstones on deck. Or if it will simply break into pieces as it is repeatedly picked up, tossed, then a sickening drop, crashing into the face of the next wave followed by another wall of water crashing over the boat.

And that is just 10-20 miles from "safety". a few hours of that, and I seriously thought of moving to Kansas and becoming a farmer.

Well the boat made it, even though it was only a production coastal cruiser, and I lived through it also, although with a new found heathy respect for the pounding a little thunderstorm can give you only a "stones throw" from land.

Okay - that's going in the BFS thread. Great story.

[smackdaddy]

Originally Posted by jackdale

On both trips we were prepared to power through high if needed. Both times we had jerry cans lashed on deck.

On the first trip we hit a small piece of fishing net which took out our transmission and had to sail out of the high. (That is a whole other story). Once we hit the westerlys we had winds to 30-35. But once we got within site of land we spent 1.5 days adrift at the mouth of Juan de Fuca.

On the second trip the high shifted north for the last part of the passage and we spent too much time with the wind on the nose.

Man I wish you'd publish your logs. It sounds like you have some truly great stories Jack.

[ste27]

I've done 3 deliveries from Bermuda to Newport on an Oyster 435. Most of these are reasonably uneventful, just the usual gulf stream business (anything can happen, and does). Highest wind 40, lowest 0. I've seen it so calm that the stars reflect clearly off the water, and a lightning storm so crazy it looked like daylight for about an hour. Average time 100 hours, 650 miles or so

One Bermuda to Annapolis delivery on a custom 73', 80 hours - no auto, hand steered this beast the whole way, twin wheels and all that. Only time I've ever slept in my pfd

2009 Marion to Bermuda race - C&C 37+. Race was almost delayed because of 2 fronts coming together on the rhumb line. Withdrew 24 hours in, got the crap kicked out of us, engine ran dry about 100 miles from the island with us facing 30kt dead on the nose (we were prepped for a race, not a delivery) so we sailed it onto the inside of the customs dock in St G

2010 Newport to Bermuda race. High of about 30, low of so low that we actually went "faster" (a relative term at this point) with the jib down

So I dunno, about 4000 miles total?


LOTS of one-design racing mostly protected water, all salt though - never sailed fresh

[okawbow]

In my Bristol 24, I consider the Gulf of Mexico, "Blue water". Even with a weather forcast; it can get bad and prevent sailing back to shore for a while. I did a solo 140 mile crossing in the B24 once, and It took 30 hours and 15-20 knot winds and 4-6' waves beat me up a little.

This spring, my wife and I sailed our Cheoy Lee 31 ketch from Mobile, AL to Key West. We were out of sight of land for 5 days in weather from calm to 20 knots. We sailed except the last few miles when the wind was on the nose close to Key west. We had minimal electronics on board, and saw only 1 other sailboat and a few fishing boats during the crossing. It sure felt like a blue water crossing to me.