What Makes a Boat "Bluewater" Capable?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Yea you guys are right one more time, and someone else is wrong again!Morris yachts and Pacific Seacraft should start building yachts with big portlights and the same size winches and rigging that you would find on a Hunter 25,they should also spread the thru fastners out to maybe 16 inchs along the deck to hull joint,and do away with all fiddels and while they are at it they should do away with coamings altogether,they sure could save a lot of money by building boats the way that some of the bigger companys do it and then they could drop there prices and compete with the likes of Bene,Hunter and all of the other companys that are building great world crusers at less than half the price of a Morris,I dont see how Morris can charge as much as they do for their products when it is obvious that the boats they build are not any different then a Hunter...

Nice rant I guess.

But looking at pictures of Morris boats they have bigger windows than my Hunter. Any all the portlights my Hunter that are on the outside of the hull are name brand stainless steel unit. My boat hull/deck is 5200 sealed and then thur bolted every 6" and then the joint is cover with a seal that is bolted to the joint and wgich has also been sealed.

I don't know if my winches are undersized, all I know is that I normally can turn them with 1 hand and they were enough for my wife to winch my fat ass up the mast.

Morris boats are nice don't get me wrong. But come on comparing a Morris to a Hunter 25 is crap!

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

Nice rant I guess.

But looking at pictures of Morris boats they have bigger windows than my Hunter. Any all the portlights my Hunter that are on the outside of the hull are name brand stainless steel unit. My boat hull/deck is 5200 sealed and then thur bolted every 6" and then the joint is cover with a seal that is bolted to the joint and wgich has also been sealed.

I don't know if my winches are undersized, all I know is that I normally can turn them with 1 hand and they were enough for my wife to winch my fat ass up the mast.

Morris boats are nice don't get me wrong. But come on comparing a Morris to a Hunter 25 is crap!

Morris does build boats that are for day sailing or coastel crusing,but they also build some of the finest blue water sail boats out there, and those are the ones that I would think would be a good comparison for what one would need for real bluewater sailing...I mentioned "oversized winches" maybe not the best term,but some here would think that a winch that came from a hunter 25 would work on a true blue water sailboat and be fine or, that there is no such thing as an under-sized winch application...

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

No offense to you but, why do people go sailing if it makes them sick? I would think that if an airline pilot were to get sick when he went flying he would not have a job! So now we have a "bluewater boat" with big sections of glass and a skipper that gets sick..I dont fill like that is a good "blue water" boat or skipper!...just a thought...

Seasickness is unfortunately very common. I am surprised is not discussed more in Cruising Forum.
A large portion of "unsuccessful" cruising sailors are due to this problem.

Myself, and my wife are fortunately very immune, but sickness when sailing, or at anchor is very common.
Some manage to cruise successfully and I admire their fortitude. Many find it is a short term problem only.

Taking steps to mitigate the problem,with a view of the horizon, seems entirely sensible to me.

[zeehag]

it still doesnt matter what the boat HAS -- that is n ot what makes it a blue water bo at--is still the skipper that limits the boat to the area in which it is sailed.
is also the skipper who gets the boat out of troubles when it is threatened...as i stated earlier, even a small boat can make it around the world, WITH the right skipper.

[Panope]

When categorizing and describing boats, I think we need to use more than the brand name.

Hunter (for example) as been building boats; for many years, in many sizes, for various purposes, and it appears at different levels of quality.

To assign a deficiency (or attribute) to a brand name is at times meaningless.

It appears (to me) that Don's is a pretty darn good offshore cruising boat. Conversely, it sounds like Hunter has made some marginal boats or boats that were never intended to be cruised offshore.

I have zero experience with Hunters or any other production boat.

Steve

[sneuman]

Of course it depends on a lot of things. My Tayana went RTW on a 5-year circumnavigation under previous owners (these folks: Duneshore Boating :: About Us), but due to its age, it has required a fair amount of maintenance and upgrades - stuff I have either fixed or will fix before she goes out again for extensive cruising. Deck, chainplates, stuff like that (mostly done now, thank gods). So, when I bought her nearly 6 years ago, she was decidedly not "bluewater capable" despite having done a circumnavigation.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

Morris does build boats that are for day sailing or coastel crusing,but they also build some of the finest blue water sail boats out there, and those are the ones that I would think would be a good comparison for what one would need for real bluewater sailing...I mentioned "oversized winches" maybe not the best term,but some here would think that a winch that came from a hunter 25 would work on a true blue water sailboat and be fine or, that there is no such thing as an under-sized winch application...

The Morris I was referring to was their Ocean series M48. You know a boat with a fin keel and a spade rudder that some have have said make it not safe to take off shore!

I wouldn't call anything about a Hunter 25 as a bluewater anything!!!!!!!!! So what does that prove other than Hunter makes boats for lots of different market segments?

I will say it once again; Not all brand X/Y/Z production boats are good off shore or even long trip boats. That doesn't mean that they don't make models that are proven fine vessels to do so!

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by Don Lucas

The Morris I was referring to was their Ocean series M48. You know a boat with a fin keel and a spade rudder that some have have said make it not safe to take off shore!

I wouldn't call anything about a Hunter 25 as a bluewater anything!!!!!!!!! So what does that prove other than Hunter makes boats for lots of different market segments?

I will say it once again; Not all brand X/Y/Z production boats are good off shore or even long trip boats. That doesn't mean that they don't make models that are proven fine vessels to do so!

True...

[Blue Crab]

[K_V_B]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

Seasickness is unfortunately very common. I am surprised is not discussed more in Cruising Forum.
A large portion of "unsuccessful" cruising sailors are due to this problem.

Myself, and my wife are fortunately very immune, but sickness when sailing, or at anchor is very common.
Some manage to cruise successfully and I admire their fortitude. Many find it is a short term problem only.

Taking steps to mitigate the problem,with a view of the horizon, seems entirely sensible to me.

Usually on the first two days or so I will get an uneasy feeling in the stomach when I go below decks, unless I can keep an eye on the horizon (or I lie down). It goes away after a few days, and usually that's as bad as it gets.
When I really get in trouble is when the first days involve bad weather. On two occasions a passage started close hauled in strong wind against tide, and in both cases I ended up tossing the full contents of my stomach overboard and spending the first 48 hours or so in my bunk. My solution to that is (when I have a say in it) to just not leave under such conditions.
I don't see it as a reason not to sail though. On the two passages I mention above I had a blast once I got over my seasickness.

[zeehag]

so now we are discussing what makes a skipper seaworthy......hhmmmmm

is a huge difference between skipper and boat.

[noelex 77]

Originally Posted by K_V_B

I don't see it as a reason not to sail though. On the two passages I mention above I had a blast once I got over my seasickness.

I once sailed with a very tough army guy as crew. This person had been in some very difficult combat situations.
He could climb ( shimmy ?) up the forestay quicker than we could pull up the safety rope, which on occasions he refused to attach.

He got seasick however. If you have ever seen someone vomit, or dry reach every 30 seconds, for over 12 hours , but continue to try and do his job, you know the meaning of tough.

I continue to admire sailors that cope with this adversity.

[captainbri]

It is the skipper,

Aron Meder, a 29 year old Hungarian sailor who sets out and sailed alone for the past 2 and half years, growing a long beard, looking a bit like Tom Hanks in that Castaway movie. His beloved yacht is a small and limited capacity called Carina, only 19.

just look at what this guy has been sailing around the world in.

Aron Meder - Google Search

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Randyonr3

I kinda feel I'm.one of the lucky ones as I had a few years of sailing before I bought the boat we have so had a wee bit of experance.
But if I was just starting out, I wouldn't get.to involved into what make or model but just buy a good solid boat and go for a year or so, and build your wants and dislikes. Then come back and buy and outfit per your needs.
Forget all those.goodies at west marine.
As I've said before, whenever we've stopped anywhere, the boat, keel type or size seldom comes up, its more of where to get a good burger and icecream.
Most any boat will put up with more abuse than you can put up with. And you make it blue water buy the way you plot your travels.
The items I would put at the top of my list are a dry boat first as your attitude in cruising needs to be up-beat and wet cloths and bedding is a bummer.
Good food is next as you need to stay healthy.
And you need the little.extras as a plus, as a hot shower is a big deal to me with dry cloths.
Or a hot cup of tea.on an evening watch..
It's the little things that make a boat bluewater.
And I.hate to say it, but its not the boat but the way you use it, that makes it blue water.

+++A1..

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by captainbri

It is the skipper,

Aron Meder, a 29 year old Hungarian sailor who sets out and sailed alone for the past 2 and half years, growing a long beard, looking a bit like Tom Hanks in that Castaway movie. His beloved yacht is a small and limited capacity called Carina, only 19.

just look at what this guy has been sailing around the world in.

Running amok me thinks thou he looks salty. Proves only allmost anything that floats is "capable" to cross oceans. Should someone do that is another matter..