? from a newb, Coastal cruising...

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

If your plan really is to spend 5 years cruising the PNW BC and inside passage first, then just buy a boat that will serve you well here and don't worry about "blue water" passages that are five years away. You'll have plenty of time to dream about that while you're on the water - You may be ready to change your boat by then anyway, and will certainly have a wealth of your own experience to guide you in your decisions.

^^^^ Sound.. ^^^^

[Mithril Bham]

I've always thought of coastal cruising when you navigate by marks taken on the coast. Everything else is blue water. Many would disagree, I know. You don't use celestial nav when coastal cruising. 100 miles offshore you might. Many I know agree with your 100 mi offshore idea. Shelf off coast creates oceans that will beat you up. Weather off the coast of WA can be some of the worst in the world. Know people who gave up sailing after attempting that run. Depends on the weather. Bellingham Bay & the Straight of Juan de Fuca can be treacherous. Short waves & 100 mph winds. Crew on the Astoria to Victoria race to get a taste of it.

I have been working on restoring a boat, for 5 years, that was built for exactly what you are envisioning. Need investor to complete. Will take a couple of more years & 75K.

Good luck and, by all means, have fun.
I learn something every time I read these threads from people who know more than I do.

[krisb007]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

If your plan really is to spend 5 years cruising the PNW BC and inside passage first, then just buy a boat that will serve you well here and don't worry about "blue water" passages that are five years away. You'll have plenty of time to dream about that while you're on the water - You may be ready to change your boat by then anyway, and will certainly have a wealth of your own experience to guide you in your decisions.

This post wasn't really about my boat choice and plan but as most I have read on this site is has drifted a bit. I have had similar thoughts as what you wrote above.

My *current plan* is to buy a boat in about 3-4 years once the kiddos are out of the house. Spend about 30K on a structurally sound boat dependent on the market at that time of course. Spend 5 years cruising the PNW and refit and upgrade as I go with the intent of heading south by the time I am 55 and spend a decade as a vagabond. I see myself needing that 5 years to acquire skills, upgrade the boat, and put as much into the cruising kitty as possible. Budgeting 10-12k per year in upgrades and refit over those 5 years and another 20k a year in the kitty.

I believe this is a doable plan and I have a very good job that allows me up to 8 weeks a year to get some long trips in to build my skills. If all goes to plan (and yes I know it won't, lol) at the end of the 5 years I will have a pretty sturdy boat to chase the dream with full knowledge that I will loose all the money I put into it. But you really can't put a price on bucket list items. Money well spent in my mind. Anyways you can always make more money.

That's the plan today. 4 years from now I am sure it will have changed a bit.

[malyea]

Blue water vs coastal isn't "either/or" - it's more of a gradient scale say 1 to 5, loosely delineated by both time on passage and distance offshore....unless you're logging days for your USCG license then their definition applies -

"Near Coastal or Ocean Waters. Near coastal means ocean waters not more than 200 miles offshore. Oceans means the waters seaward of the Boundary Lines as described in 46 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 7."

[1Sunseeker]

Welcome to WA and Everett. I kept my boat there for many years but now in a (for me) better location. That is Anacortes and Cap Sante Marina.


IMHO a blue water boat would have everything needed for long ocean passages. It would be heavy, strong and carry lots of water, fuel, have a full keel, extra sails including storm, SCB radio, etc. etc. Also a shower. My Kettenburg 32 while is a stout boat only has 30 gal water and 30 gal fuel. Not much really and I pull in every few days to fill 1 or both. And shower. I have a skeg mounted rudder so I can turn very quick but it does not track as well as a full keel. I can get into and out of a lot of tight places both in the islands and marinas. A friend with his heavy 36' full keel had a heck of time getting out of his slip on B dock there in Everett. He had to tie off one stern corner to help swing the beast around. I also have radar with nav. chip, auto helm VHF (2) and my cell phone. I don't really need much else. I am rarely out of site of land. That fits me just fine there is more for my interest in the islands than out there. Also a long time ago I promised my mom I would not go out there where the water was deep.


So for me coastal cruising is just fine.

[Mithril Bham]

Originally Posted by krisb007

This post wasn't really about my boat choice and plan but as most I have read on this site is has drifted a bit. I have had similar thoughts as what you wrote above.

My *current plan* is to buy a boat in about 3-4 years once the kiddos are out of the house. Spend about 30K on a structurally sound boat dependent on the market at that time of course. Spend 5 years cruising the PNW and refit and upgrade as I go with the intent of heading south by the time I am 55 and spend a decade as a vagabond. I see myself needing that 5 years to acquire skills, upgrade the boat, and put as much into the cruising kitty as possible. Budgeting 10-12k per year in upgrades and refit over those 5 years and another 20k a year in the kitty.

I believe this is a doable plan and I have a very good job that allows me up to 8 weeks a year to get some long trips in to build my skills. If all goes to plan (and yes I know it won't, lol) at the end of the 5 years I will have a pretty sturdy boat to chase the dream with full knowledge that I will loose all the money I put into it. But you really can't put a price on bucket list items. Money well spent in my mind. Anyways you can always make more money.

That's the plan today. 4 years from now I am sure it will have changed a bit.

Begin by bareboat chartering in the San Juans. If you can sail here you can sail anywhere. Sort of like New York only different.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by alctel

1. There are not many decent/safe anchorages down the west coast of WA/OR - and most of them are behind bars that are closed in heavy weather.

2. Going 100 miles off shore is not a bad way to do that route, especially if you are single-handing.

1. I did them all last summer. Travels with Aquavite: San Francsico Bay to British Columbia 2016 The text discusses resources, like good guide books. The routes are best covered in the Douglass' book, the harbors better in Charlie's Charts, both cover Seattle to San Diego. Getting appropriate reference sources in addition to the internet, I would think would be critical to the mission.

2. Not really. I slept well every single night. Tied to a dock or at anchor (four times in six weeks). Of course, I was coming uphill, and so planned to move on days with little or no wind. Going south is another matter.

Your boat, your choice.

Read, read, read. Not only the internet.

Good luck to the OP, nice start of a plan.

[Suijin]

I think of a "bluewater boat" as one that is outfit for extended offshore, and rides well in ocean conditions. You could also add "stoutness of build" to that, but I've been on lots of boats that are not considered "bluewater" offshore and they do fine, even if the ride is not exactly comfortable. There are also design elements to a classically bluewater boat that make life at sea a bit more manageable...a galley where you can brace yourself, a cockpit with protection, etc. but those are "features" more than requirements.

Personally, I consider many coastal bodies of water to be potentially far more dangerous and far rougher on a boat than the open ocean in anything less than strong gale conditions. Just two weeks ago I was heading out of the Chesapeake with wind forecast at 20 knots. The forecast was wrong, winds built to 35 sustained gusting to 50, with the sea state an absolute cluster*#&$. Between the lee shores, the wind/water funnel effect from the rivers, the shoals, commercial traffic...I was wishing I was far out at sea.

[Mithril Bham]

Mithril has 550 gallons of fuel with scrubber system, 150 gallons of water, redundancy everywhere and four heating systems. Builder definitely thinking of blue water in cold climates. Also 550 cu ft of foam for insulation and floatation.

[krisb007]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

1. I did them all last summer. Travels with Aquavite: San Francsico Bay to British Columbia 2016 The text discusses resources, like good guide books. The routes are best covered in the Douglass' book, the harbors better in Charlie's Charts, both cover Seattle to San Diego. Getting appropriate reference sources in addition to the internet, I would think would be critical to the mission.

2. Not really. I slept well every single night. Tied to a dock or at anchor (four times in six weeks). Of course, I was coming uphill, and so planned to move on days with little or no wind. Going south is another matter.

Your boat, your choice.

Read, read, read. Not only the internet.

Good luck to the OP, nice start of a plan.

This was a great read for a rainy day. I especially enjoyed your descriptions of the many friendly people you met. Sounds like it was an amazing adventure.

Thank you for sharing it.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

Please note that I have not sailed on the W coast of N. America and therefore there's an element of "general knowledge" in my reply.

"Coastal" is an elastic concept. I've heard coastal described as a) within sight of land; b) within one day of land AND "sight of land"; c) "off soundings" or the point where the continential plate of wherever coast you are near drops off into the ocean's abyssal plain; d) "daysailing".

Context is therefore everything. I see four different types of sailing there.

In your case, that 100 NM offshore, but (generally) paralleling the coast, is coastal in the sense that you have the boat approximately 24 hours of sailing from the shore, but that 24 hours is broadly prudent offing, given the lack of safe landfalls and that the west coast is almost always a lee coast. The land hurts boats more than the sea does.

That said, 100 NM off will affect most small yachts (50 feet and under) as if you were in the middle of the ocean. So you have to consider that in terms of boat selection. I would pick a boat for strength and ease of single-handed operation and I would also pick a boat that could heave to effectively. Your answer suggests solo sailing: the most important part of that is getting enough sleep on passage, so while there are fast boats that heave to and can be single-handed, they are generally out of the modest price bracket nearly every other used boat currently commands.

I would suggest you've got the right approach: you are working from your known cruising route backwards to the boat selection, rather than falling in love with a model that may not be the best choice and trying to make it work for the passage. Good luck.

Again nothing definitive, but the USCG defines near coastal as 250nm or less.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by krisb007

...

Although I have to tell you, the best part of sailing to me is being heeled over 20% and pounding in to waves. Love that feeling. Yes I know I have issues.

Fun for a day sail...try that for week or more...

[Santana2]

My opinion learning about boating in the Pacific NW is a great place to start. There is no one answer you have to experience many types of boats to find what you like or want you want to make your home on for may years. Starting small is not a bad idea, but there are too many variables. What can you afford is huge. Why wait, buy something and get started. The NW has some of the cheapest marinas to keep your boat that i have seen. Depending on where you live there are many marinas around. I have a 44' (overall) and it is only $380 a month plus electric. There are a ton of sailboats CHEAP. There are people that sailed around the world in less then 30' sailboats. For me a great way to start, not a huge cost and then see if you like it. you do not learn overnight. It can take many years to learn to be a good mariner and you may never stop learning something. I could go on and on but I got my first boat when I was around 20. I got the bug and continued to sell and buy larger. My largest vessel was 72' which I lived on for 5 years. Now smaller but once you know how you can manager just about any size vessel. Good luck, but my opinion don't wait. There is a boat near you that you can afford with your name on it. Weekends after work, help from the family, makes a great way to bring families together. I have owned about 10 plus boats in the life time and I still have two boats. I am 77 and believe that I will always have a vessel.. . . . Good luck.

[Lojanica]

FYI Here's what you're looking for......

1981 Skookum Pilothouse Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

No affiliation at all.

[krisb007]

Originally Posted by Lojanica

FYI Here's what you're looking for......

1981 Skookum Pilothouse Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

No affiliation at all.

Interesting you should show this. Skookum, Gulf, and LM Pilothouses are high on my list. I think they would work well for the PNW but might be a little warm if I ever make it down south. But then again I can always sell and go to a more traditional design by then. Or just set it up to ventilate better for warmer weather.