'Blue Water' - What Does This Mean to You?

[zeehag]

Originally Posted by twowheel

Isn't Blue Water the stuff they flush aircraft toilets with?

As for me I think NNE said it best...AND with any motors off. Just the sounds of the wind and the water.

and the flying fish hitting the hull and the sound of the reel telling ye there is a fish on your trolling line.....

[donw_s11]

Well, at least that kind! And I'll be seeing lots of it this week along with the flying fish and the dolphins (hopefully).

Perhaps it would be better to talk about "green" water (as in over the bow and along the decks) to get at what we mean by "blue" water, and "blue water cruising boats"

YMMV,

Don W.

[bermudabob]

I recall a court case where the judge was asked to define pornography; his respose was that there wasn't one, but he knows it when he see it. Ditto for the definition of "Bluewater": you will know it when you are seeing it.

[SailingFan]

I define it as the USN used to, that point where it is impossible for on-board aircraft to return to a land base, and I see that as the same for operating a non-aviation assisting vessel. When you are too far for land based aircraft to come to your rescue, you are in blue water operations mode. Once you come into range of land based aircraft rescue, you have become near coastal, and in sight of land, you are coastal. Inland water areas would be lakes, rivers, protected bays and estuaries.

As far as how the seas are, I have seen tremendous seas in open ocean, but have also seen some interesting effects of fetch on channeled water that is getting pushed into an inlet with crossed wind and tide flows, and the resultant chop is far more difficult for small vessels like ours to deal with than a moderate swell would be. Still, there is no escaping that sea states away from the shelf and especially in the region of a continental shelf in high winds can be tremendously dangerous, and still not be in "blue water" areas, by my definition.

[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."

[robert sailor]

The different offshore clubs like OCC or Bluewater Sailing association use 1000 mile passage away from land, in other words it doesn't include coastal sailing no matter how far you travel.

[malyea]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

The different offshore clubs like OCC or Bluewater Sailing association use 1000 mile passage away from land, in other words it doesn't include coastal sailing no matter how far you travel.

The requirement is for a passage of 1,000 miles measured from port to port, along the rhumb line - not 1,000 miles from shore; distance from shore is not specified.

[robert sailor]

Originally Posted by malyea

The requirement is for a passage of 1,000 miles measured from port to port, along the rhumb line - not 1,000 miles from shore; distance from shore is not specified.

Is this the case with Blue Water as well?

[AiniA]

Originally Posted by bermudabob

I recall a court case where the judge was asked to define pornography; his respose was that there wasn't one, but he knows it when he see it. Ditto for the definition of "Bluewater": you will know it when you are seeing it.

I think this is the best answer. I have come to believe that it is useless to use the term 'bluewater' because there is/can be no agreement about what it means.

[Pelagic]

For me... Blue water means less polluted

[Jim Cate]

This may seem jaded or judgmental, but when someone uses the term to describe a boat, I reckon they don't know much about boats or voyaging. It is a meaningless term IMO.

Jim

[simonthepom]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

This may seem jaded or judgmental, but when someone uses the term to describe a boat, I reckon they don't know much about boats or voyaging. It is a meaningless term IMO.

Jim

Totally agree Jim, spot on!

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

This may seem jaded or judgmental, but when someone uses the term to describe a boat, I reckon they don't know much about boats or voyaging. It is a meaningless term IMO.

Jim

Exactimo..!!!
Now going to enjoy some alcohol infused 'Blue Water'.
Martini Blanco, Vodka, Bols Blue Curacao and Galliano over crushed ice.. aka a 'Sea Breeze'..

[StuM]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Exactimo..!!!
Now going to enjoy some alcohol infused 'Blue Water'.
Martini Blanco, Vodka, Bols Blue Curacao and Galliano over crushed ice.. aka a 'Sea Breeze'..

And when you feel like a sea change, here's a few more:

Blue Colored Drinks

[Don C L]

Yeah! How come it's never a "green water boat?"