"Bluewater" Boat Threads

[sailorboy1]

Why do the biweekly "help me find a Bluewater boat" threads get so much response???

Do people really believe they can help a person with so little experience find a "bluewater" boat?

If the poster is asking the question, have they really done any research beyond reading an outdated book maybe?

[Joh.Ghurt]

Sailorboy, could it be because nobody wants a brownwater-bathtub?

[BillKny]

I am thinking of creating a long cut and paste (or maybe just a blog link) collecting all the good, and the terrible, advice about buying a "bluewater" sailboat and just posting it every week.

[SeaStory]

Originally Posted by BillKny

I am thinking of creating a long cut and paste (or maybe just a blog link) collecting all the good, and the terrible, advice about buying a "bluewater" sailboat and just posting it every week.

You will have to post on each thread. They clearly aren't looking at anything beyond what they post. Don't we have a a FAQ or a wiki?

[double u]

to me the very fact of these peolple asking is proof, that they will never ever need a "bluewater boat"! Who's "research" into "bluewater boat" is comprised of opening a thread in a forum clearly shows a sort of casual, passing interest, which will preclude them ever getting "out there doing it".
& there are the trolls, of course...

[HankOnthewater]

Hmmm, take a landlubber who thinks a bluewater boat is his/her dream. Now he/she hops on the internet, does the searches and guess what.... cruisers forum pops in spot #8 in the search I just did.
Clicks on it, he/she checks around, and cannot find or use the search function.
So becomes a member, then the next logical step is to post the question. A very valid one for him/her.

Yes, many of these newcomers might never buy a boat, let alone a bluewater boat.

Yes, it becomes a bit tedious for many of us to answer that question. There are a few solutions:
1 Introduce a proper search function that is easy to find and use
2. Prepare some fixed/published articles and links that provide the much repeated information
3. Keep responding truthfully without any trace of sarcasm or snipes

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by BillKny

I am thinking of creating a long cut and paste (or maybe just a blog link) collecting all the good, and the terrible, advice about buying a "bluewater" sailboat and just posting it every week.

There's part of me that mischeviously loves this idea...

But my solution has been to just stop reading those threads...

The relief was enormous.
LittleWing77

[Off Trail]

The OP is asking about responses not why people ask the question. I'd say 1- folks naturally want to encourage new potential cruisers, and 2- we all entered into the lifestyle via different paths and experiences so there is an automatic variety/conflict in the answers.

Both of these ingredients make for a healthy thread. People respond to the thread because of the first reason, then the controversy in the answers spins things up.

[loneshark64]

I recall my dreaming phase, buying John Vigor and some of the other old books, which were great but got me on the wrong track, thinking a heavy displacement longish keel for “blue water” was a “must have”. Knowing nothing, it seemed if this was critical on those little boats, wouldn’t I need “blue water” features on something bigger?

I was further confused when I watched YouTube and learned I needed a 60’ floating condo with air conditioning, three dozen solar panels and some poodles to be taken seriously in ASA 101, and that the bottom falls off a Beneteau at the slightest provocation, requiring a decade of sanding, grinding and toxic fumes to repair.

These posts get attention because if the newbies go to the politics&chaos forum they get called horrible names and never learn anything. People here are trying to be nice. Sometimes it’s not easy to answer nicely because the posts are so ridiculous. But some of them end up buying boats. Some others interpret a sound dose of reality as a personal attack.

[thomm225]

The answer for those folks is pretty easy really:

https://bluewaterboats.org/

This site is even more helpful:

https://atomvoyages.com/planning/cla...ers-list-html/

From the Atom Voyages site:

A final word of advice to the novice sailor – resist the temptation to undertake a major refit and extensive modifications on your new old boat right at the start. It’s best to make only the obvious repairs needed and go out and sail locally and on some limited coastal passages to learn exactly what is and what is not needed for you. Otherwise you may end up spending years and many thousands of dollars more than expected modifying your boat and then find out on your first ocean crossing that the boat is not right for you or those great ideas you had during the refurbishment did not work out that well at sea.

[sailorboy1]

someone doesn't know the topic

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by loneshark64

I recall my dreaming phase, buying John Vigor and some of the other old books, which were great but got me on the wrong track, thinking a heavy displacement longish keel for “blue water” was a “must have”. Knowing nothing, it seemed if this was critical on those little boats, wouldn’t I need “blue water” features on something bigger?

I was further confused when I watched YouTube and learned I needed a 60’ floating condo with air conditioning, three dozen solar panels and some poodles to be taken seriously in ASA 101, and that the bottom falls off a Beneteau at the slightest provocation, requiring a decade of sanding, grinding and toxic fumes to repair.

These posts get attention because if the newbies go to the politics&chaos forum they get called horrible names and never learn anything. People here are trying to be nice. Sometimes it’s not easy to answer nicely because the posts are so ridiculous. But some of them end up buying boats. Some others interpret a sound dose of reality as a personal attack.

Makes one wonder how us old folks from before the Internet managed to get afloat, let alone survive..

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Makes one wonder how us old folks from before the Internet managed to get afloat, let alone survive..

it was called "x" was bliss, or you read an old book

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Makes one wonder how us old folks from before the Internet managed to get afloat, let alone survive..

For those of us in isolated areas, we just went by whatever was popular and/or available.

I wasn't sailing then, but my first boat was a Chincoteague Scow with 40 HP Johnson bought when I was about 16 years old. Boat, motor, and trailer $300.

These boats were wooden hand made boats.

Some that were built in Chincoteague were very good, others not so much.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ch...!4d-75.3788086

My boat's bottom was made of plywood so every wave you hit the bottom at the bow would flex in about 2 inches or so.

After a couple months, I traded it for a clinker build that leaked a lot, then I traded for a 14' aluminum boat with 25 Evinrude and would take that out in the bay 15 miles offshore to Tangier fishing........

Tangier was Bayside, Chincoteague Seaside.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ta...!4d-75.9928952

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Do people really believe they can help a person with so little experience find a "bluewater" boat?

Of course not, but once in while we can prevent a foolish mistake or help someone take a more productive step on a path towards the sort of experience they really want.


Sailors do not come into the world fully formed -- we were all new once. I think that some CF posters fail to realize what a privilege it is to grow up with constant exposure to boating and ongoing easy access to boats.

Originally Posted by loneshark64

These posts get attention because if the newbies go to the politics&chaos forum they get called horrible names and never learn anything. People here are trying to be nice.

Well, mostly like they'll first get asked to post nude photos of their wife or girlfriend over there, followed by harsh public ridicule if they persist. It's deliberate. They don't want people new to sailing to participate there.


The problem people in the early stages of exploring sailing have is that the most prominent information sources monetize the answer. They're selling a book, selling a class, building up a club, selling a boat, building their patreon base, or trying to run a marina or boatyard at a profit. In all these cases the profit motive twists the answers and people don't know what to believe. They ask here to get one more data point.