What EXACTLY is a "blue water boat"?

[Superjunkman]

Originally Posted by botanybay

Well, perhaps most people. There are the odd folks (like myself) who love, rather than endure long passages.

My longest was Midway to Los Angeles (35 days, double handed) which was immediately preceded by Kwajalein to Midway (14 days) with a one week stop for crew change, fuel, water, etc.

I seem to end up in “out of season” passages (left Kwajalein on September 12 and arrived LA November 9th. 3days in a feeder storm for a typhoon, all but two days with the wind forward of the beam.

The boat, a carefully rebuilt Cruising CAL 35 (a “baby” CAL 46).

So, to the original poster’s question. What is “”My” definition of a blue water vessel (and this is always a personal opinion, so take it for what it is worth) as compared to a Coastal Cruiser.

The coastal cruiser has the option of running for cover if there is advanced warning the weather is going to degrade and if caught out is severe weather holds together well enough that temporary repairs will last a couple of days of bad weather at sea.

A “Blue Water” vessel can choose when to start a passage but cannot run for cover much of the time. Repaired failures have to survive 10-30 days. The cyclic loads on repairs work to pull anything apart. The redundancy of structure is key, a pulled bulkhead tabbing that has other good structure around it is easy to repair as an example.

Part of the subjective nature of the question is derived from the ability of the crew to make good repairs and forge ahead.

The Polynesians could fix anything aboard with the tools and know how aboard the vessel. Thus a “Blue Water Vessel”

A person with limited repair skills (think “the engineering knack”) can do well with a very robust vessel.

Someone who has an eye to fix things in a semipermanent way while at sea can tolerate a vessel with far less initial robustness.

I guess a way to say this is “the combination of vessel design/build AND crew capability make a blue water vessel”

Did you work on Kwaj? Not an easy place to stop.

As to your other points I think you did a very nice job of what I was trying to say but kinder and easily digestible.

[botanybay]

Originally Posted by Superjunkman

Did you work on Kwaj? Not an easy place to stop.

As to your other points I think you did a very nice job of what I was trying to say but kinder and easily digestible.

Yeah, worked there for two years��

Sailed out there for a job transfer from Los Angeles with contract in hand. Lived on Kwaj and flew to Roi every day.

The sailing and diving was spectacular although the charts were “marginal” at best. Got to sail the outer islands and visited a lot of really nice folks on those atolls.

Did you end up in the area?

Thanks for the kind words��

[Superjunkman]

Originally Posted by botanybay

Yeah, worked there for two years��

Sailed out there for a job transfer from Los Angeles with contract in hand. Lived on Kwaj and flew to Roi every day.

The sailing and diving was spectacular although the charts were “marginal” at best. Got to sail the outer islands and visited a lot of really nice folks on those atolls.

Did you end up in the area?

Thanks for the kind words��

Never lived there but came and went a couple times on ships. Was offered a job but the wife didn’t like the job she was offered and we couldn’t take our dog so that’s that. Neat place.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by Superjunkman

I’m also aware that hardly anyone put down a position on a paper chart anymore, everyone uses AIS, etc. the quality of sailor and boat has in general declined.

Not sure I agree with your list of requirements, nor the statement above, but that's fine we can each have our own view points.

Could it be that there are more people out there doing it than in the past because the availability and cost of mass produced GRP boats has enabled them to do it?

You might dream of some long keeled heavy displacement yacht, but i have bad news, they don't make them anymore. The demand is fin keeled multi-cabin yachts, which seem to do quite nicely at crossing oceans. Here is an example of one CF member just doing it it on a Jeanneau 40.7https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/members/carstenb-104752.html

You are right on one thing, no one updates charts anymore, but no one ever did. You said yourself you have hundreds of charts. Updated every month are they? I doubt it. How about all those yachties given charts from yachts going in the other direction? merticulously checked to see if they are up to date? behave

[Superjunkman]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Not sure I agree with your list of requirements, nor the statement above, but that's fine we can each have our own view points.

Could it be that there are more people out there doing it than in the past because the availability and cost of mass produced GRP boats has enabled them to do it?

You might dream of some long keeled heavy displacement yacht, but i have bad news, they don't make them anymore. The demand is fin keeled multi-cabin yachts, which seem to do quite nicely at crossing oceans. Here is an example of one CF member just doing it it on a Jeanneau 40.7https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/members/carstenb-104752.html

You are right on one thing, no one updates charts anymore, but no one ever did. You said yourself you have hundreds of charts. Updated every month are they? I doubt it. How about all those yachties given charts from yachts going in the other direction? merticulously checked to see if they are up to date? behave

On the boat thing we’ll just have to disagree and it’s a matter of opinion. If you enjoy an overburdened vessel that’s fragile by all means put to sea in one. There are plenty of older boats that with very little skill can be made safe at sea again for a fraction of what the modern turds cost.


As for the charts I never said nobody corrects them. Upon any American flag commercial vessel there can be found a 2nd mate that is almost daily doing chart corrections. These vessels will usually also buy the latest edition of any chart they need thus leaving a duplicate free for the taking that’s easily correctable. It’s only necessary to correct the charts you plan to use. It’s easy. I’m not sure why anyone wouldn’t unless they just lacked the basic skills to do so.

[AiniA]

Originally Posted by Superjunkman

I’m not inactive in sailing. I just haven’t been to SH since 98. I’m also aware that hardly anyone put down a position on a paper chart anymore, everyone uses AIS, etc. the quality of sailor and boat has in general declined.

'Etc' maybe. but what does AIS have to do with plotting a position on a paper chart.

[Superjunkman]

Originally Posted by AiniA

'Etc' maybe. but what does AIS have to do with plotting a position on a paper chart.

I used a comma. Much in the same way one would say “We’re going to have beer, pizza, and Tacos”.