Who is a 'bluewater skipper'? What is 'bluewater preparation'?

[gallatin1988]

I guess my short pithy answer to this would be:
A "bluewater" skipper and boat are as well prepared as possible to respond to the low frequency high consequence events that occur in as safe, efficient, seaman-like way when safe harbor is not possible. Additionally, the "bluewater" sailor has the knowledge and ability to improvise solutions in these conditions.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Auklet

Oceanographically there’s no definition of “Blue Water.” You basically have Littoral and Oceanic, which in the boater’s vernacular translates to coastal and offshore, respectively. “Blue Water” is not a real place but aligns with offshore in people’s minds. If anything at all, it’s a sales slogan meant to inspire dreams of travel to far destinations where the water is blue and clear, such as near offshore islands, in order to sell yachts to naive buyers. To sell the most yachts (dreams) sales teams hawk all sailboats as “blue-water capable.” People buy ‘em, cross oceans in ‘em, and then proclaim confirmation of the implied capability, etc., which leads to these discussions.

It would be more illuminating to ask what distinguishes an offshore sailor from a coastal one; hence an offshore vessel from a coastal cruiser. I think many people would agree you are “offshore” if more than a day’s (24 hr) run from safe harbor; say 150-200 n.mi. Along many coasts that is seaward of the continental shelf which at its deepest is 200 meters, but along California the shelf break (200 m) is usually less than 100 n.mi. out. An offshore vessel would be one with high endurance; i.e., one capable of remaining at sea for weeks, fully self-sufficient. Many yachts have been shown to possess such endurances with one to few crew. Generally, the larger the yacht the greater its endurance, and those are also generally more seaworthy than small ones. (No need to cite all of the potential exceptions to this basic fact.)

High endurance is related to durability. A sailor and the vessel are not self sufficient if the vessel breaks down and cannot be repaired at sea. High quality construction if maintained is less likely to breakdown in the first place. The best representative of a vessel sailing offshore for a few, to even several, weeks would therefore be a fairly good-sized one of high-quality build. This generally means expensive, relatively.

Therefore, look to the high-end builders such as Swan, Island Packet, Pacific Sea Craft or Amel, among others. And there you find the elusive “Blue Water” boats which few wannabes are able to buy, but who can afford “the dream” as proffered by the yachting industry among lower-quality builds. If you cross an ocean in one, say to Aruba, Azores, Bermuda, New Zealand, or O’ahu you’ve sailed offshore across the blue waters of the ocean. What else can be said? I guess the proof is in the pudding.

Auklet

The myth is that it’s takes a swan or Amel ( this is a million dollar boat these days) to cross oceans. Only a fraction of the high cost of these vessels translates in so called blue water features. Most are consumed by expensive manually fitted furniture and high labour costs and big profit margins needed to sustain a high cost small production facility.

Any decent sized AWB over 45 feet from the major production builders is a blue water boat with some basic prep . These boats can stay at sea for the length of time it takes to cross large bodies of water and they regularly do. They are comfortable to live on and have the mod cons expected of modern living.

Modern production boats are very durable , well beyond what’s actually needed as evidenced by the many 20 year old variants in constant use every day

The pudding proof is that these boats are found in numbers at all major cruising cruising points around globe




The rest is just hot air.

Ps. Most coastal sailing can be far more rigorous then many “ milk run “ transoceanic crossings. Whole coasts can be Lee shores with unapproachable harbours , dangerous over falls and extreme tides and races. The implicit idea that somehow coastal is “ easier” is in fact abject nonsense depending on your location

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The myth is that it’s takes a swan or Amel ( this is a million dollar boat these days) to cross oceans. Only a fraction of the high cost of these vessels translates in so called blue water features. Most are consumed by expensive manually fitted furniture and high labour costs and big profit margins needed to sustain a high cost small production facility.

Any decent sized AWB over 45 feet from the major production builders is a blue water boat with some basic prep . These boats can stay at sea for the length of time it takes to cross large bodies of water and they regularly do. They are comfortable to live on and have the mod cons expected of modern living.

Modern production boats are very durable , well beyond what’s actually needed as evidenced by the many 20 year old variants in constant use every day

The pudding proof is that these boats are found in numbers at all major cruising cruising points around globe




The rest is just hot air.

Ps. Most coastal sailing can be far more rigorous then many “ milk run “ transoceanic crossings. Whole coasts can be Lee shores with unapproachable harbours , dangerous over falls and extreme tides and races. The implicit idea that somehow coastal is “ easier” is in fact abject nonsense depending on your location

Ditto.

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

The myth is that it’s takes a swan or Amel ( this is a million dollar boat these days) to cross oceans. Only a fraction of the high cost of these vessels translates in so called blue water features. Most are consumed by expensive manually fitted furniture and high labour costs and big profit margins needed to sustain a high cost small production facility.

Any decent sized AWB over 45 feet from the major production builders is a blue water boat with some basic prep . These boats can stay at sea for the length of time it takes to cross large bodies of water and they regularly do. They are comfortable to live on and have the mod cons expected of modern living.

Modern production boats are very durable , well beyond what’s actually needed as evidenced by the many 20 year old variants in constant use every day

The pudding proof is that these boats are found in numbers at all major cruising cruising points around globe




The rest is just hot air.

Ps. Most coastal sailing can be far more rigorous then many “ milk run “ transoceanic crossings. Whole coasts can be Lee shores with unapproachable harbours , dangerous over falls and extreme tides and races. The implicit idea that somehow coastal is “ easier” is in fact abject nonsense depending on your location

Mostly agree with an addition and also what I've stated earlier. Storage! whatever you need when sailing for ocean crossing you need more and places to stash it. Never mind if the boat is top end or cheapo.. Also a sensible "wet locker" which means it's "dry locker" to get your gear to dry instead of incubating mold. The devil is in the details..