What makes someone want to do blue water cruising?

[HopCar]

Having spent time with Richard and his family (delightful people ) in AK I'd term it crazy like a fox.

Richard is a very smart man.

 

[sunchaser]

Bow Ball
The competence and experience of the crew is far more important than the chosen vessel IMHO. For over 100 years recreational power boats have been doing serious blue water passages. The same can be said for commercial fishing vessels.

Range meaning tankage for a given motor vessel is the prime determining factor if crossing oceans. Being weather smart is at the top of the list too. A read of the voluminous Steve Dashew publications and website finds an interesting premise - understand and closely monitor the weather and with boat speed to avoid the bad stuff makes blue water crossings much easier.

Dashew's sailboat designs show speed as well with the same premise as his FPBs, avoid the bad weather. Top that capability off with an experienced crew and blue water cruising has been accomplished on a large variety of recreational vessels.

 

[socalrider]

No. I was really thinking of blue water to be crossing the Atlantic or Pacific for weeks at a time. Not just out of sight of land. I don’t know where I would draw the line between just a quick crossing and blue water. Also I was thinking of large waves not a placid voyage. At least in what made me feel uncomfortable.

I think a useful distinction is voyaging beyond, say, a 2-3 day weather forecast. The difference in my mind between a bluewater vs coastal boat is whether you can pick your windows or will end up exposed & need to ride out a storm.

Out of sight of land is not a useful distinction as others have pointed out. I'm out of sight of land on the passage to Catalina from San Diego. On the other hand if you're in sight of land but the land you're in sight of is the coast of Big Sur... you're on a serious passage!

The trip north from San Diego to Seattle is a great example of this; I haven't done it but have listened to lots of folks who have. Most boats can make this trip in the right season given enough time, but a "bluewater capable" vessel has the option to go further and even attempt it non-stop, versus a coastal boat like mine which will harbor hop up the coast. Neither boat will be a fun place to be if caught offshore in a blow but the bluewater boat will be safer.

 

[mvweebles]

I have always liked the term "Coastal Passagemaking." Loosely, where a boat operates on a rolling 2-3 day wx window. To SoCalRider's example, this is how you go non-stop up/down the west coast regardless of what vessel you're in - except during storms, conditions are normally up to Force 6, occasionally Force 7 for short periods. In these conditions, t's less about safety than it is about comfort and not kicking the crap out of a boat - the ports/hatches/windows need to be water tight, gear/belongings needs to be lashed-down securely. Strong boats come by this naturally as these are design parameters. I can promise you that it isn't appreciably less safe to head north in a well prepped NT42 than a N43 and I have a hard time imagining conditions where I would 'go' in one but not the other. In fact, the NT42's slight speed might help muscle into bar entrances. To be sure, above Force 8 is a different matter. But those are predictable within a 3-day window.

I admire people who take multi-day nonstop journeys in any boat - sail or power. But there is one thing they almost always have in common: access to decent wx products and knowledge of how to use them. Waiting for humongous wx windows for a full 7-day passage is nearly impossible. Rolling through 2-3+ day windows and completing a 7-day nonstop passage is not uncommon.

Peter

 

[twistedtree]

I'll consider "blue water cruising" to mean anything involving more than 48hrs on nonstop cruising out in open water.


When conditions are good, I enjoy the solitude and focus on it all. But in many ways that's no different than making an 8hr transit between two point.


I think for me it's really about going somewhere, and taking my house along with me. I really can't say I long for a passage. I do it to get somewhere. I don't mind it if the conditions are good, but I otherwise tolerate it because I want to get somewhere. I think that also sums up why I have a Nordhavn and not and FPB or similar.

 

[Hippocampus]

Personally don’t get the blue water/coastal distinction the way people talk about it.
There’s coastal places where SAR isn’t going to show up in any reasonable time. You need the same thinking “I’ll either deal with it or go swimming before they show up”.
Second even when the weather router is way off in their assessment you rarely if ever get a weather surprise on passage. Between your eyes, radar, recording barometer and where you are you see it coming early enough to prep. Coastal there maybe hyper local perturbations that roll off the nearby cliffs with no warning or pop ups. Have had surprises coastally but not offshore. SoCal makes a very valid point. So you can see land. So what if there’s no safe harbor or a bar or other issue makes it unapproachable. NJ coast and Georgia has sections like that not just the west coast. Still, end of day there’s a real distinction between a blue water boat and a coastal one regardless of where it cruises. Maybe the European system captures it to some distinction. Personally have some objections to their criteria and that the A,B,C only applies for when the boat is first launched not even a day later. I think cruising boats get worn, not diligently serviced and depending upon owner parts not replaced before service life reached. So even in an EU-A boat want to see that particular vessel before signing on.
Hard edges, more traffic, lower percentage of qualified operators, skinny water, more uncertainties. Think coastal as demanding and in some respects more demanding than ocean.

 

[Billr2019]

I did a blue water cruise courtesy of the US Navy in 1968 on a 172 ft wooden hulled vessel with 4 Packard V-12 diesels.
Would I do it again? In a heart beat.

 

[ronobrien]

Is this a desire that always exists or something one develops? I’ve always liked cruising within sight of the land as I enjoy the natural beauty of the landscape. Rugged landscapes preferred.

In many ways I think I’d be unsettled by just pure blue water. My father though loved that in his sailboat. So for me coastal cruising is what I enjoy.

Did others develop a taste for long ocean passages or did you always have it?

I like the concept of true blue water boats, but I’d never use the features in actual long ocean voyages and therefore the tradeoff is too great for me.

I have not "cruised" blue water per se, but have made several deliveries between New England & Bermuda & Caribbean, West coast, Panama, Gulf of Mexico.. There is an amazing state of being when you are out on open ocean for a couple of days. Your body seems to adapt the rhythm of the ocean. Hard to describe exactly, but I find it a very tranquil experience. I have always done these trips with 2 or 3 other guys of equal competence, which lends to peace of mind. That is of course until the weather turns to s**t, then it gets sporty!!!

 

[AlanT]

Is this a desire that always exists or something one develops? I’ve always liked cruising within sight of the land as I enjoy the natural beauty of the landscape. Rugged landscapes preferred.

In many ways I think I’d be unsettled by just pure blue water. My father though loved that in his sailboat. So for me coastal cruising is what I enjoy.

Did others develop a taste for long ocean passages or did you always have it?

I like the concept of true blue water boats, but I’d never use the features in actual long ocean voyages and therefore the tradeoff is too great for me.

Agree that the trade-off is extremely high for power boats. Sailboats not so much. We never saw ourselves as "Blue Water sailors" until the desire to live in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey overwhelmed our natural fears.

If we could have sailed 'coastal' to Europe we would have done for sure. That said our many blue water voyages since have a very dear place in my heart. Others have expressed the unique sense of being alone in a very small boat in a very large ocean. The experience is unforgettable and quite extraordinary. It is also a very serious undertaking with lives at stake.

My wife and I kept a log of our first Transatlantic crossing including our feelings on the highs and lows. If of interest here it is; Alan & Joan's 2007 adventures sailing Moonstruck across the Atlantic from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean.

 

[saltyatsixty]

I'm glad you asked that question!

Interesting question! One my husband and I have been debating for years. We have a Litton Trawler. 42", old girl (1978) but reliable, comfortable and seaworthy. We call ourselves "halfloopers" because we have been across the north gulf many times, up and down the TennTom and recently over to the East Coast as far north as Buford SC.

He wants to buy a Nordhaven as his next boat. I think it is total over-kill! I have no desire to cross oceans. I love coastal cruising.

Anyone else have a skipper with a dream beyond the first mate's reach?

 

[AlanT]

Interesting question! One my husband and I have been debating for years. We have a Litton Trawler. 42", old girl (1978) but reliable, comfortable and seaworthy. We call ourselves "halfloopers" because we have been across the north gulf many times, up and down the TennTom and recently over to the East Coast as far north as Buford SC.

He wants to buy a Nordhaven as his next boat. I think it is total over-kill! I have no desire to cross oceans. I love coastal cruising.

Anyone else have a skipper with a dream beyond the first mate's reach?

We had no desire to cross oceans either, but we did it (on a sailboat) because we wanted to get to the other side with all our kit and live there for a few years. If the Nordhavn is the means to an end, then the ocean crossing part is something you can easily bail on and let your husband do it with crew while you wave at him from 37,000'. That is, if what is driving you both is the goal of coastal cruising/living at the destination.
~A

 

[BandB]

Having just transferred the payment for shipping our boat from Genoa to Fort Lauderdale later this month, crossing the Atlantic on the water sounded very interesting.

 

[Hippocampus]

Nothin goes to weather like an airplane.
For several years I would do the Newport to BVI or Antigua and the bride would fly and meet me. Crew would leave and the two of us cruise. One year she said I’ll do the passage home with you. You have said going north west is easier than south east and shorter. In the past had averaged 8-9 days to get home but as long as 12 days in the fall getting to the Caribbean.
We caught weather the year she came with us. Entire east us coat occluded. 40-50kts and monster seas. Our weather router diverted us. We sat hove to north of the Bahamas for a full week. Constant T storms over the Bahamas made it unsafe to go there and Bermuda would sit in the same large system that made approaching the US unsafe by the time we got there. The system cleared we proceeded to the stream and got home. 16 days. Had two boxes of spaghetti, a can of tuna and a jar of peanut butter. Benign trip as hoved to we didn’t see significant weather over our heads.
Wife was entranced by the majesty of the T storms we could see on the horizon but stressed to get home. She said I’ll do 7-10days but no more 16 days. Think she would do passages except now her balance is off. Interestingly she had no issues long hopping up and down the coast and is enthusiastic about our new to us NT.

 

[SteveK]

Vic, good woman, keep her. Enjoy the new boat

 

[Lepke]

I did a blue water cruise courtesy of the US Navy in 1968 on a 172 ft wooden hulled vessel with 4 Packard V-12 diesels.
Would I do it again? In a heart beat.

Sounds like a minesweeper. Built in the 1950s.

 

[Billr2019]

Exactly.
USS ACME MSO 508.

 

[omoore]

To get to the far shore.

 

[Alaskaflyer]

Interesting question! One my husband and I have been debating for years. We have a Litton Trawler. 42", old girl (1978) but reliable, comfortable and seaworthy. We call ourselves "halfloopers" because we have been across the north gulf many times, up and down the TennTom and recently over to the East Coast as far north as Buford SC.

He wants to buy a Nordhaven as his next boat. I think it is total over-kill! I have no desire to cross oceans. I love coastal cruising.

Anyone else have a skipper with a dream beyond the first mate's reach?

Ayup, for me it's a means to an end like AlanT says, to get somewhere else to cruise *there*, instead of *here*. That, and I live for "the challenge" of such things, a personality attribute of mine that my spouse has mostly-patiently put up with for some time now.

She is willing to let me make those cruises with someone else as mate besides her, and catch up via the airlines, but in reality I think I will have to keep it a dream, and opt for a capable cruiser for this particular shore instead.

 

[markpierce]

My favorite times on ships are "at sea days." Sometimes the destinations when there is history to observe.