In article , Jeff Morris
wrote:

Its very simple Thom, we're not talking about the English Channel. We're
talking about the 10 to 15 miles of protected water Donal sails through before
he gets there.

Remember, just one or two posts earlier Donal had scoffed at my comment that I
had done a number of open ocean trips last year, the shortest of which was
twenty miles. I even mentioned that I didn't bother to count the distance
until
we were in open water, with 3000 miles of fetch to the east. And before that
Donal insisted that it didn't count as sailing unless is was so rough you had
seal up the boat.

I agreed that Peter's estimate wasn't quite right, but pointed out that 30
miles
offshore would put you closer to France than to England. Donal was being
rather
disingenuous first by presuming that everyone is fully aware of the details of
his home waters, and then by using a point miles behind an island and a large
breakwater as the beginning of "offshore."

Let me put it another way: if RB claimed he was going 50 miles offshore, where
would we start the measure? City Island? The Battery? Verrazanno? I think
that anyone from the area would say Sandy Hook is where you'd have to start.

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Jeff,

I'm not taking side with you and Donal. This discussion of offshore was
started by a statement that in the English Channel France was only 30
miles away. This is not a quote but a recap.

I overestimated the minimum distance.

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0817371.html

Narrowest point is 34 km (21 statute miles). So 30 miles offshore would
be to my thinking 33 nm off the coast unless you're in a bight in which
case it might be more, drawing a line across the bight as an obviously
arbitrary starting line. Call it 60 km.

Shrug. Donal's home port is further from France than this, esp if you
count all the distance from his boat's berth as offshore, as he has
done.

It's a daysail distance. A bit further than Hobart to Port Arthur. A
lot less than Hobart to Port Davey or Macquarie Harbour.

Donal pointed out from his
Moorage to the nearest French Port was ( I think) he said 76 miles. That
sounded reasonable. The channel is a rather large body of water.

How the discussion got turned into an Offshore debate, I don't know?
Just wanted to say the channel is a large chunk off water. Doesn't have
to take a back seat to Chesapeake, Long Island Sound, SF Bay or my
beloved Puget Sound.

It's certainly full of ship traffic of all sizes. Distance-wise
east-west, it's not very far to the other side - see above - which was
the point that Donal took exception to. Torres Strait is 130 km wide,
Bass Strait is 240 km wide, for example.

1308 nm from Hobart to Auckland. 380 nm from Darwin to Dili. 981 nm
Darwin to Port Moresby. etc.

PDW