"Blue water sailing" to me means open ocean. Not island hopping. Not
coastal cruising. But rather, being somewhere where your skills, judgment
and equipment rule the day. Not depending upon others for rescue, for
instance.

A Coronado is not a blue water boat. Can peeps sail it across oceans?
Sure, if they have a death wish. They may even make it alive! But that
boat was not designed for 'blue water' sailing. Can't take serious weather,
can't survive a real pounding. A motorsailing boat can be considered 'blue
water'. If it has a stiff rig, strongly built, redundant systems, etc. Any
real open ocean sailing I have done includes running the engine if we can't
sail above 5 knots on wind alone, or even if we just need to point a little
higher in order to stay close to on course. To just sit there and sail any
slower is inviting potential disaster. Weather will catch up with you. And
that may not be a problem for us hardy sailors, but not everyone has crew as
hardy as me. Some have women and children (or men) that are not very
experienced, and can't be counted on during a blow. And what about
schedules? In the real world, people have schedules to keep. You must
maintain speed in order to keep to somewhat of a schedule.

So to me 'blue water' means a type of sailing, or a type of situation, not a
type of boat.

--
Captain Lon

"Rock stars! Is there anything they don't know?" Homer Simpson


"Joshua Slocum" wrote in message
...
http://www.bwsailing.com/


This is a disgrace. What's become of the term 'blue water
sailing' when a magazine named "Blue Water Sailing" features
motorsailers?

Never can a motorsailer be considered a blue water boat. They
sail like pigs and once the fuel runs out they're dangerous to
their occupants. I just can't imagine even wanting to be blue
water sailing while having to listen to the noise and smell of
an engine. And, they call this progress...


Fair winds,
Capt. Josh

--
"You must then know the sea and know that you know it
and not forget that it was meant to be sailed over."