"Peter Wiley" wrote in message
news:220620041307036781% wrote:
"Peter Wiley" wrote in message

Keep in mind that if Donal tried to go 30 miles offshore, he'd hit
France.

Stick to English literature. You know nothing about geography. Cherebourg
is my nearest French port, and it is 74 nautical miles from Portsmouth
Harbour entrance.

Oh well a little over 2X the distance. Still not very far really.


Closer than you think - Cherbourg is less than 60 miles from St. Catherine's on
the Isle of Wight. If you went 30 miles out you'd be more than half way to
France. Donal complains about your geography, but he considers the Portsmouth
Harbour entrance, which is about 8 miles up the Solent, to be "offshore."

But this brings up a question: at what point is one "Offshore"? Is it off
soundings? Out of sight of land? In the US it could be the 3-mile line, or the
ColRegs line (dividing Inland from International Rules). For license purposes
on the US East Coast, 10 miles out is still "Inland", out to 200 miles is
Near-Coastal, further out is Offshore.