Blue water, open ocean

[anchorclanker]

For most of the last year since acquiring my boat, Ive done a ton of reading. More than I have ever read in the previous 52 years combined. First was the terminology which I think Ive got down pretty well, then the basic handling. I might even take some lessons at some point, but I think I have it figured out pretty good, just need a lil more experience.

But the actual thought of going out "there" has always been way out there. As ive read over this time, I am amazed at the number of people who take the jump. Now the gears are turning, and started turning even faster after I gave up thinking about Florida. My focus turned south and west, toward the Texas Gulf Coast. I could be on the gulf in a day, and launch. Take a "cruise". The thought is intoxicating. Even the wife is thinking about it.

But something has struck me as a bit odd, that very few people actually leave shore. Y'all stick to the ICW, and generally only venture out when the water is flat.

OTOH, we read of the great lakes sailors and they run all over up there. While I have no experience in either type of water, I know, from growing up in Duluth, that the lakes can get as bad or worse than any Ocean. Lakes dont have swells, they have peaky waves with short intervals.

So I guess what im asking is if the ocean is really that terrible, if you really need a 40 foot boat, or if y'all are just being real careful. Nothing wrong with careful, just trying to form a good mental picture of the dangers. No, I wouldnt go out there in my Oday 222, that would be nuts, but maybe a 30 foot if I could spring for one. So like, short of a hurricane which even a fool would avoid, whats it normally like "out there" in a thunderstorm or strong winds?

 

[skipmac]

Well, some stick to the ICW but plenty get quite a bit further than that. I put a lot of miles in a 32' around the Caribbean and never felt like it was too small.

I've seen plenty of smaller boats down the islands and there have been a few round the world lots of ocean crossings in boats well under 30'. I wouldn't hesitate to take your boat to the Bahamas or further, ASSUMING your skills are up to it, the boat and rig are in reasonable shape and you watch the weather.

So, no the ocean isn't that terrible.......... most of the time. I've spent way more time becalmed at sea that hammered by storms.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I'm on the Texas coast, on Matagorda Bay. Yes, I sail offshore when I need to, but on this coast there are so many miles of interconnected bays that you really don't NEED to go outside.

I used to sail a 25 footer, and took it on overnights (or 2) across the GOM, including single handing. Now I'm sailing a 21 footer, and if the need arose, or it was more convenient, I'd sail her offshore.

Do you need a 40 foot boat? Nope, not at all. Size has little to do with sea keeping- more to do with comfort, but I was quite comfortable for almost 3 years aboard the 25, with two of us.

And if you chose your weather, there'd be no problem sailing inlet to inlet in your 22. Little to see out there, but you could do it. Brazos Santiago to Mansfield, Mansfield to Port A to Matagorda, etc- little real difficulty as long as you don't get crazy. Hey- Texas 200 folks do it in 15 footers.

If you want to talk more about sailing smaller boats down here, send me a private message and we can talk about it. But not tomorrow- I'm going sailing

 

[Delezynski]

Cant' speak for all, but from our point of view....

It's wonderful "out there". It's dreams and wonder, at times it's scary, but it always builds and builds us! It's life and more, it brings us alive. It's self reliance building and learning to do for yourself. It makes you fell 100 feet tall, and VERY small all at the same time!

My wife and I live aboard an sail a 27 foot boat. We decided to move aboard and made a pact that if ether one of us asked, we would get a hotel. We never have unless we were on a trip away from the boat. We are ashore just now, but our refit is almost finished and we hope to be back floating in a month.

Our advice, get the best quality boat you can, one that you trust, and head out, DO NOT RELY on size as a measure.

Head for that offshore island, only by making the trip yourself will you know the joy!

And most of all, enjoy the learning!!!!!!

Greg

 

[anchorclanker]

So, no the ocean isn't that terrible.......... most of the time..

Explain terrible. Whats the worst youve actually experienced.

I must add though, I think the ones who cross the ponds or go round the world in small boats are either asking for it or lucky.

As an example, lets say I want to run down to South Padre Island from NOLA. If the winds cooperate, straight across would be a much faster and shorter trip and I wouldn't have to burn any fuel. But if a storm comes up, how bad can it get?

Or as another example, what if a guy wanted to leave NOLA, head southeast and go under Cuba, and head towards Jamaica and islands to the east. Is it nuts to go out there??

 

[Chris Patterson]

Anchor, I go outside more often than a lot of people, and I just think it's a preference. When I stop and think about it, unless you are going to some outlying island, and the closest point from A to B is generally up or down the coast. Myself, I'd rather sandpaper a wildcats butt than cruise up and down the ditch, I despise the stupid thing. Traffic, shoals, jet-ski's, barges, idiot's with little experience and too much boat combined with testosterone. It's like navigating downtown N.Y., while everybody's drunk. Nay nay.
While admittedly, there is not much to see out there, the scenery doesn't change much. But I like being offshore, with nobody else, full rags up, autopilot set, cruising baby. LOVE it.
Like anybody else that has done this enough, I've been hammered a few times. Beat up, sick as a dog, tired, hungry, need a bath, wow. But that's what makes the good times good. If it's all good, nothing's good. (Think about that last sentence a moment). And the sailor that brags, "Hell, I've never been seasick", well, you haven't been doing this too long have you. Be honest.
In a couple months or so, I'm going to take one across the big one. Bermuda, Azores, the Med, then the U.K. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. And no, it is not a small boat. idiots of the first magnitude do this kind of thing in small boats. Something to prove to somebody. Or themselves. The attention more often than not.
A man can also ride a bicycle down Interstate 95 at rush hour as well. While it can be done; I can't advise it...

 

[anchorclanker]

Wow, lots of interesting responses, keep them coming guys.

 

[AXEL]

What kind of a keel do you have on that 22 footer? I'm not sure I'd go off shore with a swing keel. If you were to encounter high winds and seas and take a knock down with a a swing keel it could get ugly. A long time ago I saw a 22 foot Catalina on it's side in the bay. Not pretty.

 

[anchorclanker]

Myself, I'd rather sandpaper a wildcats butt than cruise up and down the ditch, I despise the stupid thing. Traffic, shoals, jet-ski's, barges, idiot's with little experience and too much boat combined with testosterone. It's like navigating downtown N.Y., while everybody's drunk. Nay nay....

I've spent a lot of time on the river between Minneapolis and Red Wing. I cant imagine the ICW being any different, and the river was pretty much as you just described, except you left out the filth and smell. The scenery got much better south of RW, but the water stayed nasty. People eat fish out of it, but id starve to death before id eat any.

As far as going offshore, im not a fool, I know when to run the other way. But I also know small stuff can appear out of nowhere and trap you. NOAA just doesnt have a perfect track record. Thats why the questions. Knowing what your facing can help you make better decisions, as well as better preparations. Forewarned is forearmed.

Okay Chris (or anyone else), explain the sea sick thing. The closest I've come was after three days on lake Pepin bobbing around in a big inboard.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

I've not done NOLA to South Padre, but have done Vermillion Bay to Freeport.

Couple of difficulties there.

SW Louisiana waters are extremely shallow offshore- 75 miles out of SW Pass and we were in 72 feet of water. AND you are sailing among thousands of oil rigs.. If the weather turns on you,, it's hard to run with it.

However, along the Texas coast, the winds are almost always SE, so that's not a huge problem. LEAVING the Texas coast is a problem- it's upwind no matter where you go. Did 6 days Rockport to Progreso, Yucatan a few years ago against 25-26 knots. so it's not hard to GET here, it's difficult LEAVING.

 

[anchorclanker]

What kind of a keel do you have on that 22 footer?

You may have missed it, but I have no intent in taking this boat out there. I'm not that brave, and wouldn't be that brave with my wife or daughters lives.

The 222 is good boat, ive read a lot of raves about them. I know people have gone places with these that many with larger boats have never gone. But facts are facts, and if we were to run into bad weather, its simply not the boat I want to be out there fighting it with.

 

[DJW]

Go for it. The first time I was ever on a sailboat I bought it and 7 days latter left Seattle, WA and sailed to HI. Now I had flown in a Captain and my oldest son who loves to sail from HI. We motored out the straights to Nea Bay and sailed down the coast to Euricka, CA. Top off the supplies and headed for Pearl Harbor HI. 17 days 6 hours latter we were having a beer at the yacht club in Honolulu. Did we get our ass kicked? No not really. The water around the islands has kicked our ass far worse then anything we experienced out in the open ocean. Now my 10 year old grandaughter loves to sail once Pegasus is backed out of the slip on Charlie dock Mandy will be at the helm while my son sets the sails and secures the boat in preperations for the day sail out in the open ocean. They took Pegasus on a 4 Island 6 day trip in August. Go For It

Dennis

 

[JWH2050]

I have had my McGregor 26X down the Arkansas River all the way to Baton Rouge on the Mississippi River. It was a wondefull trip. I have also had in the gulf out of Mobile Bay with no problems. As you see I'm from Farmington and have enjoyed every minute of my boat. I do sail on Beaver Lake too.

 

[DJW]

JWH2050

We have a home up in Bella Vista. Beautiful part of the state

Dennis

 

[RichH]

The deeper the water the longer period the waves will become, unless you blunder into a 'weather bomb' which can develop large waves on top of large swells .... and from different directions all at the same time.
To avoid that you usually have a 'weather router' so to avoid 'the rough stuff' so you can quickly pass to 'safer' and more manageable sea states. The steepest waves are in relatively shallow water .... its the waves that knock you about and the only 'real trouble' is when large waves are 'breaking' (its hard to keep a boat floating in 'foam').

Open ocean sailing is like any other high octane pursuit ... high learning curve and can become addictive ... like skiing the steeps, hang gliding, rock climbing, auto racing, etc. etc.

 

[Kermit]

[QUOTE="
Okay Chris (or anyone else), explain the sea sick thing. The closest I've come was after three days on lake Pepin bobbing around in a big inboard.[/QUOTE]

Explain seasickness? That's like trying to explain a migraine headache, a bad back or hemorrhoids. Or a broken heart. You gotta experience it to understand it. The best explanation I can give is the migraine, bad back, hemorrhoids and broken heart all wrapped up together.

 

[Jackdaw]

Clanker,

One of the reasons we Great Lakes sailers seem to be venturing out a lot into the deep is there is places to go doing that! I can head out of bayfield and after 50-100-200 miles of open water be somewhere. Isle Royale, Thunder Bay, copper harbor, etc. makes for great destination sailing. Head out of Galveston and you have to cover a LOT of open water before you hit land again. The GLs are perfect for these 'mini' expeditions. But make no mistake, in the middle of Lake Superior you are alone as you would be in the middle of the gulf.

 

[mccauley13]

John, you do know Braver still has s little water left in it. Let's go sailing .

 

[noanker]

for me i need to know the boat before i will venture into open waters. i know all her systems as i have updated them all doing the work myself. having built and raced cars i could "feel" the car as though it were a part of me...i knew what it was doing...what it could do....i could feel it. i am on the same course with my boat. while sailing her i try to feel how she acts and reacts to all the elements...wind..weather..water and me. each time i sail i get closer to the "feel" i want of her. once she is part of me the sky will be the limit

 

[wufibugs]

I think anyone with a good deal of blue water experience, and I am not one of them, will tell you there are a number of factors that exceed the length of your boat in importance. From personal experience I can tell you that sailing is both easy and fun as long as nothing goes wrong [based on single-handing 100 miles while trying figure out which line was the halyard and which the mainsheet, and why I kept tripping over those damn cars on rails mucking up the deck]. If you take a production boat on blue water, sooner or later it is not only your sailing and navigation skills that will be tested but the quality of your preparation [did you bring enough stuff and the right stuff] and your mechanical ones. Can you change an impeller? Swage a fitting? Splice a rope? Mend a tear? Diagnose an electrical issue? I suspect the latter is what keeps the majority of us with 30' production boats out of the Indian Ocean. Still, I do agree with the posters: Even after reading Roger's utterly beguiling posts on coastal cruising, being well out of site of land is absolutely exhilarating.