Off shore considerations

[MakoMike]

Communications! Your VHF is basically useless out there except for occasional boat to boat chit chat. You'll need a SSB or Sat phone for emergencies. A raft is a good thing to have on board and a top notch first aid kit to deal with the unexpected.

[nightfighter]

Gearing up any boat for offshore requires a significant investment. First dollars you should spend are to chip in to go out on someone else's boat that is already equipped. You will get a feel for it and have a better handle on if this is a good investment given the boat you have. Not all hulls are worth sinking that investment into. Personally, I have a great inshore boat. I can take it to Stellwagen, but am limited there by LOA on certain days. Conversely, there are good offshore boats that can't do what I want to do inshore. So when I have the need for an offshore adventure, I go on OPB, other peoples boats. Chip in for fuel, ice, food, etc. that I would have as expenses anyway. And I have my own ditch bag, float coat, and floatation devices. It is not a cheap endeavor. Ongoing maintenance costs of rafts, EPIRBS,big game rods, reels, and tackle etc need to be figured in. Do the math, count the number of trips you would make, figure you foot the fuel bill by yourself, add 25% to the total cost and see if it fits your reality.

[Liv2Fish]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

Gearing up any boat for offshore requires a significant investment. First dollars you should spend are to chip in to go out on someone else's boat that is already equipped. You will get a feel for it and have a better handle on if this is a good investment given the boat you have. Not all hulls are worth sinking that investment into. Personally, I have a great inshore boat. I can take it to Stellwagen, but am limited there by LOA on certain days. Conversely, there are good offshore boats that can't do what I want to do inshore. So when I have the need for an offshore adventure, I go on OPB, other peoples boats. Chip in for fuel, ice, food, etc. that I would have as expenses anyway. And I have my own ditch bag, float coat, and floatation devices. It is not a cheap endeavor. Ongoing maintenance costs of rafts, EPIRBS,big game rods, reels, and tackle etc need to be figured in. Do the math, count the number of trips you would make, figure you foot the fuel bill by yourself, add 25% to the total cost and see if it fits your reality.

Thanks . Exactly the perspective I was looking for. I didn't buy the boat
with off shore in mind, just curious what it would take to be off shore equipped, If that became an option at some point.
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