46cfr10.232(b)(3) is between puget sound and cape spencer Near coastal time?

Maritime Topics Maritime Training & Licensing
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[SIZE=5]A friend of mine told me that his company counts Puget Sound as Near Coastal sea service time. I did some digging and found [/SIZE]46cfr10.232(b)(3) which states “Service on vessels to which STCW applies, whether inland or coastwise, will be credited on a day-for-day basis. For establishing credit for sea service, the waters of the Inside Passage between Puget Sound and Cape Spencer, Alaska will be credited for a near-coastal and STCW endorsement.” I think this must be what he is talking about. My questions are:
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Does this include Puget Sound? There is no line or boundary and seems awfully vague.

When was this put into effect? The date at the end of the CFR says it was last updated Dec 24, 2013. Does that mean that all the inland time prior to this rule is still inland and everything afterward is NC? It all seems very clear, just checking.

Thank you, Andy[/SIZE]

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Alot of people have looked at this, but not commented yet. I guess I should explain why this is important. It used to be near coastal time began west of the boundary line. There is an older post about it here: http://www.gcaptain.com/forum/professional-mariner-forum/960-inland-coastal.html about near coastal time being only west of Port Angeles. Now a very vague wording has appeared saying "the waters of the Inside Passage between Puget Sound and Cape Spencer, Alaska will be credited for a near-coastal and STCW endorsement. looks like it has changed, but want to make sure before the sea days are counted incorrectly.