Old "sea time" question, Strait of San Juan De Fuca

Hello men.
I know this is an old question but I have never found a complete “for sure” answer to this question, And trying to get a hold of the coast guard for a definitive answer hasnt worked either so any info is much appreciated.
In reference to “sea time” served for one of my deck hands going for his Captains license, does time served in the area of the “Strait of San Juan De Fuca” and “Haro Strait” constitute “inland” or “Near coastal” sea time.
I do understand that that entire area is under the 72 COLREGS, but heard that was for navigation rules only and not for sea time ???Anyone know for sure.
Thanks
Capt. Sea Rat:cool:

It depends on how his seatime letter is worded. The devil is in the details!

Here would be a brief sample letter;

Seaman smith mmc0123345668999 has worked aboard towing vessel Ms Saggytits from Jan 01 2009 until 4 1 2011. While working as a.b Mr smith worked 12 hours a day on a 6 6 watch for a total of 400 days 12 hours X 1.5 days equals 600 8 hour days. The tug Ms Saggytits ON 1234456778 145GT is engaged in (pick one) ocean, coastwise, inland towing.

I have never heard of the uscg questioning a properly written sea service letter. The trick is knowing HOW to write one!..

cappy,great thoughts and sound knowledge, will definitely put some thought into this…Dont think I will use the Ms. saggytits though, she(??) make take offense. :slight_smile:
Thanks a bunch for the thought.

Pretty sure that is NC once you are past the colregs.

Angeles Point near PA to about Race Rocks, is the Colregs line. If you have OLD seatime out to Neah Bay, it should count inland, or at least “waters other than Ocean or Coastwise”. If it’s new time, you’d best be properly certified for NC, then you get NC time.

My original license was “waters other than Ocean or Coastwise”, and the charting problems included Neah Bay and Cape Flattery. In subsequent updates/renewals, I lost the Straits on my license. USCG review got it back, so I could go out with the “Wyatt Earp” movie filming. Later got NC, so it no longer mattered.

Sea rat,
according to NVIC 04-01 page 4 section 5 (definitions) c (inland waters), it states:"… for establishing credit for sea service the waters of the inside passage between puget sound and cape spencer alaska, are inside waters." For what it’s worth, if he gets an inland master-and has completed his stcw-he can have “and authorized for near coastal service upon the sheltered waters of british columbia as defined in the treaty between the us and canada signed on 11-aug-1934”. (that’s what i have on mine.) hope that helps.

The COLREGS line is NOT the deciding factor. In some places they have separate boundries. The individual REG’S are posted at your local REC. An intelligent coastie should be able to give you the correct boundry info. Then you will have the ammunition to argue with WV.

[QUOTE=cappy208;48442]The COLREGS line is NOT the deciding factor. In some places they have separate boundries. The individual REG’S are posted at your local REC. An intelligent coastie should be able to give you the correct boundry info. Then you will have the ammunition to argue with WV.[/QUOTE]

That may be true in other places, but out here it’s the COLREGS line. The COLREGS line has no other standing, as Puget Sound is international rules

[QUOTE=cappy208;48442] Then you will have the ammunition to argue with WV.[/QUOTE]

And you’ll be having a battle of wits with unarmed people

[QUOTE=sea rat;48376] does time served in the area of the “Strait of San Juan De Fuca” and “Haro Strait” constitute “inland” or “Near coastal” sea time[/QUOTE]

Where is the “Strait of San Juan De Fuca?”

There is a Strait of Juan de Fuca (or Juan de Fuca Strait depending on which side you live on) and there are San Juan Islands. Juan de Fuca was a Greek explorer who worked for the Spaniards but they didn’t make him a saint, they didn’t even pay him for the trip so he went back to Greece.

I suspect he was talking about Juan de Fuca Strait, the body south of Victoria Island in the Pacific Northwest on the way to Seattle from the Pacific.

[QUOTE=DeckApe;48482]I suspect he was talking about Juan de Fuca Strait, the body south of Victoria Island.[/QUOTE]

Where’s Victoria Island? Is it on the Strait of San Juan De Fuca?

Man, I hope you guys aren’t doing the passage planning … :wink:

Oops. South of Victoria on Vancouver Island.

[QUOTE=Steamer;48490]Where’s Victoria Island? Is it on the Strait of San Juan De Fuca?

Man, I hope you guys aren’t doing the passage planning … ;)[/QUOTE]

What do the different colors on the charts mean?

K.C.

[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;48498]What do the different colors on the charts mean?.[/QUOTE]

It depends on what the mate’s been snacking on. Yellow = mustard Red = ketchup Brown = coffee There are many international variations though, that is one of the reasons pilots are required.

Then there’s always ‘Maxwell House Shoal’ This is usually it’s own color (light brown) and is invariably crescent shaped. Although I have seen some that look like atolls. Usually the depths surrounding ‘Maxwell house shoal’ are never different from the surrounding area, but the attention garnered makes other shy away from the area.

The wet spots are where the old man drooled on them.

Morning Men
Finally able to chime in again on my post, having problems “signing into the site”.
Anyway, Sorry if I named the “Stait of San Juan De Fuca” incorrectly, we normally just call it the straits, and the Haro Strait area we just call “Haro”.
You guys are correct. We spend most of our time around the San Juan islands to Vancouver island and down to Dungeness and Race rocks.
So it sounds like this “sea time” is an inland license, thats what I thought…Its a pretty busy area in here I dont blame them for making the whole area intl. rule.
Just gets confusing.
Thanks for all your posts, sounds like we have it figured out.
sea rat