What is coastal cruising and what is open ocean passagemaking? I ask this as a sincere question. I had this conversation with Georgs a while back with regards to the PUP List. Is the determining factor how many miles from shore, or how many days at sea without landfall, or is it the total number of miles on the voyage? My recent cruise from Long Beach, CA to La Paz, Mexico is a case in point. The voyage covered about 1200 miles but we made three stops along the way. We were never more than about 15 miles from landfall. As I recall, Georgs seemed to think this would qualify as an open ocean passage in terms of the PUP List. I did not think it was necessary to have a life raft (other than a hard shell dinghy with positive flotation) or a backup EPIRB or an elaborate ditch bag. At what point do I think these become necessary and essential? I really haven't formulated an answer yet, but I will before I depart Mexico for the South Pacific. I think the question gets to the crux of Peter's point. Patrick Willard 40PH ALOHA La Paz, MX