Patrick asked: > What is coastal cruising and what is open ocean passagemaking? Relative to the PUP list, I'm not certain it's important to draw a hard distinction between a long distance coastal trip versus a passage across the Pacific or Atlantic, or any other large body of water. The main reason a PUP list exists is to address issues that would be a distraction on the T&T list. In other words, to address issues that are relevant to those persons making long distance trips were help and access to support resources are minimal or non existent. We wanted a forum where perspectives were provided with the knowledge there isn't a port for hundreds, perhaps thousands of miles. In answer to your question about a passage along a coast versus the Pacific ocean, this was also my question. Bob suggested they are all passages, with the same requirement for equipment. I'd venture to ask this: When in sight of land, especially when the dominant winds would blow a raft or dingy ashore, are the basic survival issues substantially different when compared to survival in the open ocean, hundreds or thousands of miles from land? While the prospect of survival along the Baja coast is still a compelling challenge, it must be different that surviving if you get into a life raft in the middle of an ocean. In the PNW a person going in the water has a fairly good chance of surviving, provided they enter the water in a survival suit. Lacking the suit, they are dead in a half an hour. You might survive a few days in the tropics treading water, but your not going to make it a few weeks. On a beach in Baja, if you have water, you can likely wait a month or more for rescue. That must account for some difference in preparedness. If you have a raft or rib to get ashore, that would likely suffice in the coastal scenario. While I haven't spent any time thinking of the difference in survival prospects using my dingy versus the 6 man raft I can say Bobs comments about having an engine sure make a lot of sense. If the weather is calm and there is time to leave the boat, I'd probably put more thought into launching both the raft and the dingy. To your point, with limited funds, do you invest in a second EPIRB first, or buy the watermaker? This exchange has been helpful for me, becu ase I really hadn't considered having jugs of water available, which I can now see is a completly viable solution. I'm going to take a few days and digest the information provided and then re-evaluate the provisioning of the ditch bag and raft. Thanks to everyone that shared their thoughts! Scott