Sleeping during long passage.

[hellosailor]

" Took 72 days. Slept with timer set to wake me every 45 minutes. Thought it would be difficult, but was surprisingly easy. Got used to it in no time. "
What you are saying is that you've had a few beers, but you're OK to drive.
It was only last week that I read (perhaps in the BBC, perhaps in the WSJ) that another study concluded that working a 12-16 hour long day, an overtime shift, degrades the worker's performance as much as being legally intoxicated.
You may think otherwise, or you may be the rare superhuman. But the vast majority of simple humans require on six hour long "great sleep" every 24 hours. Without that, their performance degrades whether they recognize that or not.
And when sleep deprived long enough, the body will simply shut down to get sleep. Regardless of alarms and circumstances.
For some folks that an acceptable risk. For others it is antisocial behavior.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

" Took 72 days. Slept with timer set to wake me every 45 minutes. Thought it would be difficult, but was surprisingly easy. Got used to it in no time. "
What you are saying is that you've had a few beers, but you're OK to drive.
It was only last week that I read (perhaps in the BBC, perhaps in the WSJ) that another study concluded that working a 12-16 hour long day, an overtime shift, degrades the worker's performance as much as being legally intoxicated.
You may think otherwise, or you may be the rare superhuman. But the vast majority of simple humans require on six hour long "great sleep" every 24 hours. Without that, their performance degrades whether they recognize that or not.
And when sleep deprived long enough, the body will simply shut down to get sleep. Regardless of alarms and circumstances.
For some folks that an acceptable risk. For others it is antisocial behavior.

er... Churchill Thatcher and other greats slept on 4 hours a night.

I as a medic only sleep 4 hours in 25...

next?

[hellosailor]

So, Weavis, you're one of the rare superhumans that can manage on 4 hours instead of 5 or six.

If you had blond hair and green eyes, would that mean everyone else did?

No, it just means you are the exception to the rule. It is still unwise to think the other 99% won't be "drunk" on lack of sleep.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

So, Weavis, you're one of the rare superhumans that can manage on 4 hours instead of 5 or six.

If you had blond hair and green eyes, would that mean everyone else did?

No, it just means you are the exception to the rule. It is still unwise to think the other 99% won't be "drunk" on lack of sleep.

You miss the point.

I absolutely hate statements that make out that everyone has the same average statistic.

I think if truth be told, most people can manage a period of time before they wind down and need a booster of sleep. You would be surprised what could be achieved in a two weeks period on minimum sleep...........ask all the mothers of just born babies.

but then that would go against statistics wouldnt it?

[hellosailor]

No, I wouldn't be surprised. I've worked all sorts of shifts and hours, including a two week long triple-shift project. Work till your third mistake, then crash on a couch. Rinse and repeat for two weeks straight. Little things like that. I've seen the way fatigue hits different people. I knew a camp guard who, supposedly, took his afternoon nap from 1-5 and was awake all night every night, but again, that's exceptional.

And as the new moms say: "YOU get up tonight!" At the very best, they are justifiably cranky when sleep deprived.

[Arsydian]

That is awesome that you are in your 70's and sailing . I am 60 and am looking to do some single handed stuff.
To bad you only could find a drunk and a nut job to assist.
Your an inspiration to me !!

[atlantical]

I worked at sea for many years, also worked in factories working twelve hours shifts,that in busy periods went up to seven days a week, at sea, the longest shift I did was on a tanker called the Rio Vista, asphalt tanker, big problems on the discharge, I was pumpman, I did a straight 35 hour shift, then slept for maybe four hours, at those type of hours, your short term memory gets so bad, you cant hold a conversation, as you cant remember what you were talking about, you can't work anything out, as you cant keep things in your head, when you arrive at a conclusion, you have forgotten what the question was. In the factories, you just get tired, you cant go on doing 7 twelves for any length of time, management knew that production really dropped, compared to that of an eight hour shift, so there was less produced per man hour of a twelve hour shift, than of an eight hour shift, but it still gave an overall increase of production. Its pretty much why most jobs are for eight hours, after that, performance just drops away, and drops on a sharp curve.

As for sleep, I am 53, and I can push it for a few days, and have only a couple of hours a night, but after a few days, I will just sleep for as much as twelve hours,

[dexport]

Hi

I have been sailing constantly this past 6 months, with 1 crew mate and also 3 months Solo.

With crew we mostly did the 2hr on, 2 hr off schedule from sunset till sunrise. During the day staying pretty flexible.

Solo I would wake every 60min if offshore and every 20min if close to shipping, reefs, coastline etc. Depends on weather conditions too.

Check out my passage video here: https://youtu.be/3imRRf6EIbk

[hzcruiser]

Originally Posted by dexport

Hi

Check out my passage video here: https://youtu.be/3imRRf6EIbk

Good video, thanks! I've subscribed straight away.

[roverhi]

Have never kept a watch schedule, used timers or had electronic watch standers. Sleep when I'm tired sometimes during the day, sometimes at night. Normal sleep pattern is 2-4 hours at a time, almost never sleep straight through an 8 hour period on shore or on the boat. Surprising how a nap of only a couple hours will refresh me in conditions where I can't keep my eyes open but should like coastal sailing. Keep awake when I'm close enough to shore to run into it in 8 hours either coastal sailing or ending a passage. For planning purposes would try and schedule not more than 48 hours without a good sleep either hove to or anchored on a long coastal passage. When I was young and more foolish than now did 72 hours straight on the tiller but the hallucinations were very entertaining in the last hours.

Last long solo coastal passage was from Monterey to Oceanside, CA, something over 300 miles. Left Monterey at dawn and did 24 hours to Morro Bay. Tied up at the Yacht Club dock and slept for 4 hours, did some repairs to keep the autopilot functioning, took a short nap in the afternoon, and left that evening. Did Morro Bay to Oceanside in a straight passage, something less than 48 hours. Staying awake the 2nd night was not easy. Had to duck into Dana Point for fuel and slept for a couple hours before heading out the last 30 miles to Oceanside. Saw some boat lights just before rounding Point Conception which was the only shipping seen on the passage including passing by LA Harbor, the busiest port on the Pacific Coast.

Before that did a solo Transpac, SF to Hilo, HI. Stayed awake the first night out of SF. Lots of traffic into and out of the Bay but didn't see another ship after a couple of hours past the Faralon Islands till mid ocean. Got bracketed by a Matson ship heading to HNL and a tanker going to Panama. Those were the 2nd and 3rd ships I've seen on the open ocean in more than 10,000nm sailing. Both were hull down but interesting I'd meet two ships at the same time in the middle of nowhere. Had sketchy AIS so I new what the ships were and where they were going after sighting them. Had no proximity alarm with an AIS and plotter that barely spoke to each other. Just happened to spot the ships with Mark I eyeball.

[Dan GB]

Originally Posted by dexport

Hi

I have been sailing constantly this past 6 months, with 1 crew mate and also 3 months Solo.

With crew we mostly did the 2hr on, 2 hr off schedule from sunset till sunrise. During the day staying pretty flexible.

Solo I would wake every 60min if offshore and every 20min if close to shipping, reefs, coastline etc. Depends on weather conditions too.

Check out my passage video here: https://youtu.be/3imRRf6EIbk

Great video. Love how you keep it real

[dexport]

Originally Posted by hzcruiser

Good video, thanks! I've subscribed straight away.

Thanks Heinz