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19-06-2018, 16:52
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Boat: Caliber 40 LRC
Posts: 504
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Asleep on Watch
You’re crewing on a passage and you come on deck for a night watch and find the current watch keeper asleep, how do you handle it?
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19-06-2018, 17:03
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Southern California
Boat: Catalina 320
Posts: 1,301
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Assuming they aren't in my way I'd check our position and situation and assume the watch.
Once they wake up they either make excuses or man up and you know what you are dealing with.
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19-06-2018, 17:04
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#3
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: At the intersection of here & there
Boat: 47' Olympic Adventure
Posts: 4,851
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Re: Asleep on Watch
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19-06-2018, 17:40
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Cowichan Bay, BC (Maple Bay Marina)
Posts: 9,703
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Depends on whether you're a nurturer or a punisher.
Might be well to find out why first.
__________________
Stu Jackson
Catalina 34 #224 (1986) C34IA Secretary
Cowichan Bay, BC, SR/FK, M25, Rocna 10 (22#) (NZ model)
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19-06-2018, 18:46
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Netherlands
Boat: Nonsuch 36
Posts: 152
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Another question is, where? Short coastal trip or ocean crossing? Did he/she have a timer set @ about 20 minutes laying next to him/her?
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19-06-2018, 18:55
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#6
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S/V rubber ducky
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: heading "south"
Boat: Hunter 410
Posts: 20,362
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Quote:
Originally Posted by Red Sky
You’re crewing on a passage and you come on deck for a night watch and find the current watch keeper asleep, how do you handle it?
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Wake them up and tell them to go to bed.
People on watch rarely choose to fall asleep, they just couldn’t stay awake and there’s a path that caused that.
__________________
Don't ask a bunch of unknown forum people if it is OK to do something on YOUR boat. It is your boat, do what you want!
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19-06-2018, 19:43
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Boat: Caliber 40 LRC
Posts: 504
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Quote:
Originally Posted by Standbly
Another question is, where? Short coastal trip or ocean crossing? Did he/she have a timer set @ about 20 minutes laying next to him/her?
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My original question was hypothetical, just a thought that went through my head as I was laying in my bunk. We were within 100 miles of the central California coast, outside of the shipping lane, but certainly in an area frequented by fishing boats.
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19-06-2018, 19:49
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Boat: Caliber 40 LRC
Posts: 504
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Quote:
Originally Posted by sailorboy1
Wake them up and tell them to go to bed.
People on watch rarely choose to fall asleep, they just couldn’t stay awake and there’s a path that caused that.
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I think I’d treat it a little more seriously. Stand up, get something to drink or eat, walk around the cockpit. Pretty hard to fall asleep when you’re standing.
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19-06-2018, 19:50
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: New Orleans
Boat: Bruce Roberts 44 Ofshore
Posts: 2,841
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Re: Asleep on Watch
The skipper needs to know. Absolutely. If a man is undependable, then he has no business standing a watch. Maybe it is an isolated instance. Maybe not. But there should be an ironclad agreement among all crew and the skipper that anyone found asleep on watch, the first time or the fiftieth time, must be brought to the skipper's attention. This is nothing to be a nice guy about. If the skipper wanted someone asleep on watch, he wouldn't even bother with crew; he would single hand, and take 10 minute catnaps.
__________________
GrowleyMonster
1979 Bruce Roberts Offshore 44, BRUTE FORCE
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19-06-2018, 19:53
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#10
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֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎֍֎
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 15,136
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Light a cherry bomb, unless you've got good cymbals aboard.
You'd need the larger picture. Were they coming down with a sickness and fever? Had the crew been fatigued by a week of heavy weather? Did they put down a half bottle of ouzo after dinner?
Just being asleep doesn't tell you what the problem is, or how you should react. Could be a diabetic for all we know, who got the meds wrong after dinner.
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19-06-2018, 20:12
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#11
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Moderator
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: aboard, cruising in Australia
Boat: Sayer 46' Solent rig sloop
Posts: 28,400
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Sailorboy1 has the right of this in my opinion. All the work of avoiding a similar situation is much better done after the exhausted one has had a sleep. I don't think it has anything to do with being a nurturer or a punisher. It is merely the best way to start to teach them to amend their behavior. A big row before being sent below to sleep would be counter-productive for both of you.
In addition, you might want to consider some options for helping yourself stay awake, and get their input after they have awakened, too, because their ideas may work well for both of you. Your whole watch schedule might benefit from being changed. [My Jim and I do 6 on 6 off, and I have things I do to help me if I start to feel sleepy.] The reason for the long watches is so that each of us gets at least one good sleep for each 24 hrs. Additional sleeps are optional. On that routine, we arrive fresh on long passages. Not so much on overnighters. It works for us because it suits our biorhythms. But you may want to consider longer or shorter watches. For instance, with a crew of 3, we did 4 on 8 off, and kept the same watch times each day. You don't just sit there like a lump if you're feeling drowsy, you have to do something to drive the drowse away.
I would want to know why they felt it was okay to go to sleep, which is the real problem. A responsible crew that could not stay awake should awaken the upcoming watch keeper or the skipper (skipper's choice) and inform them. S/He should have a good reason. "I just fell asleep", means the crew didn't get to their feet, move around, get cold, go get a cup of coffee or tea or hot chocolate, etc., etc.
Ann
__________________
Who scorns the calm has forgotten the storm.
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19-06-2018, 20:51
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#12
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 6,103
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPA Cate
Sailorboy1 has the right of this in my opinion. All the work of avoiding a similar situation is much better done after the exhausted one has had a sleep. I don't think it has anything to do with being a nurturer or a punisher. It is merely the best way to start to teach them to amend their behavior. A big row before being sent below to sleep would be counter-productive for both of you.
In addition, you might want to consider some options for helping yourself stay awake, and get their input after they have awakened, too, because their ideas may work well for both of you. Your whole watch schedule might benefit from being changed. [My Jim and I do 6 on 6 off, and I have things I do to help me if I start to feel sleepy.] The reason for the long watches is so that each of us gets at least one good sleep for each 24 hrs. Additional sleeps are optional. On that routine, we arrive fresh on long passages. Not so much on overnighters. It works for us because it suits our biorhythms. But you may want to consider longer or shorter watches. For instance, with a crew of 3, we did 4 on 8 off, and kept the same watch times each day. You don't just sit there like a lump if you're feeling drowsy, you have to do something to drive the drowse away.
I would want to know why they felt it was okay to go to sleep, which is the real problem. A responsible crew that could not stay awake should awaken the upcoming watch keeper or the skipper (skipper's choice) and inform them. S/He should have a good reason. "I just fell asleep", means the crew didn't get to their feet, move around, get cold, go get a cup of coffee or tea or hot chocolate, etc., etc.
Ann
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Excellent advice.
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19-06-2018, 21:14
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Petersburg, AK
Boat: Outremer 50S
Posts: 4,229
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Re: Asleep on Watch
Quote:
Originally Posted by JPA Cate
... All the work of avoiding a similar situation is much better done after the exhausted one has had a sleep....
...Your whole watch schedule might benefit from being changed...
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+1 to Ann's entire response with an emphasis on the two points quoted. At one point we had a crew member who simply could not stay awake at night but who otherwise was quite valuable. We ended up putting them on a long watch that started at dawn allowing everyone else to sleep well into the morning. No problems after that and everyone ended up much better rested. Can't begin to tell you the value of a well rested crew.
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19-06-2018, 22:14
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#14
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cruiser
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Pangaea
Posts: 10,856
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Re: Asleep on Watch
You only get one chance on our boat, and yes we’ve had this senario play out twice. We do four hour watches and the watch person is expected to stay awake and be attentive... no excuses... period... end of discussion. My wife and I stand up if we get tired and don’t hesitate to wake each other up if necessary.
If you’re new on our boat, you can pretty much expect to have one of the two of us monitoring watch behavior the first few times until trust is established, if the watch falls asleep, the trust is broken.... don’t expect to do a watch or be asked back again. Might seem harsh to the uninitiated softies, but.... that’s the way it is. If you place everyone else at risk just because you fail to stand up or use some common sense... that’s it... you’re done.
Have I ever fallen asleep during a watch... no. Has my wife... no. Have other people... yes. Have they been asked to do a watch or crew again... no. Like the other fellow wrote, it’s pretty hard to fall asleep while standing up.”
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19-06-2018, 22:30
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: S.F. Bay Area
Boat: Caliber 40 LRC
Posts: 504
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Re: Asleep on Watch
+++1 Ken. If my life is in the watch keepers hands, they better be awake.
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