Keeping Watch at Night ?

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

So the on watch , supposedly watching out and sailing , spends what 30-40 minutes in the galley. !!!

Perhaps while they're in the galley they pop their head up every five minutes for a 360-degree scan? That sounds pretty responsible to me...

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Perhaps while they're in the galley they pop their head up every five minutes for a 360-degree scan? That sounds pretty responsible to me...

Soufflés take more concentration then that.!

Dave

[atoll]

what i'm really pissed off about is all the abandoned yachts crossing oceans with nobody on watch.......or onboard.............

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

shheesh what's happened to English.

Dave

The Brits tried to colonize it.

[Richard5]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

Perhaps while they're in the galley they pop their head up every five minutes for a 360-degree scan? That sounds pretty responsible to me...

Three head pops and the grits oughta be cooked.

What is this, prairie dogs onna boat ride?

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Richard5

Three head pops and the grits oughta be cooked.

What is this, prairie dogs onna boat ride?

Whack-a-mole!

[svBeBe]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Expanding on my previous note, yesterday morning about 6am, just as the sun was coming us we found ourselves heading towards some knucklehead who was obviously doing as the OP has described. We took evassive action to avoid a head-on collision with his or her 40ft sailboat four miles off Formentera which had it's sails set in a hove-to arrangement while sailing on a broad reach. What caught our attention, was that the vessel did not appear on our radar screen (it needed a minor adjustment) and no... it was not transmitting AIS and neither were we, and nobody was on deck. But we were on deck keeping watch and able to avoid the other boat. He probably went to bed at the tail end of a long passage and set his boat up in a hove to but apparently left his auto pilot on, so now his boat was continuing to sail towards the island at about 2-3 knots with a back winded genoa.

Eventually his luck will run out... hopefully, he woke up before running into the island which also wasn't broadcasting AIS.

Excuse me, but you did not wake him up?

Bill

[Dos Gatos]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

huh, whats happening when you're head is in the galley?
dave

Delicious food.

Singlehanders do what singlehanders do and talking about it only annoys the rank and file.

[boatman61]

The thing that tickles me is... last time I was in the Azores there were something like 270 odd boats came through during my 7 weeks in Horta... only 3 of us were single handing... kinda puts the 1 in 6 chance a bit more in perspective... especially as in 2200 miles I saw only one ship... dunno where this busy shipping area comes from.. in 3 crossings grouped over 4 years I saw maybe 7 ships in total... night and day..
Yes... this may come as a surprise.. we spend time up top after dark.. drowse a bit.. star gaze a bit.. drowse some more then around 4am actually hit the sack till dawn.. I find that's when I kinda fold..
Something to do with Bio rhythms.. I call it.. feeling cold..

[goboatingnow]

especially as in 2200 miles I saw only one ship

Correction , in 2200 miles, while you were awake and looking around you, you saw only one ship….

dave

[captain58sailin]

I met two couples that sailed together on two separate vessels from Australia to Alaska, and when we talked about their routine, they would douse the sails to make tea during the day and at night would put out a sea anchor and go to sleep, then in the morning haul in the sea anchor and get underway. No close calls and they were able to stay close enough to each other to arrive in port on the same day. Like the other ne er do wells here when I single hand, which is most of the time, I nod at the wheel for short periods. It is a right place and time thing. I don't go below to the bunk unless at anchor. If I were going to go for a lay down, I would douse the sails and put out a sea anchor, keep the lights on. With crew, you can do a 6 hour on 6 hour off rotation for a long time, or 3 and 3, I've known some who do an 8 and 8. Seems like this subject comes up on a fairly regular basis. Maybe the OP could take a look at previous threads, this one pretty much looks like a retread of the last one on this subject, same opinions by the same posters. Me included : ))

[barnaclejim]

hey Sailors , just a thought about watches on long passages. We are usually just two on passages up to 4 days but often take crew on longer crossings. I found that a spring loaded timer that you set for 10 ot 15 min clutched tightly to your chest. When nothing is happening and its 3 am or so , allows me to close my eyes and rest. I have never fallen asleep and always open my eyes way before the timer goes off, and feel rested and especially in my eyes , which after several days of open too much feel like they have sand and corruption in them. It surprised me how much rest I can get that way. I otherwise did not allow myself to close my eyes or I might drop off and then wake with that adrenalyn rush that makes you bolt upright and say Sheeit whos commin? This works well for us on a quiet peaceful night passage

[noelex 77]

My wife and I always sail without crew.

I don't believe offshore there is a need to keep lookout continuously in the sense that you cannot go down and get a meal, coffee, put on warm clothes, or even read a book. (Note at night you need to preserve your dark adaptation as much as possible)
However a good horizon scan needs to be done regularly.
In practice watching the sea and stars slide by is one the great joys of sailing, so for us time in the cockpit is the most common.

With two able crew there is absolutely no need to go to sleep, or even be sleepy on watch. You should be able to get plenty of sleep off watch with two crew. A priority when off watch is to sleep.
My wife and I use a simple watch schedule. Instead of formal, timed watches we stay on watch until sleepy then swap. This can be one hour, or 10 hours.
If off watch and we wake up the question is to on watch person "can you go to sleep" if yes we swap.

Sleep is vital offshore with only a two person crew. Sleepy people make mistakes. Staying well rested means there is plenty of reserve if a problem arises.

Of course singlehanded sailors don't have this luxury and must accept some combination of reduced lookout and sleep deprivation. In boats with a larger crew a good lookout with well rested crew is easy to achieve. With two people try to find a system that works for you and achieves the same proficiency as a larger crew.

Try the variable watch schedule, it works for us.

[noelex 77]

Some boats do make it difficult for themselves. An important, but often neglected priority in an offshore boat is to have easy 360 degree visibility. Preferably from a reasonably sheltered location.

Also try to set up night illumination so that dark adaptation can be preserved.

AIS and radar are great tools, but vision is still king.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

My wife and I always sail without crew.

I don't believe offshore there is a need to keep lookout continuously in the sense that you cannot go down and get a meal, coffee, put on warm clothes, or even read a book. (Note at night you need to preserve your dark adaptation as much as possible)
However a good horizon scan needs to be done regularly.
In practice watching the sea and stars slide by is one the great joys of sailing, so for us time in the cockpit is the most common.

With two able crew there is absolutely no need to go to sleep, or even be sleepy on watch. You should be able to get plenty of sleep off watch with two crew. A priority when off watch is to sleep.
My wife and I use a simple watch schedule. Instead of formal, timed watches we stay on watch until sleepy then swap. This can be one hour, or 10 hours.
If off watch and we wake up the question is to on watch person "can you go to sleep" if yes we swap.

Sleep is vital offshore with only a two person crew. Sleepy people make mistakes. Staying well rested means there is plenty of reserve if a problem arises.

Of course singlehanded sailors don't have this luxury and must accept some combination of reduced lookout and sleep deprivation. In boats with a larger crew a good lookout with well rested crew is easy to achieve. With two people try to find a system that works for you and achieves the same proficiency as a larger crew.

Try the variable watch schedule, it works for us.

We more or less follow this, but we use 3 hour watches. Although if we start getting tired and drowsy - swap! On the other hand, if you're wide awake and feeling fine - we let the other one sleep.

We do go below to make more coffee, put on a sweater, go to the head or whatever.

No reading working on pc though - when you are on watch - you are on watch.

Both of us simply enjoy watching the stars and moon - it is part of what cruising is all about. We don't think of it as sleep deprivation.

Sometimes we bunk down on the cockpit deck - we have a mattress that is especially sewn to fill 1/2 the cockpit.