Night Watches

[ABAYLEY]

What hours/shifts/watches do you recommend for two people sailing long distance?
Would 6 hour long watches (6pm-midnight and midnight-6am) be too long?

Thank you!

[Anjin San]

2 on 2 off - that will keep your mind right.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Anjin San

2 on 2 off - that will keep your mind right.

Not enough sleep in 2 hour watches. IMHO.

[idpnd]

There are a couple of established systems mostly depending on the number of crew (or "teams"). Watch system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[muskoka]

I'll poll the cruiser couples at the club over the next couple of days.

We're planning 4 hour watches but will shorten the watch if it's cold, stormy, rough, busy, near landfall, etc. Likewise if it's warm and calm we may stretch them out to 5 or 6 hours.

[Caribsailors]

Ive done trips with two onboard a couple of times. We tried 4 hours and then we settled on 3. The last trip we tried 4 hours during daylight & 3 hours from 1800 to 0600. That was quite comfortable.

[ozskipper]

3 on 3 off is my preferred for two people. But everyone will have a different opinion based on thier own sleep habits. the last watch before dawn is the worst. YAWN!

Personally, I would prefer 3 people for a long haul. 2 on 4 off. Its much more tollerable.

Cheers
Oz

[MarcW]

Originally Posted by ozskipper

3 on 3 off is my preferred for two people. But everyone will have a different opinion based on thier own sleep habits. the last watch before dawn is the worst. YAWN!

Personally, I would prefer 3 people for a long haul. 2 on 4 off. Its much more tollerable.

Cheers
Oz

Same on this ship but only 2 POB,s

[boatman61]

I usually get my crew.... who usually can sleep at the drop of a hat.. (its amazing... they close their eyes and 2mins later they're snoring...). to cover the midnight to 3am or 1am to 4am depending on the situation... then I'm on watch or standby again for the rest of the day.
Just cant sleep in the day unless I'm exhausted... which is rare

[Hannah on 'Rita T']

We do 3 on and 3 off at night and either 4 or 6 during the day. That way everyone gets to share the joys of 2 am to 5 am.

[PamlicoTraveler]

We always rotate the Graveyard Shift (1-4AM) so that each person gets to enjoy it. With 4 people we always have 2 hours on and 2 hours as a backup sleeping or resting in the cockpit until needed.

[Sunspot Baby]

3 and 3 from 1800 to 0600. In daylight we trade based on how we feel or who has other duties to perform. The first night is the toughest.

We are only two on board.

George

[MarkJ]

Our very sucessful system:

0000-0400
0400-0800
0800-1300
1300-1900
1900-2400

Person on watch does the cooking. Meals eaten on change of watch.

It gives LONG night sleeps everyone is rested and happy Every second day you get 9 hours sleep in 13 hours
The longer day you only cook once


Dame finest system I've ever used and for 2 people without a doubt one that needs to be tried

[Kay Koudele]

While there were only 2 of us, for night watches our third, most important crew, was the kitchen timer. A cardinal "rule" for us- If things were calm, before sitting down at night, we'd set the timer for 15 minutes. IF we were to fall asleep, the timer would wake us. (It rang only once- our internal clocks did the rest!)
www.kaykoudele.blogspot.com

[swagman]

Cruising is not like a race crew system not just because of numbers, but also the need to spend some time together.
We agreed our shared time was a minimum of 1800 to 2000 for drinkies, evening meals prepped and eaten, engines run to charge batteries, watermaker run. Day time a minimum of 0900 to 1000.
Between then it was me down 2000 to 0100.
Sue down 0100 to 0600.
Me down 0600 to 0900.
Breakfast together 0900 to 1000 and engine run if needed.
Then flexible day shift usually 2 or 3 hours on and off. Lots of time we were both up.
That style of watch system may not work for others but worked really good for us - which is what I think really matters.
JOHN