Watch system?

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by boatman61

If you split yourself 'A' and the 21day passage guy 'C' you'll have the inexperienced owners (B and D) covered by at least one of you with experience at all times.. when I say 'standby watch' I mean close to hand, awake and dressed, but not necessarily exposed to the elements, doing other little jobs.. prepping the next meal.. maybe navigation/system checks etc.
Most of my deliveries owner assist and crewed have been myself plus one where I'm actively 'on' 20hrs with occasional power naps in the salon and sleep properly for 4.. with instructions to call me for anything they're unsure about/sail/weather changes.
Lets face it.. the AP does most all the work under way..

Jackdale, as you well know and what Boatie well describes above.. is exactly the reality of a long ocean delivery with novice crew.

I would split with the other experienced watch keeper 6 on / 6 off as formal watch.

The other 2 Lookouts do same but offset by 3 hours so that you have a fresh person on watch every 3 hours in the 2 person team.

When conditions are good, one person on deck, the other doing other duties and on call.

As boatie says...skipper is always on call, but after a tough period, he may need that 2nd duty person to stand watch while he catnaps.

This is what I did for years with 4 crew
Skipper 12-6 am & pm
Mate. 6-12 am & pm
A duty. 3-9 am & pm
B duty. 9-3. am & pm

A duty was the most talented cook
I always took the night watch so that no one complained also as winds often build up in afternoon, I was already on watch

[skipmac]

Since most of my long passages were around the Caribbean I always used very flexible watch schedules, often changing from day to day, depending on crew and conditions. Only had a couple of trips with four on board, almost all three a couple double handed, one short trip solo.

Very often I was doing a delivery with one or two totally green hands so set watches based on the crew, their demonstrated skills after a few days on the boat, wind/weather conditions, location and what I consider three important concerns.

First the three

1. REST. Make sure watches are set so everyone gets enough rest. A tired crew makes mistakes and if an emergency occurs are not able to contribute the max when needed most.

2. Work with the strengths and preferences of the crew. Some like the 0400-0800. Some like the 2000-2400. Some like the same shifts every day, some hate that.

3. Most experience hands of course on watch in the most demanding conditions. So, if in any area or situation requiring tight navigation (reef areas, shipping channels, etc) I would always take the critical watches or at least be on deck frequently and make sure I was called in advance of any critical areas.

To get good rest I prefer a least three hour watches at night so the off watch crew can get longer sleep periods. Two on deck would be nice but with a short handed crew I think there would be a big impact on sleep. With green crew I would always be the second one on deck for sail changes, extra lookout or whatever.

In settled conditions with working AP and three person crew I would often keep informal watch schedules during the day. If one person needed some extra rest let him/her sleep and someone else stand a long watch. Cook gets time off during the day (and by the way, cook doesn't wash dishes).

Overall would keep a flexible schedule but would set up formal night watches to suit but even then allow changes as appropriate. Feeling rested, enjoying the night, watching the stars then hang in another hour if you want. Feeling beat or quesy, ask the next guy if he/she minds coming on early.

[AiniA]

My experience has been mainly with two people onboard. We have used a flexible system. During the day we do not have formal watches. Basically one of us is in the cockpit doing some work, reading, or just enjoying the day - they keep an eye out both visually and on AIS. At night we use three hour watches - we just find four hours too long. We adjust the starting time of these watches to when it gets dark rather than using fixed hours. In the tropics the nights are quite long but their starting time varies depending on whether you are near the east or west side of the time zone you are in. The result is that we might start the watch at 630 or 730 or whatever makes sense. We also don't rotate watches since my wife can't sleep early in the evening while I can. The result is that she is on watch (+ or -) 7 to 10 and 1 to 4. She likes to sleep in in the morning (daylight wakes we up typically). so it works well.

[CarlF]

I've used the Modified Swedish system for long voyages but I often have 48 hour to 5 day trips. With these short trips, it seems that by the time you are into the watch system's rhythm, you have arrived.

I've tried this system on shorter trips with 3 standing watch (a,b,c). It gives everyone an "ashore" 7 to 8 hours of sleep during the night and requires no "start-up" adjustment period. Everyone is awake for dinner. A daytime nap is permitted (although rarely needed) as long as two are left on watch. All cooking, maintenance, and chores are done during daylight. It does leave only one on watch so isn't suitable in a race or if night sail changes are routine.

Perhaps I've been lucky, but each trip has had someone who preferred each slot (e.g. a night owl who normally stays up to 1AM, one who likes two 4 hour sleeps with a 2 hour night watch in the middle, and an "early riser" who had no problem starting his day at 3AM)

Three crew standing watches a,b,c

HH:MM On-Watch -- Sleep

19:00 abc --
20:00 ab -- c
21:00 a -- cb
22:00 a -- cb
23:00 a -- cb
24:00 a -- cb
01:00 b -- ca
02:00 b -- ca
03:00 c -- ab
04:00 c -- ab
05:00 c -- ab
06:00 c -- ab
07:00 bc -- a
08:00 abc --