Sleeping Aboard

[MissTake2]

After living aboard for almost a year now...the soundness in my slumber, is dependant upon the expense in the sound I hear...IE: gentle clanging = Peaceful, Crash...Wide awake, that sounded expensive.

[feelsgood]

its only the angles singing to you

[charliehows]

i "borrowed" a mooring last week, woke up for no reason i could discern at 4 in the morning, went up on deck as usual, for a looksee, silent flat calm beautiful night but i gradually perceived that the space between me and the next boat seemed to be shrinking. by the time i dumped the now adrift mooring line and got my motor up i was down to about a foot away. Dont know which noise woke me but thats what the noises are for.

[Eleven]

My bro had some odd experiences like that. Mainly single handing. Woke one night in the middle of his fifteen minutes to find the faint line of a reef ahead, un-marked. Reckoned he would never ignore one of those 'feelings' ever again.

[sinbad7]

Anchored for the night on the river Colne above Mersey Island,I had paid out most of my anchor chain owing to strong wind forecast. Late at night,before turning in,I noticed a couple of large ex Thames sand barges dropping anchor,one rather close,upstream of me. They spent surprisingly little time with the anchoring process and shortly thereafter disappeared below,never to be seen on deck again.

I tried raising them on the VHF to warn them of their far too close anchorage and the forthcoming squall during the night,but to no avail. Their sister ship (barge) had,more sensibly,anchored a good way off with plenty of clearance.

I spent a restless night,periodically checking the position of the barge looming up ahead in the darkness until I realized to my horror that she was indeed dragging her anchor,in MY direction and coming down OVER my anchor chain which was already paid out to the limit.

At around 2 am,she was so close,I dared not delay any longer and started the engine,fastened the end of my anchor chain to one of my big fenders and scuppered it overboard.

After some searching around in the dark I luckily found a vacant mooring buoy a little further upstream and tied up for the rest of the night.

In the morning,I was able to raise the other barge by VHF and inquired as to whether they had noticed the stupid and hazardous behavior of their companion. This skipper seemed more experienced and made a great apology,shortly thereafter telling his companion in no uncertain terms to immediately pick up all my chain and fender and bring it to me with an apology.
Later that evening we all had a jolly time at the local Brightlingsea Yachting Club.

Tore

[Eleven]

Good to hear there are still some seamen in charge of some of the boats.

[Night_Sailor]

I like the boats I am on to be quiet at night. I use bungee cords and short pieces of line to make everything as quiet as possible. What this does it help tell when someone else is dragging into you or swinging too close. The other boats noise is my alarm system.

[osirissail]

And even better, with the known noises like halyard slap and other noises silenced, when an unusual new noise comes on and stays on like a bilge pump I wake up before the water gets too high. But also other non-standard noises on the boat of things that should not be making noises can get my attention when the halyard noises are silenced.

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by Night_Sailor

I like the boats I am on to be quiet at night. I use bungee cords and short pieces of line to make everything as quiet as possible. What this does it help tell when someone else is dragging into you or swinging too close. The other boats noise is my alarm system.

We do this as well. It's such a simple thing that makes it much more peaceful. Just have to remember it when raising sails or you hear a snap

[rrranch]

I used to go down to the engineroom to sleep when the berthing got too loud so noises dont usually bother me. Those steam turbines on my ships were like music to me. Banging halyards on the neighbors boat are really irritating though. I have to do something about one that refuses to fix his when we get back to the boat tomorrow. Not looking forward to it.

[hellosailor]

"I have to do something about one that refuses to fix his"
Fortunately there is no marine grade crazy glue. Otherwise, those lines could get stuck to the mast something fierce, huh?

[rrranch]

I wish there was. I'm pulling out the big guns on him though. It's something I rarely do and save only for extreme circumstances. I'm sending my wife to the office to complain.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by rrranch

I'm sending my wife to the office to complain.

Jesus mate!! a bit extreme don't you think.....

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Sailor g

We do this as well. It's such a simple thing that makes it much more peaceful. Just have to remember it when raising sails or you hear a snap

Someone else suggested a really easy anchor drag alarm, since the one on my chart plotter is so soft AND in the cockpit:

You use a very small, lightweight river anchor, and run the line through an opening in the boat -- a vent (mine are screend), or an open hatch -- mine is virtually always open at night when out.

You drop the rode down to the floor of the cabin to a pot. If you drag, the pot hits the roof of the cabin, makes a racket, and wakes you up.

I heard that in email from a forum user. This place is great!

[goboatingnow]

Why not attach it to your toe , sure fire wake up