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Old 17-01-2018, 13:09   #1
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Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

Hello CF,

I'm scheduling my first offshore passage for later this spring and I am working on many details including a 24 hour watch schedule.

We have a crew of 5 which gives us several options for a watch plan.

I was hoping to get some feedback from experienced passage makers on watch tips. I'm mainly interested on safety recommendations. These are some of my thoughts for nighttime safety:

0 Reef sails prior to nightfall to avoid leaving cockpit if possible?
0 Three hour watches have 1st and 3rd hours overlapped with a second
watch person.
0 Never leave the cockpit without a 2nd watch person present.
0 Along with wearing a life vest and attaching to a lifeline, I'm thinking of
a mandatory rule of wearing a flotation suit?

Any comments, recommendations or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jeff
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Old 17-01-2018, 13:29   #2
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

Tether if going on-deck, and perhaps in the cockpit, is more important than flotation. If you go over in the dark, there's less than 50% chance you'll get back on the boat, even if someone sees you go over and does everything right. Which reminds me - no pissing over the side after dark. It's the number one way men go over.

Call the captain if there is any doubts. That means that you must wake up with a smile and instantly say "thank you for waking me" ... every time.

Tell them it's OK to be off-deck to visit the head or make coffee. It's not reasonable, or necessary, to be constantly watching if you're on-watch. Things are not that fast-moving off-shore out of shipping lanes. Walking around is normal, but don't wake the watch below.
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Old 17-01-2018, 14:29   #3
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

Off going night time watch wakes oncoming with a hot drink.
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Old 17-01-2018, 14:43   #4
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

I just don't buy the reef before night fall approach. We reef when the conditions call for it. There is no point in having your boat bobbing around in rolly seas for 12 hrs because you don't have enough sail up to drive it.

That said for a small crew, I much prefer a reefing setup where at least the first reef can be put in the main from the cockpit only.
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Old 17-01-2018, 16:56   #5
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

On our delivery passages with four experienced crewmembers we have one person on watch. If one of the crew is less experienced, we set them up with another watchstander, usually switching off halfway through the greenhorn's watch. If you are going with one person on watch, then a thee-hour watch gives everybody plenty of time for chores and sleep. Usually on a delivery we have a casual "honor system" for the daytime watch schedule, and go to fixed watches in the evening.

When racing, we usually have six on board. We have two on watch at a time (we hand-steer, and generally trade off every half hour). Each watch lasts thee hours. Halfway through your watch, your partner goes off and someone else comes on. After two weeks of this we are usually a bit fatigued, but it's not bad.

There are many approaches here. You can set up a schedule where the schedule "rotates", and you aren't always stuck with the 0400 watch (for example). Look at "Swedish" watch schedule, which has varying watch lengths for day and night. Look at "dog watches". I've settled on a fixed schedule for our Hawaii runs, but since we go through three timezones on the trip we see some variety. We keep the boat on GMT while at sea.

On VALIS we wear PFDs and tethers when topsides at sea. We don't reef unless we need to.
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Old 17-01-2018, 17:17   #6
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

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I just don't buy the reef before night fall approach. We reef when the conditions call for it. There is no point in having your boat bobbing around in rolly seas for 12 hrs because you don't have enough sail up to drive it.

That said for a small crew, I much prefer a reefing setup where at least the first reef can be put in the main from the cockpit only.
Totally agree, never reef at night unless it's called for, I know it's popular with many sailors but not this one.
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Old 17-01-2018, 18:09   #7
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

I'm keen to hear what works when sailing multi-day passages two-handed.

After sailing two-handed on an 8 day passage, I can report the scheme we used between sunset and sunrise, being 3 hours on, 3 hours off, gradually wore me down and left me really flat at the end.

There must be a better way. Or is it an individual matter - some people adapting more readily from 7-hour blocks of sleep at home to short sessions at sea?
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Old 17-01-2018, 19:52   #8
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

Some great suggestions I will add to my list.........

0 Guys, no peeing over the side !
0 If in doubt, wake the captain.
0 Greet the new watch with a cup of hot coffee or tea
0 A more casual "honor" watch schedule during the day.

Just to re-confirm, we have 5 crew so three hour watch should allow for plenty of sleep.

Thanks for these and all the other comments!

Jeff
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Old 17-01-2018, 20:06   #9
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

Some people do better at night, others not so much. Sometimes watches can be tailored to individuals other times its better to rotate watches. When my wife and i do long passages she does longer shifts at night as she can sleep anywhere at anytime. I do long day shifts, it all works out.
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Old 17-01-2018, 20:09   #10
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

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Originally Posted by Marqus View Post
I'm keen to hear what works when sailing multi-day passages two-handed.

After sailing two-handed on an 8 day passage, I can report the scheme we used between sunset and sunrise, being 3 hours on, 3 hours off, gradually wore me down and left me really flat at the end.

There must be a better way. Or is it an individual matter - some people adapting more readily from 7-hour blocks of sleep at home to short sessions at sea?
FWIW,

For the past 35 years, Ann and I have used 6 hour watches at night, and roughly 6 hours during the day, but on a casual basis. The 6 hour stints at night are long, but getting a decent chunk of sleep (5+ hours) in one go is important for avoiding fatigue issues. We each try to get an hour or more during the day, sometimes more, depending on the situation.

Lots of folks are aghast at the idea of 6 hours, but it works for us.

Oh... I take the 1800-2400 stint... I used to be a night owl, so it fit. Ann does 0000-0600, and then usually stays up for breakfast and while I participate in a daily ham net... then may sleep for a few hours. It all works out, and we're pretty well rested in decent weather. In really rough stuff we get tired, but I don't think any rearrangement of hours would cure that!

The bottom line is that you must work out a schedule that works for the individuals involved. We know couples that do 2 on, 2 off and seem to survive... it would kill me dead!

Jim
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Old 17-01-2018, 20:15   #11
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

If the fifth person is the skipper, consider that you are on call 24/7. Period. It is the most primary rule of all, to call the skipper for ANYTHING that the on watch person has any concern about, whatsoever! It should be the very first consideration, because you have responsibility not only for the boat, but also the welfare of the crew. So, you might not want to include your self in the watch pattern for the other 4. Now if you mean there is a total of 6, that is a different matter. 3 hrs. ones would do it, perhaps, depends on how often you get up during your off watch.

We reef when conditions warrant, not for night time, particularly, what if you want to fly the kite!?

Marqus, for two, Jim and I do an informal 6 on, 6 off during the day time, and a formal 6 on 6 off at night. We trained ourselves to it in our early days of cruising, when we first left the US for foreign maters. And, we do it still. Our regular watches means for us that as long as the motion isn't too heavy, the off watch gets a good enough sleep. And whatever you miss because you get up to help reef, or whatever, you make up in a short daytime sleep during the other's watch. This way, we arrive well rested after a passage. The regularity works well for us. I use melatonin to help induce sleep, 'cause it's hard to go to sleep hours earlier than normal.

We have some friends who worked it out that they would not ever have regular watches. Each stays on watch as long as they feel like. For the life of me, I have no idea how it could possibly work well, but they are happy with it.

Therefore, if you are going to become a world cruiser, then, perhaps experimentation is in order to find what works the best for you. People vary in their sleep requirements, and unless you've taught yourself how to go to sleep pretty much at will, (which I am lucky to know how to do), adjusting your schedules to your personal rhythms will help. I was always a morning person, so for me, getting up at midnight is not usually a problem, it is only a little earlier.
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Old 17-01-2018, 21:57   #12
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

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We have some friends who worked it out that they would not ever have regular watches. Each stays on watch as long as they feel like. For the life of me, I have no idea how it could possibly work well, but they are happy with it.

Therefore, if you are going to become a world cruiser, then, perhaps experimentation is in order to find what works the best for you.
The longest I've done is 4 days, but I figure that gives some idea.
When two handing with my partner, it became critical to work out when we each sleep best. I'm a night owl, she is a lark and gets up with the sun.

So what we did was;
I'd have an afternoon nap, then take the watch until 1am formally, in reality it would be until I had had enough / finished my book etc or my partner woke up herself. this gave her a 4 to 6 hour sleep.
She'd do 1 to 3 or 4, depending on how she was feeling, while I napped.
I'd do from then to dawn, when my partner would naturally be waking up. I'd then sleep for 4 or 5 hours, this was my long sleep.
Bit informal during the day, depending on how we each felt.

So we kind of did watches for as long as we felt like, but made sure that each got a long sleep when we were most inclined too.

Oh - our rule is the off watch is the one who makes coffee. The on watch is tasked with being very very quiet - but I'm a light sleeper who wakes if the engine revs change.

Hand steering I've only ever done with crews of 6 or more. In pairs, an hour each on the wheel. It would be a real struggle to handsteer a long passage with just two.

Mike

BTW - I think that the risk of falling overboard while peeing over the side is overstated - it's anecdote rather than evidence based. I can hold onto two things at once...
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Old 17-01-2018, 22:31   #13
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

I've found that up to a point, it's the time *off* watch that matters most, especially when you have a smaller crew. When your watch is over you still have chores, getting out of your foulies, etc, and when it's time for your next watch you have to spend time preparing for that. So what looks like a four-hour off-time (for example) turns into three hours of sleep at best.

And this can really catch up with you. On the last days of one trip home there were four of us and we were pretty groggy. Then the autopilot croaked (salt water fried the hydraulic drive motor because of a leaking rudder shaft seal and a plugged limber-hole). Then the wind died and the fog rolled in. We had to motor and hand-steer -- the windvane doesn't work when there's no wind. I had been getting less sleep than the others, because I was also navigating and running the race-return SSB net, and I found that I couldn't hand-steer for more than fifteen minutes in those conditions before I started hallucinating. The lack of visual clues in the fog really did me in, and the compass card in front of my face appeared to be spinning in circles. There was no way I could hold a course. The other crewmembers were also affected, but not as badly as me.

So I altered our watch schedule from three hours on, to two hours. This was a mistake -- we got even less sleep on average and it only made things worse.

And in general, for the first couple of days it can be really hard to settle into a watch schedule, regardless of the details. We start out all charged up, the noise makes sleeping difficult, etc. While as skipper I insist that the crew get their rest, there is still usually an initial sleep deficit before people get accustomed to the schedule. Earplugs help, and after a few days the combination of acclimatizing and fatigue add up and you will be able to sleep standing on your head. But be diligent after you set out.
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Old 17-01-2018, 22:37   #14
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

Thanks everyone for taking the time to provide input.

Unfortunately this thread has been hijacked into a discussion on watch schedules for a 2 person crew.

As I stated in my original post, we have a 5 person crew so the watch schedule is not really a concern, although I'll definitely check out the Swedish and Dog Watch plans.

What I was hoping to receive were suggestions related to safety during a night watch.

I've already received several helpful recommendations that I plan on incorporating into our plan.

Thanks again,
Jeff
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Old 17-01-2018, 22:38   #15
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Re: Offshore Nighttime Watch Guidelines

On my first Hawaii race there were four of us, with two on watch and four hours on, four hours off. I did maintenance, navigation and communications, the others did cooking and other chores. After two weeks we were pretty wiped out. At least we only had to steer for half our watch.

I don't know how the doublehand racers do it. A friend of mine has done doublehanded and singlehanded races to Hawaii, and he told me that the singlehanded race was easier, since he had no choice but to use the autopilot.
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