Sailing at Night

[Olemissreb11]

Im trying to learn all i can about sailing and i was just curious if i were traveling a far distsnce and wasnt really close to a shore or anything and i wanted to sleep.. What is the smartest thing to do. Just anchor it until you wake up and continue from there or what? I wanna travel the world someday so i figured sometimes i wont be close to anything! Ha

[zeehag]

i make sure i am far enough off shore to not hit anything if i should fall asleep for a few minuets.if i have crew, i make sure i am at least a good 4 hour watch off shore--plus some--i like 40 + miles off. boat cannot get to the beach in 4 hours if 40+miles from shore . and ye donot wanna sleep below if soloing

[ozskipper]

For coastal waters its a good idea to have crew and do over night watches. In the big blue its not so imperative if you are out of the shipping lanes. But most single handers learn to live on 15 mins sleep at a time especially in busy areas.

[lockie]

Kitchen timer, kitchen timer, kitchen timer................................

[savoir]

Or . . . . . . . these could be even better. No batteries, cheap, crude and effective - a lot like me.


http://www.amazon.com/Elgin-Twin-Ala...312592&sr=8-13

[Reefmagnet]

I think the stock answer is it takes 20 minutes for anything you see on the horizon to reach you, so in theory naps of less then 20 minutes, whilst not really permissible in accordance with the COLREGS, should help keep you out of harms way whilst still catching some z's.

I don't think it is practical to anchor out in the deep blue, but you can heave to or lie ahull to give yourself and the boat a bit of a breather and probably enlarge that 20 minute window as well.

Then again, you always hear stories off solo yachties that just do whatever and sleep for however long they please once out of the shipping lanes. Statistics could be slewed in favour of the lucky ones in this circumstance, however

[Victory49]

Originally Posted by Olemissreb11

Im trying to learn all i can about sailing and i was just curious if i were traveling a far distsnce and wasnt really close to a shore or anything and i wanted to sleep.. What is the smartest thing to do. Just anchor it until you wake up and continue from there or what? I wanna travel the world someday so i figured sometimes i wont be close to anything! Ha

Anchoring is not an option in thousands of feet of water. You should always have a watch. It's the regs and common sense.

but if solo is a must, short naps and broadcasting radar/ais with alarms set while you are hove to out of shipping lanes and at least a hundred miles offshore is the safest way to sleep.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

I think the stock answer is it takes 20 minutes for anything you see on the horizon to reach you, so in theory naps of less then 20 minutes, whilst not really permissible in accordance with the COLREGS, should help keep you out of harms way whilst still catching some z's.

I don't think it is practical to anchor out in the deep blue, but you can heave to or lie ahull to give yourself and the boat a bit of a breather and probably enlarge that 20 minute window as well.

Then again, you always hear stories off solo yachties that just do whatever and sleep for however long they please once out of the shipping lanes. Statistics could be slewed in favour of the lucky ones in this circumstance, however

....

[Inkwell]

I would recommend following Reefmagnet's and Zeehag suggestions. Be careful and be alert. I don't solo much anymore, but even with another person on board, you can get sleepy at 3 AM, odds are that you will be OK, but the 20 minute rule is a good one to follow.

[mrohr]

Anchor to sleep? average depth of worlds oceans exceeds 1/2 mile so with 3;1 scope you will need at least 1.5 miles of chain;most chain weigs approx. 1lb./ft, or somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000 lbs . Make sure you have a good windlass and your batteries are topped up.

[hugosalt]

Coastal solo brutalty taxing after several days of cat naps. Considered dangerous as judgement became impaired.
No longer will do. Told gets easier off shore. Smartest thing to
do is get a honey who is willing to share...or at least a buddy.

[Olemissreb11]

Originally Posted by mrohr

Anchor to sleep? average depth of worlds oceans exceeds 1/2 mile so with 3;1 scope you will need at least 1.5 miles of chain;most chain weigs approx. 1lb./ft, or somewhere in the neighborhood of 8000 lbs . Make sure you have a good windlass and your batteries are topped up.

Hilarious...

[senormechanico]

How big a boat would be needed to hold 1.5 miles of chain?
Of course, the bigger boat would need bigger chain...

My head hurts just thinking about it!

[Randyonr3]

A couple short ones here..
On my first trip down the California Coast a number of years ago, I traveled about 90% of the trip in the fog, and by the time I got to the channel Islands from San Francisco, about 3 days, i was a nervous wreck, with my eyes glued to the radar and ears straining to hear any uasual sounds of on comming traffic.. but about an hour after pulling into Santa barbara, Another boat pulled in behind me....said he had followed me down the coast and had seen me on his radar..
I mentioned how crappy the trip was, being glued to the radar and afraid to go to sleep...He laughed at me being a newbe to ocean cruising and told me that it was his best trip ever, as you couldnt see anything, so his answer was to set the Alarm on the radar to 6 miles and curl up with a blanket and a good book under the dodger and relax..........if it got within 6 miles, the alarm would go off.......

Fast forward a number of years and I'm on my return trip down from Alaska where we spent a great season.. The wife drove the Jeep back down and I brought the boat....
Headed out about about 60 to 80 miles off the pacific shelf and set a rumn line to Sanfrancisco.. set the alarm for 6 miles and spent the next 2 weeks in sailing bliss, sleeping when i was tired, and doing whatever when I needed to..
I did find that I liked staying up most of the night and sleeping durring the day for a couple hours each time.. the old idea of grabbing 20 minutes here and there just dint work for me..
I'm in the process of gearing the boat up for the Single Handed Transpac and the sleeping pattern is the least of my worries

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Olemissreb11

What is the smartest thing to do.

In a word - crew.