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31-08-2010, 01:54
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Otautahi, Aotearoa
Boat: Alan Pape. Ebbtide 33'
Posts: 104
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Watchkeeping System for Two ?
about to embark on a multi week passage
What watchkeeping systems do people use when there are two people
(both relatively experienced)
not "partners"
.
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31-08-2010, 02:15
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Boat: Mason 53
Posts: 652
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G'day, mate. Night watches are 2 hours on, 2 hours off. If the weather and sea conditions are in our comfortable zone, we might stretch it to 3. We let the watch schedule kind of "float" during the day if the conditions will allow it. Sail safe. Cheers.
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31-08-2010, 02:27
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#3
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cat herder, extreme blacksheep
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: furycame alley , tropics, mexico for now
Boat: 1976 FORMOSA yankee clipper 41
Posts: 18,967
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we sailed a near year with 4 on 4 off - got enough sleep and were able to keep awake on watch. 2 hours is a bit short.6 hours a tad long. if stormy , we would see how bad each had to work and cut the watches a bit short - but that interfered with our sleep patterns and we got exhausted-- so we kept 4 on 4 off pattern for a near year.
others said they did 6 on 6 off--that worked for them. i prefer the 4 hour watch.
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31-08-2010, 03:55
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#4
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Registered User
Join Date: May 2003
Location: New Bern, NC
Boat: Prout Manta 38' Catamaran - Sunspot Baby
Posts: 1,521
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We like 3 on and three off through the night and flexible through the day. If you are not partners as you say, then a duty roster so that each person does all duties on a rotating basis is nice. No one becomes a galley slave. Pleasant and unpleasant duties are shared equally.
George
__________________
She took my address and my name
Put my credit to shame
Sunspot Baby, sure had a real good time
Bob Seger
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31-08-2010, 04:44
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2009
Posts: 36
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When my wife and I sailed around the world in the 1980s, including southern oceans and the arctic, we used the following:
7am to 8am - Breakfast together
8 am to 12 - Watch 1
12 to 1pm - Lunch together
1pm to 5pm - Watch 2
5pm to 7pm - Dinner together
7pm to 11pm - Watch 3
11pm to 3am - Watch 4
3am to 7am - Watch 5
Automatically "dogs" which we really like for long trips. Off-going watch cooks, on-coming watch cleans. We are very rigid about our watches. We feel that it keeps us well rested in the event that bad weather shows up.
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31-08-2010, 05:06
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#6
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 741
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watches
We too are rigid about our watches, we do three hours at night and four hours during the day. We are thinking about going to two six hour watches during the day. I always cook and whichever of us is the off watch cleans up.
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31-08-2010, 06:01
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Liveaboard KW FL/Bocas del Toro
Boat: Shuttlecat 32
Posts: 286
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I think the watch system is also partially dependent on the type of boat you are sailing, and the autopilot/self steering system.
Our boat is wet, fast, and can occasionally be unforgiving. So we typically never try to exceed two hour watches so that the crew can stay on top of their game. Anything more in our experience and we find that the crew is not as sharp as they should be.
Cheers
__________________
Ship O' Fools
It was the Law of the Sea, they said. Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top. - HST
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31-08-2010, 06:04
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#8
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Nearly an old salt
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Lefkas Marina ,Greece
Boat: Bavaria 36
Posts: 22,801
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I think its important to maintain the watch system during the day, as otherwise the supposed offwatch never knows that they are really on or off. Its important that off watchs go below and sleep even in the daytime as otherwise the tirdness builds up and the night watches get difficult.
Dave
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31-08-2010, 06:19
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: On the boat - Carib, Chesapeake
Boat: 58 Taswell AS
Posts: 1,139
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3 on 3 off during the night and less regimented during the day. Should the autopilot die and it has, 2 hours is all one can take in rough conditions. of course, no one leaves the cockpit without the other on deck. I really like at least three on long trips with one sleeping in the cockpit.
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31-08-2010, 06:19
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: caribbean winter, Durango,CO summer
Boat: Nordhavn 5740
Posts: 455
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Four 3 hour watches 6PM to 6AM,two 6 hour watches 6AM to 6 PM. During the day, if one person is wide awake during their off watch the other can catch a nap. Works for us on passage.
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31-08-2010, 06:25
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 741
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shipofools
I think the watch system is also partially dependent on the type of boat you are sailing, and the autopilot/self steering system.
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I agree. Our boat is old and slow and very forgiving and sails well under wind vane so three and four hour watches are not a burden. I've learned to sleep fast but can't sleep fast enough to do it in a two-hour period.
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31-08-2010, 06:51
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#12
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Long Range Cruiser
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Australian living on "Sea Life" currently in England.
Boat: Beneteau 393 "Sea Life"
Posts: 12,822
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We have (had) the most wonderful system! Allows plenty of sleep!
0000-0400
0400-0800
0800-1300
1300-1900
1900-2400
Person ON-watch cooks meal is had at change of watch
Only chore done are done by person on-watch. The other person bunks down
Every second night you get a wonderful looooooooooong sleep at night
Mark
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31-08-2010, 07:15
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#13
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CF Adviser
Join Date: Oct 2007
Boat: Van Helleman Schooner 65ft StarGazer
Posts: 10,280
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragon701
When my wife and I sailed around the world in the 1980s, including southern oceans and the arctic, we used the following:
7am to 8am - Breakfast together
8 am to 12 - Watch 1
12 to 1pm - Lunch together
1pm to 5pm - Watch 2
5pm to 7pm - Dinner together
7pm to 11pm - Watch 3
11pm to 3am - Watch 4
3am to 7am - Watch 5
Automatically "dogs" which we really like for long trips. Off-going watch cooks, on-coming watch cleans. We are very rigid about our watches. We feel that it keeps us well rested in the event that bad weather shows up.
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I like that one..
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31-08-2010, 12:21
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Chesapeake Bay
Boat: HR 40
Posts: 3,651
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Whatever you choose, focus on off-watch rest time. Anything less than four hours isn't going to keep you rested. 4-on/4-off works fine for a long time but the off-watch person needs to be resting, not cooking or cleaning or chatting on the radio. Even in daytime the offwatch needs to rest.
YMMV.
__________________
sail fast and eat well, dave
AuspiciousWorks
Beware cut and paste sailors
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31-08-2010, 12:30
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#15
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Nevada City. CA
Boat: Sceptre 41
Posts: 3,857
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I like 3 on 3 off at night and then 6 on 6 off in the day. It worked well for myself and my crew. We took turns cooking and cleaning and stuff. AP steered the entire trip. We were very rested at the end of a 750 mile uphill motor sail. We stopped once in Turtle Bay for fuel and 8 hours of sleep then we were wind bound for five nights. I think that helped with the rest. Otherwise we just kept on pushing. Also at night we always had less sail up then we needed. eg If the conditions called for a full main we would put a reef in before dark. If the conditions called for a reef at night we would put in two. That really helped us prevent having to call the off watch person out of their bunk.
__________________
Fair Winds,
Charlie
Between us there was, as I have already said somewhere, the bond of the sea. Besides holding our hearts together through long periods of separation, it had the effect of making us tolerant of each other's yarns -- and even convictions. Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad
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