Singlehanding - Sleeping - Good Idea ?

[cooper]

...This condition is somtimes called a micro sleep..here in Australia we have road saftey awareness adds stating " a micro sleep can kill in seconds"..

[svbeausoleil]

Sailors,
I hate singlehanding but I hate worse having bad crew aboard. Sometimes ya just have to do it. I've crossed the pacific twice and the indian once alone and on 24' boats. The nights were the worse. Generally I cat napped 5 minutes at a time. These days people are jealous I can fall asleep in seconds, but hey, I've lots of experience.
Want to know more check out my websites:

sailingbooks.googlepages.com
or
education.of.a.falcon.googlepages.com

Happy sailing
Mike

[rsn48]

Amgine, I'm with you on night sailing. At one point in my life I had done more night sailing than day, hanging out with all my alcoholic sailing buddies in the mid-80's we went out during all the months in the Pacific North West, sailing mostly from Point Roberts to the San Juan Islands.

I've also sailed a number of times from RVYC through Polier pass to inner Gulf Islands, usually leaving around 7:00 PM at night and not arriving until two AM. There is a lot less boat and shipping traffic. The pleasure boaters are afraid to boat at night, the cruise ships have already left; the ferry traffic is shut down, with only the occassional freighter and tug with barge.

Did I tell you about the time I ran out of gas on a buddies sail boat under the Lions Gate Bridge at 11:00 PM at night with some freighters coming in....now that was interesting. For others reading this, your not allowed to sail under the Lions Gate Bridge; there was no wind anyways.

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by rsn48

For others reading this, your not allowed to sail under the Lions Gate Bridge; there was no wind anyways.

Who would want to. That is one rough piece of water with the tidal currents and trying to dodge all the traffic, especially all the powerboaters..........._/)

[svbeausoleil]

Cooper,
Hey, guy. It takes 10 to 15 minutes for a ship to travel from the horizion to your boat. Won't happen in 5 minutes. If you are on the Indian side of Australia where all the whale attacks take place, thats scary! I've been attacked twice by whales in the Indian Ocean once in a Columbia 24; once in a Dickerson 41. Read about it in:
sailingbooks.googlepages.com

Mike

[cooper]

Mike I was refering to the condition that allows you to "zone out" whilst your eyes are still open. If you have ever been very tired whilst driving and suddenly realised that you are not exactly sure where you are or what has happened in the last few minutes, thats a micro sleep. It is quite possible to run straight into a tree --with your eyes open-- hence the advertising slogan for ROAD saftey. I do realise that it takes more than a few seconds for most boats to come over the horizon and wack you, unless of course its a f 18 with the ultimate in ground hugging radar !! As for the whales, what can you do ? Maybee we should stop eating them and they wont be so pissed off ; )

[dcstrng]

<If you have ever been very tired whilst driving and suddenly realized…>

Yep… an executive chauffer friend of mine calls this “road hypnosis.” Very dangerous because one doesn’t go through the usual nodding etc., etc., but suddenly realizes you’ve moved on for 30-40 minutes and can’t recall any of it… after long stretches have run into it sailing and motorcycling, as well as driving… a subtle warning that it’s time to do something to help refocus on the mission at hand.

[vinneg24]

thats insane...its like the elian gonzalez story...dolphins saved him too

[Reality Check]

Originally Posted by dcstrng

<If you have ever been very tired whilst driving and suddenly realized…>

Yep… an executive chauffer friend of mine calls this “road hypnosis.” Very dangerous because one doesn’t go through the usual nodding etc., etc., but suddenly realizes you’ve moved on for 30-40 minutes and can’t recall any of it… after long stretches have run into it sailing and motorcycling, as well as driving… a subtle warning that it’s time to do something to help refocus on the mission at hand.

Heck that occurs to me every morning... I get in the car, start it and the next thing I know I' pulling into my parking space at work.....This is particularly irritating when I was intending to go to the grocery store for snacks on the weekend!!!!

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by Reality Check

Heck that occurs to me every morning... I get in the car, start it and the next thing I know I' pulling into my parking space at work.....

Me too. I've been working hard on this. I can now leave my house and not remember anything until I get home at night.

I am trying to get to the point where I zone out on everything between boat debarkings and embarkings...

[Reality Check]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

Me too. I've been working hard on this. I can now leave my house and not remember anything until I get home at night.

I am trying to get to the point where I zone out on everything between boat debarkings and embarkings...

ROFLMAO.....

[starfish62]

I might be getting a little new agey here, but I SWEAR that you can intuit another boat's presence after a few days alone. I came from below one evening from cooking dinner and saw that I was passing within a mile of a tuna clipper. I was cooking pasta, and just suddenly was struck with the urge to go above and have a look around.

[Reality Check]

smells fishy... LOL

[Viking Sailor]

I think it was Hal Roth who wrote in one of his books about leaving Panama for the South Pacific and waking up in the middle of the night to find a friends boat passing by on a slightly different course and just a few feet away. The crews of both boats were sleeping below with only a white lamp lit in the cockpit. So, I guess the moral of this story is that one should always keep a white light lit in the cockpit at night and all will be well! <G>

[starfish62]

MMM. RC might be on to something aromatic.