Fifth question: Sailing alone, and sleep

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by dadster3

Such an interesting question. As I anticipate being a single handed sailor at some point I have tried to come up with a useful sleep strategy. Anyone who has been in the military has spent periods of at least 24 hrs. w/o sleep. So I think I could go w/o sleep for that period of time, longer in a pinch, then find a place to put in/anchor so I can catch up relatively undisturbed. Anyone tried this?

Of course after, say, 36-48 hrs, alertness and efficiency fall off considerably, but 24 hrs. is really not that bad. The best idea is to make your hops short enough that your need for sleep is not overtaxed very often.

I have been single-handing up and down the East Coast of the US for the last 13 years. Most of the time I sail daylight only, inlet to inlet, and anchor and sleep at night.
One time that is firmly imbedded in my memory though, I had to make a run from Southport, NC around Cape Fear and in at Beaufort, and up the ICW to Oriental, NC nonstop to stay ahead of a storm that was chasing me. It was a 32 hour run and even with a 15 minute nap about every two hours during the night it took me 14 hours of sleep the next day to catch up.
I have read that with some practice you can do better than that but I would rather not unless I had to. I was really pretty fuzzy for the last eight hours of that trip.

S/V Finlandia

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by Siberian Sea

I sail long distance alone and use a windvane auto pilot. One thing that makes life better for me is the use of cheap solar powered garden lights. Go to Wal Mart and buy a half dozen of these cheap lights. Having this small light near you all night gives you a feeling of security instead of just sitting there alone in the dark.

Those lights may make you feel more secure, but I suspect that they are also hard on your night vision making it much harder to keep a good night watch.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[svfinlandia]

Originally Posted by AJ_n_Audrey

Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason you can't go ICW from Beaufort to the Bay? For coastal runs, I just try to keep the transit time to 20 hours or less, and then I sleep when I get there.

For me personally (and certainly not for everyone) there are a lot of reasons for not taking the ICW. The biggest reason being that it is a long, slow and boring slog with a lot of idiots that have no knowledge of rules of the road or courtesy.
Give me the open ocean anytime. Mother nature may be unpredictable, but at least she plays by the rules.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by dadster3

Such an interesting question. As I anticipate being a single handed sailor at some point I have tried to come up with a useful sleep strategy. Anyone who has been in the military has spent periods of at least 24 hrs. w/o sleep. So I think I could go w/o sleep for that period of time, longer in a pinch, then find a place to put in/anchor so I can catch up relatively undisturbed. Anyone tried this?

Of course after, say, 36-48 hrs, alertness and efficiency fall off considerably, but 24 hrs. is really not that bad. The best idea is to make your hops short enough that your need for sleep is not overtaxed very often.

Sure we went without sleep more than 24 hours in the military, and I was all of 24 years old when I got out!

It's a bit different when you late 50's and older.

It takes days to recover at least for those of use that still have to work.

After retirement, I could see staying at anchor for a day or two to recover.

I've seen boats that appear at Kiptopeke which is at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay when I wasn't watching or was off hiking or sleeping, but you don't see the skipper for a couple days. My thinking is he /she came in off the ocean and is recovering

[boat driver]

Traffic has increased over the century so staying abreact of the technical situation is prudent seamanship.
The full transmitting/receiving AIS is probably the greatest tool followed by a VHF radio.
Be sure VHF volume is enough to wake you. Be sure you AIS is correctly configured and transmitting.
After that, it becomes a situation of simple prudent seamanship and planning. Container ships at 20 knots will avoid you with notice of the AIS: when in traffic areas plan to nap less.

[sailorboy1]

Except for sea lanes into busy shipping ports there isn't much out there really to worry about. I was off the coast of north florida for 24 hours a couple days ago and saw zero ships until i was close to the entrance coming in. If it had been calm enough to sleep i definitely would have (in the cockpit probably).

[mmedinge]

I just recently purchased a 44 cat and have single handed for the past couple weeks bringing it from Nova Scotia. I have only done one overnight solo from New York to Maryland. I have AIS which helped with all the ship traffic around New York. I was able to take 20 or 30 minute naps sitting at the helm. Further offshore would have been better as there would be no fish traps.

[AiniA]

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

Those lights may make you feel more secure, but I suspect that they are also hard on your night vision making it much harder to keep a good night watch.

Al, S/V Finlandia

I am with you on this. I want as little light as possible in the cockpit. Even the plotter turned as dark as possible is too much. On the great majority of nights it is not completely dark. With a good moon you do get moon shadows.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Originally Posted by dadster3

Such an interesting question. As I anticipate being a single handed sailor at some point I have tried to come up with a useful sleep strategy. Anyone who has been in the military has spent periods of at least 24 hrs. w/o sleep. So I think I could go w/o sleep for that period of time, longer in a pinch, then find a place to put in/anchor so I can catch up relatively undisturbed. Anyone tried this?

Of course after, say, 36-48 hrs, alertness and efficiency fall off considerably, but 24 hrs. is really not that bad. The best idea is to make your hops short enough that your need for sleep is not overtaxed very often.

Also depends on your age. I'm 61, and I'm comfortable doing 20-24 hours straight single-handed, but not more (and I was in the military and did much longer stints without sleep, but I was younger then). So my longest hop is Cape Fear River to Charleston - about 21 hours. And I have a back-up inlet / harbor along the way at Georgetown if for some reason I tire out early.

[ArmySailor]

Assuming off shore and not in a shipping lane ... Would heaving-to have any affect on the likelihood of collision? I feel like this is a problem that could be solved by math theory. Of which I have none.

My gut tells me it at least eliminates the chance of you running into a boat, but not a boat running into you. So maybe reduces the universe of possible collision vectors by half...? Or maybe that's the wrong logic.

[ChrisJHC]

Originally Posted by ArmySailor

Assuming off shore and not in a shipping lane ... Would heaving-to have any affect on the likelihood of collision? I feel like this is a problem that could be solved by math theory. Of which I have none.

My gut tells me it at least eliminates the chance of you running into a boat, but not a boat running into you. So maybe reduces the universe of possible collision vectors by half...? Or maybe that's the wrong logic.

If you are heading on a direct collision course, then going slower will reduce the chances of a head-on. If the ship is travelling at 20 knots and you’re travelling at 5, then a ship 25 nm away could run into you (assuming an hour nap).
If you’re hove-to and only travelling at 1 knot then the ship has to be within 21 nm.
So a 21/25 decrease or 16%.

If you are travelling at an angle, then I guesstimate that the odds of both vessels occupying the same patch of water at exactly the same time wouldn’t change much.

Note that, if everyone involved has AIS (range 20 nm?) then you can get 1 hour naps with a pretty high confidence you’re not going to run into another vessel.

[wmcunninghamii]

Here is my write up on my first singlehanded Longpac race out of San Francisco. I am a member of SFBay SSS and subsequently participated in two singlehanded Transpacs.

https://www.sfbaysss.org/forum/showt...port-long-post

I can tell you from direct experience that extended sleep deprivation is very very bad. It took me several months to recover. I was 64 at the time. I was lucky I didn't drive the boat into the beach.

I learned my lesson. The Longpac was a Transpac qualifier and really proved its worth.

I attempted the 20 minute wake up routine... for one night. It was like waking up to an alarm clock 20 times a night. For me it was impossible to sustain.

I started to lengthen my sleep cycles thereafter and tried to get some snoozing in during the day when I thought things were a little safer. Although once you get into the squalls down range 1000 miles, it is pretty much catch as catch can in terms of sleeping.

We have the Farallon Islands about 26 miles out. Once past the islands it is AIS and eyeballs. I have a transponder aboard as well as a backup receiver. I would always hail passing ships to verify they saw me on AIS and on radar just to make sure my stuff was working and my reflector was reflecting.

I also ran the mast top strobe at night

The worry, of course, is that you hit something hard: a log, large floating plastic junk, mostly sunken boats or containers, etc. All of these items have been encountered during the race over the years. There are really difficult to see at night and after waking up every twenty minutes for six hours you can imagine you are not in tip top lookout shape.

On balance I feel you are better off rested with respect to mental function, decision making, safety and looking out for bad stuff. You absolutely have to find a way to obtain adequate sleep.

And, BTW, I have a method of determining when I need to get sleep. When the boat squeaking begins to sound like chipmunk conversation...yep, time to get some Zs

[Jim Cate]

There are really difficult to see at night and after waking up every twenty minutes for six hours you can imagine you are not in tip top lookout shape.

If one can't see them whilst awake, then what difference does it make if you are getting some sleep?

However, in general I agree with your evaluation: getting adequate rest for your body and mind is of huge importance. But, folks vary a lot in their needs, and some seem to do well on the cat-nap regime.

Ann and I have done a lot of sea miles, and our experience is when well offshore the risk of encountering a non-watchkeeping other vessel in a collision very near zero. Possible? Yep, possible, just like being hit by falling space junk is possible.

The addition of active AIS and radar alarms reduces the risk to such a low figure that were I to take up solo sailing again I'd be happy with alarms plus an hourly check... or even every two hours. Once in traffic areas having had the good rest further out to sea would help me through the more hazardous zones. I think it a good investment!

Solo sailing is inherently dangerous for a number of reasons, yet most single handers seem to survive, and I'm not aware of any who have caused grievous harm to other sailors. A few fail to show up, just as a few crewed vessels disappear at sea, and we will never know why any of them are lost...

Jim

[Leighpilot]

Legally , no. The Colregs are pretty clear about this.

Rule 5 states: Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.

Now there will be loads of triggered single hander explaining how safe they are ,etc etc. But not one will explain how they keep “ a proper lookout by sight and hearing “ while asleep. Not one of those arguments will fly in a court of law.

That said , every single handed sleeps. You can reduce the risk with AIS alarms , short naps , radar reflectors etc.

As for the law , well you’re in a small boat so the ship that hits you will likely not notice hitting you and you’ll be in no state to sue anyway. So it’s not really a legal issue. Just a case of how much risk you’re willing to accept in order to sail alone. Me? I like a bit of company. I’ve got nothing to prove.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by river251

Littlewing (and everyone else) I apologize for not doing my due diligence. I'm always quick to ask a big question I have without searching to see if it's already been answered, as it often has. Thanks, I'll try harder to belay my typing fingers and look at what's there.

Thank you very much for providing these links.

Hey - no prob! (They make for loooong reading, though.)

I had been thinking about your question more and remembered this recent thread (from June 2020), which I'll bet you find is cool:

First Solo Jitters
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...rs-235880.html

Lots of good tips!
Fair winds, River - you'll get there,
LittleWing77