Singlehanded full night sleep?

[DanielCZ]

Hi Sailors,
I have a question, I did several times already heard of people, one of them being my instructor, who singlehanded with a full night of sleep. In case of my instructor, he had a customer who could not come, so the boat was paid, he had time and was sailing just for fun in the mediterranean sea, and at night he would just reef the sails, stop the boat and sleep, not being at anchor, not being close to land. Since then I hear a couple of similar stories, and I wonder, usually I hear single handed sailors have a routine of 20min sleep, wake up, check 20 min sleep. That is when they sail at night and depends on where they are.
Is anyone stoping the boat, reefing sails and sleeping? When on passage and not in hurry?

[sailormed]

When on passage going from A to B, this method will double passage time. Not many will opt for this solution.

[tkeithlu]

You've noticed the elephant in the room. Good seamanship includes a good watch, and that's not possible while single-handed. The 20 minute routine is one compromise, and I suppose reefing and displaying lights is another. Still, boats do get hit. In The Godforsaken Sea there is a description of a freighter docking in Yokohama with a mast and rigging tangled in its anchor.

[Snore]

Ohhhh

This is going to be fun. Getting another cup of coffee in anticipation

[tkeithlu]

Yeah, me too.

Never get in a small room with an elephant. Aside from their mistakenly shifting weight and depriving you of your third dimension, they are hind-gut fermenters with a huge cecum. Elephant farts register on seismographs, and if you are in the room with them..

[LittleWing77]

Yeah - but do elephants get a good night's sleep?

Here are two recent threads on the same topic

Fifth Question: Sailing Alone and Sleep
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ep-241370.html

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

Here's a third from 2017 that includes an informal poll:
Singlehanded Sleep Schedule
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...le-188155.html

Cheers,
LittleWing77

[Benz]

Your instructor seems to have hove-to to sleep. I've done this occasionally--if the weather's too awful to get close to land in the dark, or if the wind is dead and we're barely drifting anyway. Put out the brightest riding light you have, shine some extra lights on the white bits of the deck so you show up, and get some rest. If you're in an area of busy shipping, you might take your sleep in the cockpit--I do this quite often as well--but it's simply not as restful.
I know that many on this forum frown on this, and get excited in condemning it, but you don't see a lot of threads on the irresponsibility of the Golden Globe or Vendee, or any other of the big-name singlehanded races.
Good seamanship is far less a matter of inflexible rules than of the prudence and good sense that are born partly of experience and partly of being well-informed.

[Allied39]

Single hand sailing is most definately not for most sailors.
A freighter hit a boat once so gee, better not risk that. Hmmm.

Those of us that are comfortable with single handing all have our own comfort levels and ways of doing things. I don't judge what others do when single handing, each to their own.

I sleep as much as I can for one hr periods if situation allows, which it does a lot when offshore. I find I am mostly well rested.

I turn off the alarms when becalmed and get longer sleep. If at night I light her up with spreader lights and anchor light....no nav or steaming.

A full nights sleep.....very unlikely because when offshore all my senses are on alert anyway....and besides, I have likely been getting enough sleep.

This allows me to be able to deal with longer periods without sleep if things take a bad turn and still keep logical thinking abilities.

Just answering the OP's question, I do not care to argue with the haters or deal with the trolls.

[Mr B]

Depends on the ocean your in,
Im in the Pacific and Tasman seas,
No shipping lanes, far from land,
I drop my drive leg as a drogue, put up about a foot of Genoa,
This keeps me downwind at about 3 knots and I sleep in the Salon,
I have running lights on, Ships can see me,
I cant sleep soundly as my senses wont allow it,
The odd ship has scratched on my VHF and I turn on my deck lights to let them know I have heard them,
Then go back to sleep,
Ships are lit up like Xmas trees at night so they are easy to see as well,
Bass Straight, I will stay awake till I get where im going,

[Orion Jim]

I take 1/2 hour naps then scan the horizon if it’s clear and the sea state allows. If not I turn the radar on and use it to sweep the area. I have class B AIS so I set the proximity alarm. Since going from class A to class B I’ve noticed that all the large ships stay well off. Several times I’ve sailed by long liners in the Gulf Stream completely blacked out with no indication that anyone was on watch.
I get plenty of sleep when on a passage but the approach to land is where I never sleep more than 15 minutes at a time. Inshore daggers and pleasure boats can be relied upon to do the unexpected.

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by DanielCZ

Hi Sailors,
I have a question, I did several times already heard of people, one of them being my instructor, who singlehanded with a full night of sleep. In case of my instructor, he had a customer who could not come, so the boat was paid, he had time and was sailing just for fun in the mediterranean sea, and at night he would just reef the sails, stop the boat and sleep, not being at anchor, not being close to land. Since then I hear a couple of similar stories, and I wonder, usually I hear single handed sailors have a routine of 20min sleep, wake up, check 20 min sleep. That is when they sail at night and depends on where they are.
Is anyone stoping the boat, reefing sails and sleeping? When on passage and not in hurry?

Give me half an hour to load the esky with beers and get a giant bag of pretzels....😳

[Paul Howard]

We met a couple from England in their early 70's while we were in the Pacific Ocean while on our circumnavigation. He had heart problems and did not want to stress himself and she was not strong, but they were determined to sail around the world.
They shared watches during the day and into the evening. At bedtime they reduced sail and hove-to and both went to bed and slept through the night. In the morning they got up and continued sailing.
We met them in several islands and countries, it took them longer to make the passages but they did circumnavigate the world and greatly enjoyed doing it.

[icemate]

Sailed from Panama to Am Samoa with one short stop (2days) in the Marquesas Islands on the way. Started out 20 on 20 off when I left Panama, this lasted for 3 or 4 days. Unsustainable to stay alert. 6800 miles in 74 days takes a tool. When weather permitted got rest in daylight hours Monitor Self Steering and watchman on set for 25nm. In 74 days only seen 2 vessels thru binoculars at quite a distance. Could not take chance falling asleep when approaching and landfall. Trip through the Tonga group was another story as you can never rest very long.

[roverhi]

Do a search of this site, there have been several threads covering all possible variations. Personally sleep when I feel like it for as long as I want when more than 8 hour sail from land or other hard objects. When coastal sailing have 'hove to' when it became impossible to keep my eyes open. Amazing a how an hour or two of sleep can refresh you. Other than that, I don't sleep on coastal passages and head in when I need a sleep break. Really extends the total passage time but a time schedule is the most dangerous thing you can have when coastal sailing.

[TBear60]

I think the real question here is: A good night's sleep singlehanded?

I think everyone has clearly pointed out that these two terms are mutually exclusive; ie. good night's sleep and singlehanded.

Pardon the pun, but they do not go hand-in-hand. Awwww.... sorry....

Anyway, I think anyone who chooses this endeavor must be clear on the risk and let his loved ones know his/her clear choice, so they don't get in a tizzy when their precious singlehander gets wiped out by a commercial vessel (that oh BTW, also didn't have a watch posted!).

Have fun with this one.