What is it like sleeping your first night out?

[Orion Jim]

I singlehand exclusively. Once I'm off soundings and out of any established shipping lane I set my alarm for 30 to 45 minutes. On my second night out and clear of any shipping lane I set my alarm for an hour or two. I leave my AIS and my VHF on in case I'm hailed.
My only "known" close call was a Turkish pulpwood carrier in broad daylight. I tried hailing him but he only responded when within a mile of me. He uttered something unintelligible and altered course minutely when a half mile off.
About 300 miles north of Bermuda I was forced to stay up all night as I seemed to be at the convergent point of several shipping lanes (uncharted). I was surrounded by ships all night long. It got to the point where I left my 24 mile radar on all night just to keep track of them. The following morning I had the sea to myself again and caught up on my sleep.

[gentlerain]

Not easy to sleep the first night out as everything is "new and different" I have singlehanded a few times and much prefer to have crew as long as they are competent.
The worst thing that can happen is someting breaking and having to deal with it alone, not easy!
Catherine
s/v Gentle Rain

[MVDarlin]

Get crew, even with crew I usually only nap the first night offshore, and you will need to run offshore for multiple nights to make long passages.

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[northoceanbeach]

How far usually until you are out of the busiest shipping lanes? How far off the coast do you have to be until you are out mostly by yourself?

[Lepke]

On the US West Coast ships are usually 25+ miles out.
See here: Live Ships Map - AIS - Vessel Traffic and Positions - AIS Marine Traffic
I commercial fished tuna and salmon in those waters. We usually shut down and drifted at night. Got up every 1/2 hour or so. Better to get sleep during the day when fishing slowed. Some guys had strobe anchor lights. We all had radar reflectors and lights, but most ships don't change course. When fishing was good and there were a lot more fishing boats, (before 1980) about 12 boats a year were run down. Almost never had survivors. Rarely the Coast Guard would find the ship.
The best insurance was a rifle. Shoot out their pilot house windows and they'll usually turn.

[barnakiel]

Much will depend on how dense the traffic is and much it fans out. As mentioned above, you can get an indication by looking up online AIS tracking services.

It is also a personal factor. I begin to relax somewhat maybe 100 miles out. Some skippers are always relaxed, others stay always tense.

So there is probably no fixed rule as to when it is safe enough to get run down ;-)

b.

[boatman61]

Well.. during my last trip I happily snoozed my way up the English channel from Quessant to Shoreham by Sea..
But then.. I'm a fatalist..

[MVDarlin]

Better to slow down and keep headway into waves than drift. Set autopilot. Stay out of shipping lanes, lestmrn the rules of the road.

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[northoceanbeach]

Aah! They're everywhere out there! No wonder you guys like ais so much. I'm glad I put it in mine with a big display all to its own. Made finitely will be helpful to have an alarm.

I didn't know they had such good websites for tracking ships.

[thomm225]

You don't sleep much the first night out.................

[MVDarlin]

Well said, you spend the first night listening to all the creaks, groans, vibrations and sea sounds you never noticed before. Real sleep comes from exhaustion, usually no more than 48 hours after you leave the dock.

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