What Is The Big Deal About Single Handling?

[Wrong]

Originally Posted by weavis

I just wired a couple of relays from the Radar to an electric Klaxon inside the cabin.

Sound can make your eyes spin and see colours if its loud enough. The pressure wave is unreal!

It also got me a free time check from the boat up the dock...

"What the #&%k do you think your doing at 12.15 at night?"

Time to go home.

Night all.

g'night

[Exile]

Originally Posted by weavis

I just wired a couple of relays from the Radar to an electric Klaxon inside the cabin.

Sound can make your eyes spin and see colours if its loud enough. The pressure wave is unreal!

It also got me a free time check from the boat up the dock...

"What the #&%k do you think your doing at 12.15 at night?"

Time to go home.

Night all.

LOL! No, really -- LAUGHING OUT LOUD!

Oh, and nothing personal jtsailjt, but even from just the internet I can tell I'd be much safer relying on Boaty's instincts in avoiding a collision than your jumping up & down every 15 minutes . . . in constant fear of the unknown & the improbable . . . slavishly adhering to your narrow, highly personalized interpretation of the Colregs . . . busy identifying every tree but missing the forest . . . .

By all means prepare yourself & your boat for reasonably foreseeable possibilities JT, but for goodness sake try not to become too fearful & obsessed over them. The overwhelming probability is your only encounter with a singlehander will be a positive one, namely insight, education & inspiration.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

I agree with that last statement about even wehn with crew sailing with a solo mindset. But what makes you think there aren't lots of other folks out there doing the same thing? I realize that not everybody does, but I certainly do and I think most experienced sailors I've met were paying attention even when it wasn't their "turn" to. You attempt to stereotype the "typical" crewed boat in an unflattering way, but ignore the fact that for pretty large chunks of time that you're underway singlehanded, you're relying largely on luck to not hit anything, at least while you're sound asleep.

Have you considered that from the perspective of the 4+ crew members on the boat you say you collided with while underway, their only collision since 1964(?) was with one of those damn singlehanders who wasn't paying attention, typical of them because everyone knows they are always down below sleeping instead of keeping a proper lookout? See how that stereotyping thing works?

Damn.
Now I'm wondering if you actually read posts or just see what you choose..
How does one collide sideways to T-bone ones self on someone motor sailing at around 6 knots on the starboad side..
Guess I need to go over those colregs your so knowledgeable about again.. might finally learn where I ****ed up..
Was it coz I was under sail.. barely in the light breeze..
Was it coz I had no engine.. died midway between the Azores and UK
Could it be I was the give way vessel..
I know full well how stereotyping works.. been reading your posts inni..

[Jon Eisberg]

Originally Posted by weavis

You are struggling to maintain credibility in your argumentation. Let me aboard your vessel and I will cite you infractions of breaking the letter of the regulation many times.

Your own examples show the same negligence as you are imposing on solo sailors theoretically. The regulation leaves the assessment of risk potential to the individual. How many times have you taken a look and then gone down to make coffee and been distracted for 15 minutes? You did that based on your risk assessment.

Next time you take a sleep and the person you left on watch has got engrossed in a book- it happens and they only look up every 30 minutes or so, what is the difference in failing to fulfil the definition of the law that you cling to, and not the entire spirit of the regulation for safe sailing

This is a circular argument. You dont think its safe to solo and many disagree with you. I happen to think its 'safer' with more than one person on board, but its not intrinsically unsafe with a trained sailor who is alone.

And yes, I have been to sea. Thanks for asking. It is generally cold and wet and full of fish, and I quite like it.

Good post... The comments I've bolded get to the heart of this matter, for me...

No shortage of folks talking past one another in this thread, due largely to the fact that some of us are taking a Legalistic/Theoretical approach, and others a more Practical/Real World view... Simply put, the notion that it's practical for shorthanded/Mom & Pop cruisers to be maintaining a lookout "at all times" is farcical... :-) Hell, even Lin and Larry have advocated the use of a kitchen timer set to 15 minutes to remind them to poke their heads out of the companionway, at times...

By singlehanding, I freely acknowledge there will be times where I am sailing in contravention of Rule 5... However, if most arguing against solo sailing are really gonna be honest with themselves, they should admit there will be times when they are 'guilty' of a similar violation, as well...

One problem with looking at this from a purely legalistic/theoretical point of view, is that it generally leads to blanket assertions in the vein of 'One Size Fits All', with no consideration to the myriad factors and circumstances that are at the heart of the sort of sober analysis of risk that Evans alluded to way back in Post #3... To me, it matters greatly the waters one might choose to sail alone in, or the season, and so on...

Each and every time any of us leave the dock, there is the potential we might be exposing others and 'innocents' to risk... Another huge factor in assessing the potential of risk overall and to others, is simply the experience of the sailor, and the general quality and condition of the yacht he's sailing... For instance, who might be more likely to put the life of a CG rescue swimmer stationed in Elizabeth City in jeopardy some dirty November night 200 miles off Hatteras? A hugely experienced solo sailor like Joe Harris delivering GRYPHON SOLO by himself to the islands, or some newb making his first-ever offshore passage with a green crew as part of the Caribbean 1500? I'd suggest the odds probably favor the latter :-)

Sure, it's easy for those sailing larger boats to say that singlehanders should always take crew... However, the reality is, many of us who often sail alone are doing so in pretty modest boats, often far better suited to being sailed by one, than with more... In an ideal world, I'd have enough money to be sailing something closer to 40 feet, and be able to support my Smokin' Hot SO so she could quit her job, and accompany me all the time... But she loves her work, and would rather spend her free time meeting me down in the Bahamas, than joining me for the delivery down and back... Smart girl... :-)

Last summer, this was one of the TWO boats I encountered during the course of six weeks of cruising the coast of Labrador...





So, I'm gonna go with the assertion that the potential risk I posed to other sailors by singlehanding up there, had to be pretty slim :-) To be honest, I was a bit more concerned about the constant presence of all those white thingies seen in background, I never found a single one of those damn things that was transmitting AIS, after all...

Bottom line for me last summer, was I was either gonna do that trip alone, or not do it at all... Sorry to say, no argument on an internet sailing forum is likely to convince me that the choice I made was the wrong one...

This discussion has for me, shades of those that feature the endless hand-wringing by many American cruisers over whether or not to go to Cuba... Should I take the chance, or wait - possibly for years, perhaps decades - before doing so with the official 'blessing' of the State Department? Take the chance of never getting there at all, in favor of doing it 'by the book'?

Life's too short, so I 'broke the rules' that apply to us Yanks over a decade ago... And I'm glad I did, turned out to be a fascinating and rewarding experience...

Not unlike a successful singlehanded passage, as a matter of fact...

:-)

[FamilyVan]

I don't understand what kind of watch you anti singlehanders are taking if you think 15 minutes is too far between taking a look around far offshore. Do you just constantly stare out the window at the horizon when you're on watch at 2 or 3 knots?

How can you stand sleeping at anchor if you need to be constantly staring at the horizon when under way?

Did any of you read the thread about, I think it was a benteau or a hunter that was hit by a speedboat in the Bahamas? They were at anchor when that happened, I know I personally have had all kinds of things go wrong at anchor because anchorage are near shore on busy routes. Aside from the risk of being smoked in the dark by a couple drunks in a go fast boat, there is also the risk of dragging anchor and going a shore in a strong current or high winds.

If you've double or triple reefed you're sails to get some shut eye in light- moderate you're only going a couple of knots.

You're visible horizon in most cases would likely be 10 miles or so- so it will take you 5 hours to reach a 10 mile horizon at 2 knots. At two knots you'll only drift half a mile in 15 minutes.

That small wooden boat way out on the ocean after dark, you likely wouldn't spot if you were staring at the horizon any way.

Offshore you mostly encounter professional mariners or skilled amateurs on pretty good sized vessels, no drunks in go fast boats. underway off shore the chances of running aground are greatly reduced because you're probably in a thousand feet of water.

The only time I've been hit out on the water (that I can think of off the top of my head) was at anchor in fog. We were anchored outside the main shipping channel but not far enough apparently.

Now- we weren't single handing, we had 30 skilled seamen on board including an experienced second mate (fortunately not me) and a wheelsman on the bridge maintaining a continuous radar watch on two separate radar units. We didn't have a RADAR reflector, but were steel and about 250 ft , so no doubt made a fair RADAR return. I think this was before AIS was commonplace, but I can't remember for sure.

We were hit buy a 730 ft iron ore carrier, which pushed us 1/2 a mile with the anchor down.

We weren't hit because of poor watchkeeping, the second mate could see them tracking towards us by RADAR but we were at anchor and it would have taken us 10 minutes just to get the engines started collision was iminent in like 2 minutes. He had time to sound the general alarm before the ship hit. We were hit because we were anchored in a high traffic zone, close to shore traffic and a shipping lane.

So unless you all maintain continuous anchor watches, then giving the gears to single handers for a 15 minute nap, maybe haven't done a holistic risk assessment of all your operations. Taking a wee 15 nap with heavily reefed sails way offshore, probably isn't the riskiest thing on your graph.

Any body know where the most dangerous part on a ship is?
The gangway. It's unbelievable how many sailors fall off their dock or between the boat and the dock while boarding- often but not always intoxicated.


Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Exile

LOL! No, really -- LAUGHING OUT LOUD!

Oh, and nothing personal jtsailjt, but even from just the internet I can tell I'd be much safer relying on Boaty's instincts in avoiding a collision than your jumping up & down every 15 minutes . . . in constant fear of the unknown & the improbable . . . slavishly adhering to your narrow, highly personalized interpretation of the Colregs . . . busy identifying every tree but missing the forest . . . .

By all means prepare yourself & your boat for reasonably foreseeable possibilities JT, but for goodness sake try not to become too fearful & obsessed over them. The overwhelming probability is your only encounter with a singlehander will be a positive one, namely insight, education & inspiration.

How can you talk about preparing yourself for reasonably forseeable possibilities and then advocate for folks going to sea with no plans to keep a watch "at all times" as the colregs require? It's "a reasonably forseeable possibility" that anyone is going to get tired and unable to stand watch after a couple of days on duty, so if your voyage is more than that period of time, to prepare your boat for that voyage I think you need to bring along someone else to stand watch when you know you won't be able to. If anyone could predict when a collision was going to happen, they wouldn't happen. The problem is that you never know when somebody else is going to do something unpredictable or another boat is going to pop up much closer than you thought possible, and you somehow didn't see them even though you were looking. If you're asleep and not on watch, you won't catch any of that so are completely dependent on luck to avoid a collision. I've been in very thick fog, while more than 5 miles from land when 2 sea kayaks suddenly appeared almost under my bow so I barely had time to swerve, paddling fast and looking worriedly at me, even though 10 seconds earlier I "knew" there were no sea kayaks that far out and even after I saw them I couldn't understand what in heck were they doing out there?! But if I had tailored my watchkeeping to only look for vessels with radar returns, I would have hit them. Another time, while looking intently at my radar I saw only 2 "was that a return?" sweeps before a wooden lobster boat appeared dead ahead as far as I could see which was less than 100' away (2-3 boat lengths) and I could tell he wasn't aware of me either. I realize that wooden lobster boats are rather rare in the middle of the ocean, but depending on the fallacy that you can do an adequate job of standing watch by looking at your radar and then sleeping for 30 minutes because every boat out there has a radar return and AIS that you can see while 30+ minutes away seems to me a lot like choosing to disregard colreg 5 and instead depending on luck.

I do have to chuckle at your trying to characterize me interpreting "at all times" to be "slavishly adhering to my narrow, highly personalized interpretation of the colregs" LOL. Since when does a rule that goes to the trouble of stating "at all times" mean anything other than exactly that? Am I also "slavishly adhering..." when I am motoring and am always prepared to give way to sailing vessels or vessels not under command or restricted in their ability to maneuver, or am always prepared to give way to starboard tack boats when on port tack or is this "slavish" word reserved for always trying to adhere to one particular colreg that you only want to follow part of the time? What other colregs need to be followed only when you deem it necessary?

It's pretty simple really, if you want to see the forest OR the trees, you have to have your eyes open and be looking at them, not asleep in your cabin. This just isn't an issue with a lot of nuance to it. The colregs clearly say you're supposed to have someone on watch "at all times." I know, slavish. LOL

[JPA Cate]

Evans warned us in Post #3 what was going to happen here. Boy was he right!

Ann

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Jon Eisberg

Good post... The comments I've bolded get to the heart of this matter, for me...

No shortage of folks talking past one another in this thread, due largely to the fact that some of us are taking a Legalistic/Theoretical approach, and others a more Practical/Real World view... Simply put, the notion that it's practical for shorthanded/Mom & Pop cruisers to be maintaining a lookout "at all times" is farcical... :-) Hell, even Lin and Larry have advocated the use of a kitchen timer set to 15 minutes to remind them to poke their heads out of the companionway, at times...

By singlehanding, I freely acknowledge there will be times where I am sailing in contravention of Rule 5... However, if most arguing against solo sailing are really gonna be honest with themselves, they should admit there will be times when they are 'guilty' of a similar violation, as well...

One problem with looking at this from a purely legalistic/theoretical point of view, is that it generally leads to blanket assertions in the vein of 'One Size Fits All', with no consideration to the myriad factors and circumstances that are at the heart of the sort of sober analysis of risk that Evans alluded to way back in Post #3... To me, it matters greatly the waters one might choose to sail alone in, or the season, and so on...

Each and every time any of us leave the dock, there is the potential we might be exposing others and 'innocents' to risk... Another huge factor in assessing the potential of risk overall and to others, is simply the experience of the sailor, and the general quality and condition of the yacht he's sailing... For instance, who might be more likely to put the life of a CG rescue swimmer stationed in Elizabeth City in jeopardy some dirty November night 200 miles off Hatteras? A hugely experienced solo sailor like Joe Harris delivering GRYPHON SOLO by himself to the islands, or some newb making his first-ever offshore passage with a green crew as part of the Caribbean 1500? I'd suggest the odds probably favor the latter :-)

Sure, it's easy for those sailing larger boats to say that singlehanders should always take crew... However, the reality is, many of us who often sail alone are doing so in pretty modest boats, often far better suited to being sailed by one, than with more... In an ideal world, I'd have enough money to be sailing something closer to 40 feet, and be able to support my Smokin' Hot SO so she could quit her job, and accompany me all the time... But she loves her work, and would rather spend her free time meeting me down in the Bahamas, than joining me for the delivery down and back... Smart girl... :-)

Last summer, this was one of the TWO boats I encountered during the course of six weeks of cruising the coast of Labrador...





So, I'm gonna go with the assertion that the potential risk I posed to other sailors by singlehanding up there, had to be pretty slim :-) To be honest, I was a bit more concerned about the constant presence of all those white thingies seen in background, I never found a single one of those damn things that was transmitting AIS, after all...

Bottom line for me last summer, was I was either gonna do that trip alone, or not do it at all... Sorry to say, no argument on an internet sailing forum is likely to convince me that the choice I made was the wrong one...

This discussion has for me, shades of those that feature the endless hand-wringing by many American cruisers over whether or not to go to Cuba... Should I take the chance, or wait - possibly for years, perhaps decades - before doing so with the official 'blessing' of the State Department? Take the chance of never getting there at all, in favor of doing it 'by the book'?

Life's too short, so I 'broke the rules' that apply to us Yanks over a decade ago... And I'm glad I did, turned out to be a fascinating and rewarding experience...

Not unlike a successful singlehanded passage, as a matter of fact...

:-)

Were you REALLY singlehanding overnight and going to sleep for 30 minutes at a time with icebergs nearby?! Or were you mostly coastal cruising and dropping the anchor at night so you could sleep? I agree that if you're going to singlehand overnight that would be a pretty safe place to do it, at least from the perspective of colliding with another boat, but if you were singlehanding in the sense we're talking about in this thread, weren't you terribly afraid that you could collide with a big (or small) chunk of ice while you were asleep? As someone who always sails with crew when planning to be out overnight, I agree with you that most of us have been in violation of colreg 5 at one time or another and admit that includes me, but only for about a maximum of about 5 minutes at a time and it wasn't something I planned to do ahead of time. I think that's quite a different thing from intentionally going to sea with no ability or intent to abide by colreg 5 at all.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

How can you talk about preparing yourself for reasonably forseeable possibilities and then advocate for folks going to sea with no plans to keep a watch "at all times" as the colregs require? It's "a reasonably forseeable possibility" that anyone is going to get tired and unable to stand watch after a couple of days on duty, so if your voyage is more than that period of time, to prepare your boat for that voyage I think you need to bring along someone else to stand watch when you know you won't be able to. If anyone could predict when a collision was going to happen, they wouldn't happen. The problem is that you never know when somebody else is going to do something unpredictable or another boat is going to pop up much closer than you thought possible, and you somehow didn't see them even though you were looking. If you're asleep and not on watch, you won't catch any of that so are completely dependent on luck to avoid a collision. I've been in very thick fog, while more than 5 miles from land when 2 sea kayaks suddenly appeared almost under my bow so I barely had time to swerve, paddling fast and looking worriedly at me, even though 10 seconds earlier I "knew" there were no sea kayaks that far out and even after I saw them I couldn't understand what in heck were they doing out there?! But if I had tailored my watchkeeping to only look for vessels with radar returns, I would have hit them. Another time, while looking intently at my radar I saw only 2 "was that a return?" sweeps before a wooden lobster boat appeared dead ahead as far as I could see which was less than 100' away (2-3 boat lengths) and I could tell he wasn't aware of me either. I realize that wooden lobster boats are rather rare in the middle of the ocean, but depending on the fallacy that you can do an adequate job of standing watch by looking at your radar and then sleeping for 30 minutes because every boat out there has a radar return and AIS that you can see while 30+ minutes away seems to me a lot like choosing to disregard colreg 5 and instead depending on luck.

I do have to chuckle at your trying to characterize me interpreting "at all times" to be "slavishly adhering to my narrow, highly personalized interpretation of the colregs" LOL. Since when does a rule that goes to the trouble of stating "at all times" mean anything other than exactly that? Am I also "slavishly adhering..." when I am motoring and am always prepared to give way to sailing vessels or vessels not under command or restricted in their ability to maneuver, or am always prepared to give way to starboard tack boats when on port tack or is this "slavish" word reserved for always trying to adhere to one particular colreg that you only want to follow part of the time? What other colregs need to be followed only when you deem it necessary?

It's pretty simple really, if you want to see the forest OR the trees, you have to have your eyes open and be looking at them, not asleep in your cabin. This just isn't an issue with a lot of nuance to it. The colregs clearly say you're supposed to have someone on watch "at all times." I know, slavish. LOL

Please: Promise me here and now that you WILL NEVER EVER go for a pee or make coffee or turn around or listen to music or read a chart whilst you are on watch. That you will never ever change a sail or get engrossed in an engine repair whilst on watch alone.

But mostly, Promise me that you will try and learn to comprehend a rule, rather than just read it.

People like you frighten me. No Im not joking. How you get through life is a mystery. You dont know that you dont know.

In saying this, I will also make another point. Colreg 5 pertains to YOU. It is your interpretation of the rules that will dictate how you use it on YOUR vessel.

Colreg 5 applies to ME and how I view its meaning for my vessel. It is my obligation for safety to apply the regulations, but it is NOT my obligation to make you apply the regulations. No where does it say that I even have to make YOU aware that I am in the vicinity - that is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KNOW according to Colreg 5.

The regulation is specific. However, taking Colreg 5 in conjunction with the other Colregs, my obligation in total is for safety which includes making my presence known, but someones narrow perspective of one Colreg out of context, not only of the content but of the full meaning in total.

So for me, I will apply the regulations fully and in compliance with the emphasis on safety, and you must do whatever you see fit. You might not like solo sailors, or them sleeping but that is for a court of law to decide in the event of a mishap not you.

I came home to a sick cat and have sorted him out and he is sleeping peacefully now. I was alert all the time to the sounds of the house and occasional glances at the coffee pot told me that having a cup was getting closer. Finally at the right moment, and in full awareness......... I switched it on!! It will be 23 hours since I slept and I have to be in the clinic for Eight am, 4 hours from now. I do this for weeks at a time so single handing in general is not a biggie.....

I can also guarantee if the cat makes a sound different to normal, I will hear it and be instantly awake. 98% of solo sailers are the same.... except for the Cat bit, and I dont take him on sails, he craps the car out just going to the Vets.

Im done again.......

[Jim Cate]

I've been in very thick fog, while more than 5 miles from land when 2 sea kayaks suddenly appeared almost under my bow so I barely had time to swerve, paddling fast and looking worriedly at me, even though 10 seconds earlier I "knew" there were no sea kayaks that far out and even after I saw them I couldn't understand what in heck were they doing out there?! But if I had tailored my watchkeeping to only look for vessels with radar returns, I would have hit them. Another time, while looking intently at my radar I saw only 2 "was that a return?" sweeps before a wooden lobster boat appeared dead ahead as far as I could see which was less than 100' away (2-3 boat lengths) and I could tell he wasn't aware of me either.

Well, for heavens sake JT, if you had been following colregs and sounding the appropriate fog signals the kayaks would have been able to avoid you. And the lobster boat would not have been unaware of your presence.

How in the world could you so endanger those poor innocents by failing to follow the regulations? Surely you knew before setting out that you might encounter fog and made the appropriate preparations.

Jim

[Exile]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Well, for heavens sake JT, if you had been following colregs and sounding the appropriate fog signals the kayaks would have been able to avoid you. And the lobster boat would not have been unaware of your presence.

How in the world could you so endanger those poor innocents by failing to follow the regulations? Surely you knew before setting out that you might encounter fog and made the appropriate preparations.

Jim

COLREGS, Rule 35 - Sound Signals In Restricted Visibility

In summary, this rule requires various blasts on the horn for specified duration and at designated intervals, all dependent on the type of vessel and whether it is motoring, under sail, towing, or under tow, etc. Each provision mandates blasting the horn by using the word "shall" in the text. Sheez, this Colreg has more clarity than even the "clearly worded" Rule 5!

Rule 35 sounds to me like a good Colreg for a guy like JT to slavishly adhere to, for the safety of all possible, potential, & probable victims of the incalculable risk inherent in being on the water in thick fog. Or is it just being on the water??

So again, don't even know these internet guys, but my money's on someone like Jon E. singlehanding through Labrador icebergs than JT & his ever-present crew staring blindly "at all times" towards the horizon. After all, there are those who carefully calculate, mitigate, and ultimately accept certain inherent & inevitable risks, and then there are those who wish to regulate!

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

They were doing their best to keep a good watch but had their hands full with something unusual going on aboard their vessel, or maybe they were feeling ill and had their head hanging over the side. They would like to have a much larger vessel like yours, equipped with all the bells and whistles, but their budget only allowed for a smallish, wooden one with the bare essentials, much like the Pardy's old boat only less beautifully constructed. Are you suggesting that you only have to keep an adequate lookout to see large, well equipped vessels so you can take 30 minute naps where during that time you are oblivious to smaller vessels that can only be seen when you are much closer to them?

So you are suggesting that as they have a smaller boat they have less responsibility to maintain a lookout?

Perhaps it's time to change the colregs to include mandatory class B AIS transponders for small vessels if they want to venture out beyond coastal day trips.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Since 1964 I have never run into another boat..

You've been sailing the seven seas since 1964? Are you my daddy? All mum said was that he was a foreign seaman

[lordgeoff]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

How can you talk about preparing yourself for reasonably forseeable possibilities and then advocate for folks going to sea with no plans to keep a watch "at all times" as the colregs require? It's "a reasonably forseeable possibility" that anyone is going to get tired and unable to stand watch after a couple of days on duty, so if your voyage is more than that period of time, to prepare your boat for that voyage I think you need to bring along someone else to stand watch when you know you won't be able to. If anyone could predict when a collision was going to happen, they wouldn't happen. The problem is that you never know when somebody else is going to do something unpredictable or another boat is going to pop up much closer than you thought possible, and you somehow didn't see them even though you were looking. If you're asleep and not on watch, you won't catch any of that so are completely dependent on luck to avoid a collision. I've been in very thick fog, while more than 5 miles from land when 2 sea kayaks suddenly appeared almost under my bow so I barely had time to swerve, paddling fast and looking worriedly at me, even though 10 seconds earlier I "knew" there were no sea kayaks that far out and even after I saw them I couldn't understand what in heck were they doing out there?! But if I had tailored my watchkeeping to only look for vessels with radar returns, I would have hit them. Another time, while looking intently at my radar I saw only 2 "was that a return?" sweeps before a wooden lobster boat appeared dead ahead as far as I could see which was less than 100' away (2-3 boat lengths) and I could tell he wasn't aware of me either. I realize that wooden lobster boats are rather rare in the middle of the ocean, but depending on the fallacy that you can do an adequate job of standing watch by looking at your radar and then sleeping for 30 minutes because every boat out there has a radar return and AIS that you can see while 30+ minutes away seems to me a lot like choosing to disregard colreg 5 and instead depending on luck.

I do have to chuckle at your trying to characterize me interpreting "at all times" to be "slavishly adhering to my narrow, highly personalized interpretation of the colregs" LOL. Since when does a rule that goes to the trouble of stating "at all times" mean anything other than exactly that? Am I also "slavishly adhering..." when I am motoring and am always prepared to give way to sailing vessels or vessels not under command or restricted in their ability to maneuver, or am always prepared to give way to starboard tack boats when on port tack or is this "slavish" word reserved for always trying to adhere to one particular colreg that you only want to follow part of the time? What other colregs need to be followed only when you deem it necessary?

It's pretty simple really, if you want to see the forest OR the trees, you have to have your eyes open and be looking at them, not asleep in your cabin. This just isn't an issue with a lot of nuance to it. The colregs clearly say you're supposed to have someone on watch "at all times." I know, slavish. LOL

In reality JT electronic watch using radar and AIS eliminates a big chunk of the hazards. I would trust my AIS and RADAR alarms above a sleepy human in the early hours of the morning. Realistically at night a human can't see much apart from Nav lights. You are unlikely to see an unlit boat a semi sub merged container or a string of unlit fish traps or a nasty and hard gas bottle floating. Basically you just HOPE your human hasn't fallen asleep. AIS and RADAR are efficient and tireless. The AP is doing a better job than you would. The solo sailor with these watch tools and eyeballing each half hour is a good safe outcome.

[hoppy]

Originally Posted by weavis

I just wired a couple of relays from the Radar to an electric Klaxon inside the cabin.

Sound can make your eyes spin and see colours if its loud enough. The pressure wave is unreal!

It also got me a free time check from the boat up the dock...

"What the #&%k do you think your doing at 12.15 at night?"

Time to go home.

Night all.

My Raymarine gear is great but one annoyance is that there seems to be no way of adding an external alarm that can wake the dead.