Call it Sleep

[Sandero]

Yesterday was bitterly cold and windy here in the NYC metro area and so for that and other reasons I decided to not go out (nor work on the boat). In the afternoon I decided to take a snooze and with the tee vee on an fell to sleep. I awoke a few hours later and did not feel rested. I realized that the quality of sleep was, for lack of a better word - heavy I didn't drift off to sleep but I felt like I was held "under" and it too effort to awake.

When I did awake I remarked to my wife how different a snooze/nap is on the boat. This is something we both find delightful. Usually it is in summer with the gentle breeze flowing through the boat as it swings gently on her mooring. Even at night sleeping has a different qaulity, and this is something we both observed. For one thing the ambient noises/sounds are very different on the boat then they are in our apartment. For example the howling wind at home is annoying when it shouldn't be.

What isn't pleasant it when we are in a rolly anchorage. It's eveny hard to sleep at all.

Do others find their sleep different on their boat? On any boat? Is it better than land bound sleep? Are you more rested with less sleep or with the same? Are your dreams different on board and ashore in sleep? Is it easier to fall asleep on board.

What about sleep underway? Better, worse, or the same?

[Boomp]

I consider our sailboat a nap-monster. I tell people that and frequently after a couple of hours of total relaxation and bobbing they gravitate towared a birth and zone out. I know when I awaken after even an hours nap I'm totally relaxed. [Excepting those moments where I'm startled awake by a "Joe, you better get up here!"

[gonesail]

when the wind is howling outside and the dock has ice on it .. i like to be a warm bed ashore. but i think my best memories of being on a boat is waking up and seeing the sun streaming thru the ports and smelling fresh coffee and being well rested for sure

[Cowboy Sailer]

What is this? You are the one who wakes up to the smell of fresh coffee? Where did I go wrong? I feel so used.

[imagine2frolic]

I don't care if it's on the hook, or at the dock. The feeling of the nap on the boat is fantastic. The only thing that beats a nap is a full night's sleep......i2f

[dacust]

Originally Posted by gonesail

when the wind is howling outside and the dock has ice on it .. i like to be a warm bed ashore.

Actually I love it when it's nasty outside. Somehow the nastiness is much closer when on the boat, so the coziness of the inside of the boat is that much nicer by contrast. That is, when at the dock with the heaters on full blast...

-dan

That was how I sold my wife on the idea of cruising. We had a little 26' power boat, and had it berthed where we worked. We would spend a few days a week on the boat so we would not have to commute. She realized that she was sleeping better than ever. I do not sleep on land. Can't do it. On the boat, I sleep, and actually feel rested. Aside from the first night, I sleep fine on the hook. Even if it is rolly. I do not feel as rested, as my body tends to try to compensate for the motion, but I do sleep.