Watch Keeping Single Handing

[owly]

Single handing violates all the rules. You cannot possible keep a proper watch 24/7, and if you could you would be so exhausted that you could not make rational decisions.



Many people do it, and if you are single handing it makes sense to minimize risks.



I've come to the conclusion that the optimal boat for single handing is a catamaran with a bridge deck cabin with all around view. With such a boat, you could nap in a cabin just a few steps from the cockpit, and in my case at least where I sleep in a recliner instead of a bed, wakening and taking a good look around without having to climb a companionway would make returning to restful sleep quickly much easier.


Lacking such a boat, it seems that the best alternative is to have a means to scan all around without leaving your place of repose. I've given such things some thought, and find that there are several possible alternatives........ I doubt that I'm the first to consider the alternatives. With my reclined sleeping position one obvious answer is to have a lexan dome and an elevated sleeping position......... Open your eyes and have a "look see". I've though about a sort of periscope with a rotating upper mirror in a "glass" view port........but that would be difficult to engineer... perhaps. Technology offers solutions too. We now have light amplification cameras. They could be located anywhere, but would need an actual rotating glass lens pod with a windshield wiper... but they could see when you and I could not. They could also offer zoom from wide angle to great magnification while amplifying low light.
AIS and radar offer guard zones, and most folks who single hand depend on that. You can't protect against containers, logs, whales...... Headly Nicole is believed to have hit a whale for example. There will always be risk. It is something we have to accept. One couple for example simply vanished........ No bad weather, nothing.... Probably propane, but who knows.

I can and do live with risk. I do things other folks would not even consider, but I like to cover my bases as much as possible.


Has anybody addressed this issue of watch keeping for single handers seriously? I've not seen it yet.

[Tetepare]

Peeking up every 5 or 15 minutes leaves a good window for stuff to happen. I stay in the cockpit except to cook. 24 hours isn’t a chore; by 72 though it’s tunnel vision.

Longer transits, which I’ve not done, are pretty much like Slocum did it. One has to sleep. Obviously (though oddly not always followed by pros) when near shore, be awake.

[Muaddib1116]

At night, when you would be most likely to need to sleep, being awake and on watch will do nothing to prevent you from hitting a container, log, or whale.

[cal40john]

Black Feathers Cal 20 prepping for SHTP. I think his book said he has a bean bag under the dome.

https://www.sfbaysss.net/archive-sht...k_feathers.jpg

[Don C L]

There are some threads on the topic. Here is one:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...le-188155.html
I haven't done singlehanded multiday trips since I was a kid, and at that time there was no AIS, or GPS and I had no radar. I slept at night and I survived but I am fully aware many will not find that wise or legal. Personally I don't see a way around getting real sleep one way or another. Sleep deprivation can make one make big mistakes, mistakes that are more likely to cause damage than whales, logs or other boats, IMO.

[Auklet]

Seems to me it depends on where you are. Heave to six hours a day for restful sleep?

[Orion Jim]

I remember when a singlehander was considered an intrepid mariner….now we are apparently nothing more than rule violators. Ah…well….be that as it may. I have AIS B and a separate AIS receiver, both with proximity alarms. I have radar, and a radar reflector. I have multiple timers and I scan the horizon at regular intervals. Those intervals are closer together when I am in the area of established shipping lanes and when approaching or leaving coastal waters. I shall maintain my annual singlehanded offshore passages for as long as I am able.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Auklet

Seems to me it depends on where you are. Heave to six hours a day for restful sleep?

How does heaving to compare with sailing slowly (reduced canvas)? Assume open water and not crossing major shipping lane during the time period in question (assuming there are places you would not heave to either). Discuss.


Personally, I would do better with more cat naps (I'll leave the length open ended). My mind would be more at ease.

[Adelie]

Until a singlehander kills or seriously injures another party while sleeping underway and it hits the news big most authorities are not going to take official notice.

If the boat is not attached to shore or the seabed it is officially underway and a lookout is required. Sleep is not an exceptional circumstance so it doesn’t legally qualify you as NUC although posting the lights for that are not a bad idea.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by Adelie

Until a singlehander kills or seriously injures another party while sleeping underway and it hits the news big most authorities are not going to take official notice.

If the boat is not attached to shore or the seabed it is officially underway and a lookout is required. Sleep is not an exceptional circumstance so it doesn’t legally qualify you as NUC although posting the lights for that are not a bad idea.

No cruiser does it, but technically the Colregs require an anchor watch too.

[mikereed100]

Originally Posted by Muaddib1116

At night, when you would be most likely to need to sleep, being awake and on watch will do nothing to prevent you from hitting a container, log, or whale.

All too true. We have had countless close calls during daylight and I can only imagine what goes on at night. For this reason we always slow down when it gets dark. 4-5 knots is comfortable, although we have done much less in areas where there are a lot of logs in the water such as Borneo or Costa Rica. I wouldn't think of moving at night in the Inside Passage of Alaska/BC.

[FAST FRED]

There is little you can do about floating containers but lots of ways to minimize risks offshore.

Big ships usually follow routs , so more care is required crossing, never parallel their route.

Ships require BIG engines which put lots of noise in the water.


If you are able to get almost normal sleep the engine sound can wake you but remember at 15K-22K you only have a few min before it comes over the horizon.


A white all around light is easy today with LED lighting.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

I remember when a singlehander was considered an intrepid mariner….

When was this time?

It's always been something of an extreme activity and in violation of the colregs.

I suspect it's a bit of revisionist history to believe there was a time when it was looked upon with favor by the majority of mariners. Per chance were you reading romanticized stories of single handers and assuming that represented the majority?

[rslifkin]

Originally Posted by Paul L

No cruiser does it, but technically the Colregs require an anchor watch too.

Very true. But it's also pretty generally accepted that on a smaller boat, complying with this all the time varies between impractical and impossible.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

I remember when a singlehander was considered an intrepid mariner….now we are apparently nothing more than rule violators. Ah…well….be that as it may. I have AIS B and a separate AIS receiver, both with proximity alarms. I have radar, and a radar reflector. I have multiple timers and I scan the horizon at regular intervals. Those intervals are closer together when I am in the area of established shipping lanes and when approaching or leaving coastal waters. I shall maintain my annual singlehanded offshore passages for as long as I am able.

Standard behavior once the pioneers have opened the way.. the rabble that follows is mostly less intrepid and in need of constant reassurance.. waggon trains, buddy boats.. the Arc.
The illusions of Life..