Watch Keeping Single Handing

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by B_Wieberdink

I am 73 and single handing my 31 on the crowded North Sea and the Irish sea. I take naps of 20 minutes at night, because I can see the ships far better at night than in daytime. I have radar and AIS alarms.
I take my naps in the heated cabin because outside it is often to cold at night to get to sleep very well.


Bert

You should probably be aware of this: https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https:/...9f1.pdf#page=1

[Discovery 15797]

Originally Posted by skipmac

\

Regardless of ones opinion for or against singlehanding I do see a couple of problems in your post.

Maybe nitpicking but failure to keep a watch is a violation of rule 5 whether or not an accident occurred.

Second, since the vast majority of boats have more than one person on board it would then follow that the vast majority of boating accidents would involve those boats. What would be meaningful would be to compare the percent of accidents on boats with one crew vs those with multiple crew and when operated in a similar way IE long passage, coastal, etc.

And failing to raise a properly sized dayshape when motor sailing or at anchor is also a violation of COLREGS.

Now lie to us and say how you always raise day shapes when required. 😂😂😂

[paralog]

So many of these comments against single handing are pathetic. Where would mankind be it people did not do things that stretched some boundaries.


Yes technically it goes against ColRegs but show me real instances where someone has been charged or where there are any enforcement agencies out in the oceans of the world looking for Single Handed Sailors.
How about then charging some of the worlds most famous sailors like Ellen McArthur for breaking the rules.



Me thinks many of these comments are coming from Yacht club commodores who go around wearing captains hats lording it over everyone. Claiming to be a mariner when actually the only thing they have sailed across is the local pond on the way home from the Yacht club bar.



Me personally, i singlehand just because i like the freedom of getting away from other folks bs and because i enjoy the making my own decisions and having control of my life.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Discovery 15797

And failing to raise a properly sized dayshape when motor sailing or at anchor is also a violation of COLREGS.

Now lie to us and say how you always raise day shapes when required. 😂😂😂

Not sure what your point is here and not sure why you have to accuse me of planning to lie about your irrelevant question.

Read my post carefully. I did not in any way criticize single handing nor say I was for or against it. Only pointed out a couple of logical inconsistencies in the previous post. If it matters I have made a couple of trip singlehanded and a few doublehanded.

But to answer your question, no I don't always but I do keep day shapes on board and do use them when it seems prudent.

[Jim Cate]

^^^^
Reading the above stimulated me to take a photo up through our mid hatch. Careful perusal should show our black ball proudly displayed, as always.

So, some folks do follow at least that rule. Not that this is relevant to single hand watchkeeping, so I apologize for the drift.

Jim

[markxengineerin]

https://www.oscar-navigation.com/ So it does exist, but starting prices in the $10k's

[Oeanda]

A great Knopfler classic to crank on a long lonely night.




Single Handed Sailor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyeNrGv4288

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Discovery 15797

. . . Single-handed sailing is not illegal. Failure to keep proper watch would be considered a violation of rule 5 should an accident occur. Insurance will not likely cover a person who is single-handing. . . .

Just to be pedantic one more time -- sigh -- there does not have to be an accident, for a violation of the COLREGS to occur. It is not legal to violate them so long as you don't actually end up in an accident.

ENFORCEMENT is a different matter. It's rare (but not unknown) for Rule 5 to be enforced in the absence of an accident.

Single handing is not illegal so long as you fulfill the requirements of Rule 5. Once you go below for a nap, you are in violation of Rule 5 and therefore of the COLREGS. It's unlikely you will be fined for that, however.

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

You should probably be aware of this: https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https:/...9f1.pdf#page=1

"The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources wishes to remind all solo sailors of their obligations to fully comply at all times by day and night with the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea, as amended. These regulations are "fully applicable to all vessels on the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels".

"The International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea are implemented in Irish law by the Collision Regulations (Ships and Water Craft on the Water) Order 1984 (S.I. No. 29 of 1984) as amended by the Collision Regulations (Ships and Water Craft on the Water) Orders 1990 (S.I. No. 36 of 1990) 1993 (S.I. No. 287 of 1993) and 2005 (S.I. No. 47 of 2005All seafarers are required to comply fully with all the requirements of the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, as amended. In this regard, the Minister of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources draws the attention of all concerned to Rule 5 of the Regulations which requires that a proper lookout is maintained by sight and hearing at all times.
.
"All the requirements of the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea apply to solo sailors as they do to any other vessel. In avoiding collision situations solo sailors are required to observe fully the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea and to manoeuvre their vessels as required."

[TeddyDiver]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

"The Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources wishes to remind all solo sailors of their obligations to fully comply at all times by day and night with the International Regulations for the Prevention of Collisions at Sea, as amended. These regulations are "fully applicable to all vessels on the high seas and in all waters connected therewith navigable by seagoing vessels".

"The International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea are implemented in Irish law by the Collision Regulations (Ships and Water Craft on the Water) Order 1984 (S.I. No. 29 of 1984) as amended by the Collision Regulations (Ships and Water Craft on the Water) Orders 1990 (S.I. No. 36 of 1990) 1993 (S.I. No. 287 of 1993) and 2005 (S.I. No. 47 of 2005All seafarers are required to comply fully with all the requirements of the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea, as amended. In this regard, the Minister of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources draws the attention of all concerned to Rule 5 of the Regulations which requires that a proper lookout is maintained by sight and hearing at all times.
.
"All the requirements of the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea apply to solo sailors as they do to any other vessel. In avoiding collision situations solo sailors are required to observe fully the International Regulations for Prevention of Collisions at Sea and to manoeuvre their vessels as required."

Not just solo sailors but all vessels. Too often we see fishing vessels and even commercial ships to break the rules, not just watch keeping but navigation lights off among other things..

[B_Wieberdink]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

You should probably be aware of this: https://www.gov.ie/pdf/?file=https:/...9f1.pdf#page=1

I think nearly every country has a statement like this. When I am in coastal waters I keep a good lookout.


Bert

[owly]

Originally Posted by markxengineerin

https://www.oscar-navigation.com/ So it does exist, but starting prices in the $10k's

Exciting stuff........ but for the high rollers. Imagine scratching together the 10K for that, and losing it to lightening strike...

[owly]

Originally Posted by B_Wieberdink

I think nearly every country has a statement like this. When I am in coastal waters I keep a good lookout.


Bert

This whole discussion about legality is getting tiresome........ Obviously single handers take all the precautions they can... probably more so than many crewed boats, and that is borne out by statistics I suspect.



Rules that are not enforced are mere words on a piece of paper. Everybody knows that a single hander cannot keep 24/7 watch, yet single handing is not only common place but accepted by the authorities in events, etc. Single handing is never going to result in catastrophic loss of life and property... A small sailboat crashing into a container ship is a catastrophe only for the sailboat, and of course it represents a major failure of watch on a ship that is generously crewed.



I would say that it is foolhardy to single hand without AIS. Personally, I like solitude, and the wilderness that is the ocean, and wouldn't have a problem with heaving to for a good night's sleep in the middle of the Pacific or Atlantic or Indian oceans... what's the hurry?



Of course most single handing is not ocean crossing, it's coastal hops, which ideally would last no more than a day. But that is the most dangerous of sailing, dodging sport and commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, and commercial shipping, and floating logs, rocks and shoals etc. 50 miles out to sea things settle down.



Ironically people feel safer in proximity to shore. A hundred miles off shore, chances are you will encounter nobody.. unless you are in the shipping lanes or a commercial fishing area... 500 and you are in a veritable no man's land where a few intrepid boaters race across to the other side of a vast watery wasteland, eager to reach the other shores where they can tell stories of gigantic whirlpools and sea monsters and other grand adventures over a pint.

[goboatingnow]

On a Run from cork to the canaries we went well west of the rhumb line to avoid weather. Not a ship for two days. Then one afternoon a car carrier appeared to the west of us heading to Europe ( possibly to gib or Portugal ) plotting his course had we not adjusted course , would have resulted in either a near miss or a collision ! Not another vessel to be seen. I adjusted course to pass well astern. Sailboats and ships are like magnets imho.

[Lodesman]

Originally Posted by B_Wieberdink

I think nearly every country has a statement like this. When I am in coastal waters I keep a good lookout.


Bert

I disagree. I think the Irish are quite alone in addressing solo sailing specifically. Wherever it is addressed, most gov'ts seem to take a "see no evil, speak no evil" approach to the legality of solo sailing.