Singlehanding - Sleeping - Good Idea ?

[doug jones]

I singlehand most of the time out of coos bay. the 20 min. nap seems to work for my body clock. I think that may be because I have worked night shift for 20 pluse years. I am training for a trip up the oregon and washington coast to the inside passage . once there I wont need to run over night untill I come back down the coast. Any feed back?

[markje4]

Originally Posted by defjef

And lo and behold and I don't know to this day how this happened but the autopilot decided to dis engage and we made a large arc and were heading South for more than 20 minutes since my last fix when I went to sleep.
jef
sv shiva

Don't have to be single-handing...I was on yacht motoring (for the want of a good breeze) in the Med on a beautiful, sunny day and since it wasn't my watch I was engrossed in a book in the cockpit.
At one stage I looked up and noticed a small freighter well to starboard and heading in the opposite direction. I went back to my book but the next time I looked up we were now trailing the freighter.
The autopilot had somehow managed to perform a leisurely 180 degree turn in a very busy part of water between the Turkish coast and a smattering of small Greek islands!

If things go to plan I will be back there in a couple of years on my own yacht - as a single-hander. But this is a lesson I will never forget.

Mark

[marc]

Originally Posted by doug jones

I singlehand most of the time out of coos bay. the 20 min. nap seems to work for my body clock. I think that may be because I have worked night shift for 20 pluse years. I am training for a trip up the oregon and washington coast to the inside passage . once there I wont need to run over night untill I come back down the coast. Any feed back?

Hi Doug, I have used the 20 min. nap, and it seems to work for me also. Could you explain what you mean by "training". Do you start the 20 min. method before the cruise starts?
Marc

[Alan H]

Hi, I'm a friend of Tiger Beetles.
There's lot's of good information here, so I won't add much, except to say that for myself, I know that I can keep up the 20-25 minute nap thing for several days with no ill effects as long as I grab a bunch of naps during the day. I did two 3 days trips off the coast....meaning in the middle of coastal California traffic the whole time, in 2007 and made the 20-25 minute nap work just fine.

I also know, for myself that if I sleep an hour and get up, I feel horrible. But if I sleep 2 hours, I feel immensely better. An hour and 40 minutes....100 minutes seems to work well for me. I'll be doing that this summer: 20-25 minute catnaps all night long, and naps during the day until I'm 250 miles off the coast. After that, I keep doing the 20 minute nap thing, but I grab 100 minutes once a night between Midnight and 4:00 AM. During that time, I have the AIS on, and an alarm set so that if a target approaches within 8 miles, I get up and deal with it.

I can't afford radar, and even more than that, can't afford the power drain of the radar.

When I get within 250 miles of landfall in Hawaii, I'm back to the 20 minute naps, and no long sleep at night, again.

[Amgine]

Originally Posted by doug jones

I am training for a trip up the oregon and washington coast to the inside passage . once there I wont need to run over night untill I come back down the coast. Any feed back?

Heh. Well, over night runs aren't necessarily a requirement, but they do still seem to happen. And bad nights on anchor watch, not necessarily because your own vessel is likely to drag but that [you describe it] over there looks like it's moving...

I'm in the inside passage, and cruise here year 'round, and sleep is always an issue while single handing whether at sea or in your cruising back yard.

[svbeausoleil]

Hey sailors,
I have single handed from west coast thru Hawaii, South Pacific, Australia, Asia, Indian and Africa. Not bragging just establishing my street cred.
The longest I ever slept was 10 to 15 minutes, and even at 15 minutes I was sometimes very surprised by vessels that had come over the horizion in that time, And I kept a very good watch.
But it is not all bad. Given enough years at sea one develops a sixth (or seventh, I forget what we are up to now) sense. I could FEEL the boats getting closer. It would wake me up. Weird, huh?
As far as going up the coast, why not go to Hawaii, then go north thru the high and end up where the wind lets you go? It will take longer, but so what? Hawaii is a great place. You might even fall in love; I did.
For more info check out:

education.of.a.falcon - The Education of a Falcon var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl.

Cap't Mike

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by svbeausoleil

... The longest I ever slept was 10 to 15 minutes, and even at 15 minutes I was sometimes very surprised by vessels that had come over the horizion in that time, And I kept a very good watch.
But it is not all bad. Given enough years at sea one develops a sixth (or seventh, I forget what we are up to now) sense. I could FEEL the boats getting closer. It would wake me up. Weird, huh?...

There are only five human senses; Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell, & Touch - which limitation (I suspect) is reflected in your sometimes “surprise” at approaching vessels.

[svbeausoleil]

Wow, now I'm in trouble!

But come on, GordMay, have you never been in a party and felt someone watching you? You turn around and sure enough.

Have you never had cold chills run down your back?

But then maybe you don't want beginning sailors thinking they can sense approaching vessels. I agree. It took be 10 years of singlehanding before I even thought I could feel then. And the subject isn't even covered in any of the books at:

sailingbooks - Â*Â* Mike Riley's Sailing Books PageÂ*

so don't bother looking.

Capt. Mike

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by svbeausoleil

Wow, now I'm in trouble!
But come on, GordMay, have you never been in a party and felt someone watching you? You turn around and sure enough.
Have you never had cold chills run down your back?
But then maybe you don't want beginning sailors thinking they can sense approaching vessels. I agree. It took be 10 years of singlehanding before I even thought I could feel then. And the subject isn't even covered in any of the books at:
sailingbooks - Â*Â* Mike Riley's Sailing Books PageÂ*
so don't bother looking.
Capt. Mike

Mike:

Whilst many consider me to be mad, they would also testify that I don't (generally) get mad.

Those same would tell you that whilst I don't party, many poeople often look (stare) at me. It's a normal hazard for those of my "unusual" appearance.
How many times do you turn around; and not only is nobody looking at you, but there's nobody there?

I regularly get chills (down my back, and elsewhere), which I have habitually attributed to the miserable climate in which I live.

I'd recommend that all sailors (newer & older) use the senses they have (including "common" sense), to detect approaching vessels. Relying upon "other" senses, that likely don't exist (in humans) would be akin to relying upon the Gods to keep you & your boat clear of danger - but doing nothing to assist yourself.

You may wonder why the classic texts don't much discuss your sixth/seventh sense; but I don't.

I've been depressed these past several days, so please allow me this little bit of fun, at your expense.

[svbeausoleil]

Hey, Gord May,
Hope I didn't add to your depression, What I didn't add above is the thousands of times I 'felt' a boat on the horizion, raced up to find nothing, but was never discouraged to do the same the next time.
Maybe it is time to get away from the computer and out to sea.

Cap't Mike

[rrgane]

Originally Posted by Trekka

Regarding heaving-to, I would only do so if necessary to stand offshore before entering port. During passage I see no advantage to being stationary. No reason to think I will be less likely to encounter another vessel. If I should have a meeting, I think that being underway allows the best chance of taking immediate evasive action if I wake up with little time to react. I'd hate to be releasing the jib sheets and trying to fall off and gain speed as a big bow comes down upon me.

you know, i have heard from MANY people who singlehand that SAY they do this (heave to when they sleep), and have yet to hear a good explanation why heaving to when you are making an ocean passage is any safer then just letting the boat sail. you have exactly the same chances of collision, sure weather may change, but it is not like the olden pre-radio days when we couldn't get a good weather report. besides, after a day or two you become very tuned into the motion, and would wake if it changed substantially. the only thing i can figure is you may have an equipment failure, but i am reasonably certain that if it was a sail ripping, or water coming in, you would wake up with the racket.

this is not a 'bash the idiots who heave to' post, i really want to know what is the reasoning, as i often have found that something completely obvious is overlooked.

[Amgine]

The motion is hugely damped when hove-to, and I've been in unpleasant weather for days on end and could see this being a reasonable tactic for getting rest. Other reasons to use heaving-to are when landfall would otherwise be after dark, or with poor visibility, and without certainty either of position or of chart accuracy. Other reasons for heaving-to while passaging would be heavy weather, or while effecting repairs, or whenever you feel like it for a break - maybe trying to bake a cake or to have a navy field day in the lockers. I read of one couple sailing about the South Pacific who dropped all sail for most meals and hove-to at night, and it took them longer to get everywhere but they kept doing so for more than 10 years.

Heaving-to is a technique. Most of us will never fly a blooper forward of the spinny, but there are some who do. If it works for them, more power to 'em! If someone gets to a distant port with a tyvek parasail then it's a successful technique, and far be it from me to criticise their method.

[svbeausoleil]

Hi sailors,
Heaving to is something I have rarely done. I remember one time in the middle of the Fiji Islands, late at night, 50 knots from astern, no stars to navigate by (this was before sat nav) and I heaved to, in the hopes of not hitting any reefs before dawn. It is OK to hit them during the day I guess!!!

Generally, in bad conditions, I prefer to run warps. A great description is in my most recent book, a stab at humor, 'Boat Improvement in Exotic Ports around the World'. It is out selling Education of a Falcon 2 to 1.

I case you forgot:

sailingbooks - Â*Â* Mike Riley's Sailing Books PageÂ*

We got caught out off the Cape of Good Hope with 50 footers. We towed 1/4 mile of warps and still surfed down the waves and surfed at 18 knots. (Beau Soleil can most aptly be labled as a semi crab crusher) If we had heaved to we would have lost the boat.

On the other hand, on a nice night, you made good time, it's midnight and the strange port is five miles to leeward, heaving to is a great idea.

Cap't Mike

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by svbeausoleil

....

We got caught out off the Cape of Good Hope with 50 footers. We towed 1/4 mile of warps and still surfed down the waves and surfed at 18 knots. (Beau Soleil can most aptly be labled as a semi crab crusher) If we had heaved to we would have lost the boat....

Cap't Mike

Cap't, can you elaborate on why you believe you would have lost the boat in this particular circumstance.
I an not doubting you, rather trying understand the circumstances in your case as others have succesfully laid hove to in very heavy weather.
Was it the type of seas, the design of the boat, something else...????

[4900bruce]

hi , every one requires diffrent amounts of sleep ,20 minute naps allday and night has worked well for me.my longest trip was 19 days to new caledonia.on the 18th day I found the entrance through the coral reef to get to noumea but I decided to go 20 miles back out to sea and hove to for 18 hours and sleep.
My greatest fear with sailing is land .90 percent of boats are sunk because they hit land.
In december I single handed my boat from Mooloolaba to sydney australia.Cyclone katrina was in the area at the same time unfortunatley.I went 70 miles out to sea and then came down the coast.There was a period of 24 hours when I was bashing into 35 knot winds and big seas.I travelled 112 miles in 24 hours but only 22 miles in the direction I wanted to go .I hove to for 12 hours ,had a great sleep and by then the wind had eased and swung from the south to the north so had a great sail to Sydney.