Asleep on Watch

[StuM]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

Interesting, I'll check local availability. Always good to have another arrow in that quiver. That's very quick relief.

Ann

Looks interesting so I did a bit of research.


Fairly specialised - primarily used for chemotherapy/radiotherapy induced nausea


It's prescription only in Australia.


FWIW, Wikipeida says of "It has little effect on vomiting caused by motion sickness"
Iodine.com says "Can only be used to prevent nausea and vomiting, not to treat if it's already happening."

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

Bucket of water.

LOL....a canister air horn blasted in close proximity is good for some heart palpitations. Not that I would ever do such a thing.

[iabmatos]

Hi all,

How about an ALARM? I know they exist, but couldn't find it in my 10-minute search!

Say you set the timer for a 10-minute interval and the crew on watch has to press a buttom to reset the timer. Once the timer expires, a little buzzer and a red light on the helm station warn that the timer has expired, without waking up everyone in the boat. After another minute or so without any action, everyone on the boat wake up and come to see why the ALARM is ringing so LOUD. May be, it is just another MOB situation, as the crew on watch was taking a pee and fell off in the ocean in the middle of the night...

Cheers,

Ismael

[zeehag]

i learn when my crew is most prone to involuntary sleep, and place that person on day watches. i sleep 15 min after checking horizon, if not close proximity to rocks. those awaken me deep inside so no sleep even when exhausted. kinda like a code blue in icu at 0400. ye wanna drop but ye CANNOT. i learned my bad time is 0300-0500. i find crew who can remain awake those 2 hours and away we go.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by iabmatos

Hi all,

How about an ALARM? I know they exist, but couldn't find it in my 10-minute search!

Say you set the timer for a 10-minute interval and the crew on watch has to press a buttom to reset the timer. Once the timer expires, a little buzzer and a red light on the helm station warn that the timer has expired, without waking up everyone in the boat. After another minute or so without any action, everyone on the boat wake up and come to see why the ALARM is ringing so LOUD. May be, it is just another MOB situation, as the crew on watch was taking a pee and fell off in the ocean in the middle of the night...

Cheers,

Ismael

Egg timer:

[Almost-There]

Originally Posted by iabmatos

Hi all,

How about an ALARM? I know they exist, but couldn't find it in my 10-minute search!

Say you set the timer for a 10-minute interval and the crew on watch has to press a buttom to reset the timer. Once the timer expires, a little buzzer and a red light on the helm station warn that the timer has expired, without waking up everyone in the boat. After another minute or so without any action, everyone on the boat wake up and come to see why the ALARM is ringing so LOUD. May be, it is just another MOB situation, as the crew on watch was taking a pee and fell off in the ocean in the middle of the night...

Cheers,

Ismael

Its called the watch commander and I HIGHLY recommend it. Not only for staying awake but god forbid someone goes over etc too.
It starts with a light beep that gets progressively louder until its loud enough to wake a zombie ;-)

Sail Safely - The Watch Commander passage timer


Ever since sailing with one I wont leave home without it.

[JPA Cate]

We have used the Gym Boss successfully, to make sure one wakes up if accidentally falling asleep. It will vibrate in your pocket, so it does not disturb the one off watch.

Stu M: Thanks for the additional info on the Zofran. Too bad, doesn't look like a magic bullet to me, any more. I also questioned the 10-15 min, above, it would have been very fast.

We do carry stemetil suppositories, for those who cannot keep anything down. During the time I had the Victoria A flu, at first thought I was seasick, just wanted to stop the vomiting, before the diarrhea began. I was concerned by the spectre of dehydration.

For the ones out in internet land who may not know, it is wise to study a bit about seasickness. I was interested to learn that one of its first pre-cursors, an early symptom, is drowsiness.

Ann

[44'cruisingcat]

Consider a less rigid watch structure. My wife and I used our natural inclinations. She likes staying up late, I'm an early riser.

So we just extended that, with no set handover times, she'd just wake me up when she got tired, I'd sleep in the early evening.

Worked for us.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

Crushed Zofran placed under the tongue works wonderful for nausea. Relief in 10-15 minutes.

I had some bug the other day, couldn't stop throwing up, couldnt keep even a sip of water down. I did the above, never had a Zofran before, absolutely amazing. I could start dehydrating and getting some honey etc into me, recovery started immediately.

[jtsailjt]

I brief crew that the watchkeeper is expected to stay awake and every 15 minutes scan 360 degrees visually as well as by radar and check engine (if running) and bilge pump indicator lights as well as check/plot (if close enough to land to be on a paper chart) position. This cannot be done from a sitting position so it forces the watchkeeper to move. I also mention my own technique of standing when I feel drowsy and making my 15 minute checks exactly on time and if I miss it by more than +/- 1 minute, I must stand for the next 15 minute period to help me be more alert. I also explain the reason for why I do these things and how we only get one chance to avoid a collision and everyone onboard is depending on the watchkeeper.

So, since it's very clear that I expect alertness by the watchkeeper, if I came on deck and found them asleep, I'd try to assess whether they were ill and if it looked like they were just sleeping, I'd assume the rest of their watch and once they woke up try to assess whether they were in any condition to discuss the importance of staying awake or if I should wait until the next day. There might be circumstances where I'd make an exception but I doubt whether that person would ever be entrusted with a night watch again on my boat, not to be mean or vindictive, but rather because I wouldn't be able to feel secure enough to sleep during their watch so if I'm going to be awake anyway I might as well do it myself and let them assume "passenger" status for the remainder of their time onboard.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

Wake them up and tell them to go to bed.

People on watch rarely choose to fall asleep, they just couldn’t stay awake and there’s a path that caused that.

Do you fall asleep when driving? No, you pull over. It was their responsibility to get someone up. No excuses.


I would probably send them to bed, and then in the morning I would have them explain what happened to the crew that was trusting them to be awake.

[Sojourner]

Originally Posted by Standbly

Another question is, where? Short coastal trip or ocean crossing? Did he/she have a timer set @ about 20 minutes laying next to him/her?

^^^THIS. I'm a great fan of the egg timer. Ain't nothing physically gonna happen to you offshore in 15-20 minutes. And yes, though it is technically possible to spot floating debris in the dark, on our boat, with the pilothouse setup and dingy on the foredeck, I doubt you'd see it anyway...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

. . . . Note: My wife and I are both Registered Nurses used to working long shifts and taking our responsibilities to protect others rather seriously. We expect to be treated the same way by others.

I have exactly the same attitude about watchkeeping. It's a serious responsibility similar to driving a car, even if the process is somewhat different. And the analogies to single-handing are not apt, in my opinion -- when you are sleeping in the cockpit while single handed, you are not responsible for anyone but yourself. If you are sleeping in the cockpit with a boat full of people sleeping below who have put their trust in you to drive the boat, avoiding hazards and collisions, well that's just totally different.


I'm actually just in the process of writing a manual for watchkeeping on my boat, just to avoid any misunderstandings about what the function entails. Many sailors have a laxer approach to it than I do, but everyone is responsible for establishing whatever standards there on, on his own boat.

Another thing which hasn't been mentioned --

I find it helpful to make sure that everyone understands that the watch rotation is not set in stone. If someone is finding it hard to stay awake, you can ask for someone else to stand in for you. One reason why I am NOT in the watch rotation myself, when my boat is fully crewed, is so that I'm always available to reinforce someone, or to step in instead of someone, in case of need. Knowing that you can be relieved at any moment and without being criticized for asking to be relieved, really helps a lot to ensure that people do their best.

[gmakhs]

It's really depends on the situation , I have been in stormy weather with me and one more crew after the third day we heaved to and both went to sleep , I have had 2 times someone sleeping on his watch .
1 time it was a friend of mine new to sailing we where motoring , I was sleeping in the cockpit and she was on watch , I was awaken from the sound of a coming ferry .
I stand up watch around saw the ferry coming towards us , the moment I stand up she said "don't worry I checked " I didn't answer I just stopped the engine and the ferry passed about 50 meters ahead of us 5 minutes later.
After that she understood her mistake and was standing and going around on every watch .
You should be forgiving and teach people patiently how to keep proper watch , if you don't trust them you can stay with them but is your job as a captain to show them the way .

I believe if I had just left the engine working the ferry would have pass from our stern , but I had no reason to.push through passing from.his bow at that point .

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by JPA Cate

We have used the Gym Boss successfully, to make sure one wakes up if accidentally falling asleep. It will vibrate in your pocket, so it does not disturb the one off watch.

Stu M: Thanks for the additional info on the Zofran. Too bad, doesn't look like a magic bullet to me, any more. I also questioned the 10-15 min, above, it would have been very fast.

We do carry stemetil suppositories, for those who cannot keep anything down. During the time I had the Victoria A flu, at first thought I was seasick, just wanted to stop the vomiting, before the diarrhea began. I was concerned by the spectre of dehydration.

For the ones out in internet land who may not know, it is wise to study a bit about seasickness. I was interested to learn that one of its first pre-cursors, an early symptom, is drowsiness.

Ann

Zofran is the drug of choice to stop vomiting on our boat, it's the drug of choice on cruise ships world wide to stop passengers from vomiting, and it's the "magic bullet" in hospitals to stop patients from vomiting.

But why let actual medical results obtained by healthcare professionals trump second-hand internet advice? And yes, it does work in 10-15 minutes when crushed and placed under the tongue where it's absorbed quickly. Just ask any one who's taken the magic bullet prescription drug.