Fifth question: Sailing alone, and sleep

[river251]

The Navy has all kinds of stuff to see things below the surface as well as other craft, through the water. It seems like some enterprising Navy engineer or contractor would see the market for a smaller version for pleasure boats. That might relieve some of the concern.

[medevicerep]

There was a retired Army Colonel that used to do the single handed race from California to Hawaii. He used to sleep all night. His theory was it was a huge ocean and the odds were with him.

[brucebach]

Originally Posted by Tillsbury

Coastal, I stand up and check 360 degrees, ais etc and if nothing is in sight reset the alarm for 15 minutes and nap in the cockpit. Alarm on wrist so never fails to wake me. That's nz coastal, of course, where you might see one boat in 24 hours.

Busier areas with traffic, separation zones, fishing boats, ports, or shipping lanes then plan to be there when you're wide awake or find somewhere to anchor quietly for a nap.

Crossing oceans, once a day out and not in shipping lanes then you can probably go for longer as long as you have noisy ais and radar alarms

I used to keep a loud egg timer in the cockpit and set it for 15 minutes - the idea being that (as I was told) if there was another ship just over the horizon and it was on a collision course it would take about 20 minutes to reach you (of course depending on its speed, etc.).

[Gaia]

Not often mentioned in replies to posts like this is reducing the chances of encountering problematic traffic while asleep by charting shipping routes. During a circumnavigation we often noticed that encounters were spasmodic if that is the right word and found that they corresponded with published traffic lanes. Finding these routes has become easier.

On a recent passage from the south coast of Cuba to the Rio Dulce we crossed the shipping route that plies the Yucatan channel. Ships use this route to the US from the Panama canal and vice versa. Outside the area traffic was almost non existent from our perspective while in it it was heavy requiring constant attention.

Like the use of AIS, imho the most important navigation aid next to GPS, actively avoiding shipping channels, or crossing them quickly rather than riding them, reduces the chances of a collision massively which after all is the intention.

So simply avoiding sleeping when in the vicinity of these more sailed areas is a major help.

Jim sv Gaia

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by Allied39

...Just answering the OP, not interested in arguing or dealing with the trolls

Does this mean you don't want anyone to answer you or make a comment?

Are you joining the discussion or just spouting off?

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by dadster3

Such an interesting question. As I anticipate being a single handed sailor at some point I have tried to come up with a useful sleep strategy. Anyone who has been in the military has spent periods of at least 24 hrs. w/o sleep. So I think I could go w/o sleep for that period of time, longer in a pinch, then find a place to put in/anchor so I can catch up relatively undisturbed. Anyone tried this?

Of course after, say, 36-48 hrs, alertness and efficiency fall off considerably, but 24 hrs. is really not that bad. The best idea is to make your hops short enough that your need for sleep is not overtaxed very often.

Quite often the "Short Hop" strategy works for coastal cruising but even then some of us tend to snooze off at night (or even during the day). For that reason a repeating alarm (such as a count down timer) can wake you up every few minutes for a look around. AIS with CPA is good but not fool proof since some vessels do not have AIS.

For longer passages the risk is there and people who sleep for longer periods are simply taking a risk, not only for themselves but for other mariners. I would suggest that stopping (heaving to) during the day and taking a long sleep would be a good idea, though not an idea readily accepted by many single handers who prefer just to take the chance.

[AJ_n_Audrey]

Originally Posted by thomm225

This is going to be a problem that will have to be worked out by each singlehander.

Here there are obstacles as for as 15 to 20 miles offshore. So you'd probably want to be out further.

Then especially if you are older this sleeping for 15-20 minute BS isn't real sleep. You will not be rested the next day.

Some of us can barely sleep at anchor and are checking every hour or so when we wakeup.

So my plan is to attempt short hops here and there. My first one will be maybe a 200 mile run from Cape Lookout around the Outer Banks back to the Bay. The problem with this is I'll have to stay out all the way or attempt to enter one of the hairy inlets along the outer banks that has no clear channel and local knowledge is recommended......so I'd stay out unless there was an emergency or something......or maybe sleep a bit during the day hove two or moving very slowly. The noise alone will be enough to keep most of us awake until we adjust

I'll probably try and leave an hour or so before sunrise in Summer and sail all that day then overnight and hopefully get in the 2nd day using that 15-20 minute BS technique and when I do get back it will take days to get back to normal sleepwise

And I don't mean doing this without testing first. I'd be hanging out at Cape Lookout for a few days checking my planned route then wait for the right wind forecast.....15-25 knots out of the South or SW would be much appreciated

Equipment-wise I plan to use my AIS CPA Alarm, autopilot, and add an Echomax Active XS Radar Reflector that alarms when it is painted by radar.

https://www.landfallnavigation.com/c...D_BwE#132=1663

Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason you can't go ICW from Beaufort to the Bay? For coastal runs, I just try to keep the transit time to 20 hours or less, and then I sleep when I get there.

[Don C L]

I think many folks imagine that the sea is littered with multiple objects moving or stationary that could be a hazard. It depends on where you are. Close to shore, obviously you'll have other traffic, and LAND to contend with and if you are going 4 knots and you sleep for 6 hours you have put 24 miles behind you. Close to shore, that's considerable. 200 miles offshore, not so much. Some areas are more likely to see floating hazards like logs than others of course. But you'll know that about the area you are in. Once away from shipping lanes and shore there ain't much to hit, or to hit you. And if you are worried about a partially submerged container or a whale, I don't think there is yet a sure-fire way to identify and avoid those unless it is a very calm sea. It's been quite a few years since I have made overnight offshore trips solo, but if and when I do, I am going to sleep. I tried that 20 minute nap thing. It didn't work for me and I was hallucinating all kinds people having conversations just aft of the boat!
It has been discussed quite a bit, and I certainly understand the argument that it is poor seamanship to not keep watch. I just consider it worse to put yourself at greater risk of making really poor choices due to lack of sleep.

[jmschmidt]

No one knows how many single-handers who were never seen again got mowed down and sunk by big ships while trying to get a little sleep or simply falling asleep due to sleep deprivation. This is like playing Russian Roulette with a round in all but one chamber. and don't count on the watch aboard big ships even knowing that they hit you.

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Does this mean you don't want anyone to answer you or make a comment?

Are you joining the discussion or just spouting off?

I think what he is saying is that he doesn’t care to hear any criticism about his offshore sailing method, especially from armchair sailors. I can see what he means.

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by jmschmidt

No one knows how many single-handers who were never seen again got mowed down and sunk by big ships while trying to get a little sleep or simply falling asleep due to sleep deprivation. This is like playing Russian Roulette with a round in all but one chamber. and don't count on the watch aboard big ships even knowing that they hit you.

Sure, possibly, but today with AIS and radar alarms that can wake the dead, that threat is pretty well taken care of, no? Anyway, as mentioned, the threads above have quite a bit of discussion on the topic as well.
This thread is from a few years back:
https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...rms-55547.html

[roverhi]

I sleep when I feel like it on an ocean passage. Customarily only sleep 4 hours or so without waking up, take a look around, and back to sleep if I'm still tired. Tend to sleep at all times of the day on long passages. When I feel tired just go to sleep. On my Pearson 35 found the bridge deck in front of the companionway a great place to sleep if the boat is not heeling too much. DDW to Hawaii with the boat sailing mostly level slept there almost exclusively. Would sleep for a few hours, poke my head up, look around, and back to sleep. FWIW don't have an AIS with a warning function.

Do not sleep if I'm 6 hours or so from any hard object. Makes coastal cruising a bummer with many straight 48 hour stretches without sleep. Once did 72 hours plus without sleep. Didn't need Netflix with all the entertainment my brain began creating at the end. When your in a groove with the boat moving well a lot of temptation to push it into 'nod off' territory. Best to heave to and catch a few ZZZ and continue on but hard to stop the boat when things are going right. Have found in those situations a few hours sleep will perk me right up for another 24 hours or so. A timer of some sort would be a good thing for coastal cruising but have never had one. 15 miles or more offshore could easily get a couple hours of sleep if I knew something would wake me up. Haven't done a lot of coastal sailing and a timer is always the thing I've forgotten to buy. Guess I could have used the phone but never thought about it till now and it's not very loud.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by AJ_n_Audrey

Maybe I missed it, but is there a reason you can't go ICW from Beaufort to the Bay? For coastal runs, I just try to keep the transit time to 20 hours or less, and then I sleep when I get there.

Yes.

As I said, my plan would be since I'm already on the Bay (okay 1 mile away) is to take the ICW to Morehead City which would be totally boring then come back on the outside around the Outer Banks.

I didn't buy an old monohull to motor the ICW anymore than is necessary.

I observed that for years along the Gulf Coast with folks totally bored motoring along the ICW there.

[doog]

I have to comment because I found on my first offshore single hand trip that Id set the alarm for a 15 minute nap, then Id nap and wake up just before the alarm went off with total reliability. Alarm not needed.

I went into a sleep cycle of ten minute naps every two hours with great reliability and spent 100 hours offshore in this cycle. Then I found it took me over two weeks to learn to sleep again. I was permanently in the cycle of two hours active, then crash asleep as if it were three AM for ten minutes and then wide awake again..

I struggled for days to stay awake continuously until finally I could sleep an hour, then three or four an finally had a normal rhythm again..And I was not groggy, strung out or not rested but during this nappy cycle felt amazing..very hyper alert and thoroughly conscious. But what do you do all night? I had to learn to sleep again like everyone else..

Ive never heard of this in sleep studies and its interesting I think in view of the conventional idea we must sleep for extended dreaming sleep..And in this state, I was wakefully dreaming. If I looked at a blank white wall I could see waves and activity playing out but wasnt conscious of it if I was busy.

Dolphins sleep with one side of their brain and then the other because they may not sleep totally at all or they drown..When we figure this out weve got it made!

Thanks for the question..And you may find in comments things not in any book anywhere, but true. For example, if you are about to cry you just cover one eye and it stops, or close one eye..(if you are in public and would be embarrased or similar..) This isnt written anywhere but its true and would be interesting to study it..and find out why. So dont regret not reading the extensive discussions. Ive never found the pattern I fell into described anywhere..But it was very handy! (I think I was about 40 at this time)

[Siberian Sea]

I sail long distance alone and use a windvane auto pilot. I do sleep each day but never for more then a few hours at a time. Never do I sleep belowdecks but rather just near the helm. If it rains then I’m there just sleeping in my weather gear">foul weather gear, I only go below to cook food. One thing that makes life better for me is the use of cheap solar powered garden lights. Go to Wal Mart and buy a half dozen of these cheap lights. They come on after dark and I put two around the helm so once it gets dark I feel more secure. I get the ones that use AA size batteries, cost about 4 dollars each. You can open the battery compartment and you see the rechargeable AA battery there. This battery is around 300 mah in size. Remove this and replace it with one (also at Wal Mart) that is at least 1350 mah. This battery will charge just like the original but will last all night. Having this small light near you all night gives you a feeling of security instead of just sitting there alone in the dark, also they are nice at anchor.
Anyway, don’t worry about sleep you will be ok. Somehow our bodies/brains seem to adjust to this shorter sleep schedule and we do just fine, you will see.