Singlehanded passage making, Best Practices

[Mexican Hat]

I will be setting sail in a few months with limited ocean sailing experience and plan/expect to be solo much of the time. So this thread is interesting. One thought I have had for a cheap and easy alarm, of course only as a supplement to all the other things, is a car radar detector. They operate on s/k/x bands and so should pick up radar signals from other vessels ok. Anyone have any experience with this?

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by conachair

Which oceans? I've just been north/south atlantic mainly lower latitudes.

Atlantic and Pacific, mostly Atlantic from Bocas del Toro to Tromso.



I see a fair number of sailing vessels, more inshore than off of course. I remember a Jeanneau 42 on a reciprocal course between Falmouth and Horta. No response to radio, flags, horns, anything. We passed within 100 yards. We really wanted to contact them as one of my crew was desperately in need of *ahem* feminine hygiene products. *sigh* Not a peep. Reported them as a hazard to navigation but didn't hear anything back.

Originally Posted by conachair

Another very vague thought - do you stick to a gps route offshore?

Good question. No. I'm focused on VMG and generally that means tacking. Even in light air on a meaningful passage means boat speed instead of burning dead dinosaurs. I run the numbers and look at fuel consumption against my day rate. I owe fiduciary responsibility to my customers. Will an extra couple of days sailing in light air be cheaper to my customer than motoring? Besides, I pretty much want to go home and see my wife. *grin*

Originally Posted by conachair

WIth a wind vane I wander all over the place but know people do stick waypoints in and keep very close to the great circle route, might increase the odds of seeing other sailing boats just a little.

Wind vane or autopilot sailing to the wind is really helpful. VMG. On sailing boats the shortest path between two points is not a straight line. SOH CAH TOA. VMG. DMG.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Wind vane or autopilot sailing to the wind is really helpful. VMG. On sailing boats the shortest path between two points is not a straight line. SOH CAH TOA. VMG. DMG.

Difference between a boat being delivered and a cruising boat

VMG doesn't come in to it, what's another day or 3? Nice leaving calendars ashore and living a bit more free for a while. Lovely out there.
Instead of any thought of VMG it's down to "Does the boat feel happy?" which may or may not be the best VMG.
Less breaks that way.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by conachair

Difference between a boat being delivered and a cruising boat

VMG doesn't come in to it, what's another day or 3? Nice leaving calendars ashore and living a bit more free for a while. Lovely out there.
Instead of any thought of VMG it's down to "Does the boat feel happy?" which may or may not be the best VMG.
Less breaks that way.

Faster passages means fewer weather surprises. It means less fuel cost when the wind fails despite what the forecast says (you are watching the synoptics, right? Not just another grib-watcher?).



Short-handed faster means less chances of a nasty surprise.


Faster means the sails last longer since the stresses in the fabric align with the fibers.



Faster means less risk.


I'm not talking about hovering over the winches. I'm talking about paying attention to keeping the boat in the groove and running hot and happy. Comfortable ride. Not pounding into seas under power when you can crack off fifteen or twenty degrees and sailing faster than you can motor. Sometimes a lot faster. VMG. A little trigonometry doesn't bother you does it? Running the numbers is easy. Paying attention doesn't bother you? You run numbers once a watch, look at sail trim every fifteen or twenty minutes when you do a horizon scan. This is not hard work. It's good seamanship and part of the fun of passagemaking.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by Mexican Hat

I will be setting sail in a few months with limited ocean sailing experience and plan/expect to be solo much of the time. So this thread is interesting. One thought I have had for a cheap and easy alarm, of course only as a supplement to all the other things, is a car radar detector. They operate on s/k/x bands and so should pick up radar signals from other vessels ok. Anyone have any experience with this?

No, but it’s an interesting idea. Hopefully someone else will pipe up.

I did have an active radar transponder but sold it. My own radar would set off the alarm. Probably didn’t have it positioned well.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Faster passages means fewer weather surprises. It means less fuel cost when the wind fails despite what the forecast says (you are watching the synoptics, right? Not just another grib-watcher?).



Short-handed faster means less chances of a nasty surprise.


Faster means the sails last longer since the stresses in the fabric align with the fibers.



Faster means less risk.


I'm not talking about hovering over the winches. I'm talking about paying attention to keeping the boat in the groove and running hot and happy. Comfortable ride. Not pounding into seas under power when you can crack off fifteen or twenty degrees and sailing faster than you can motor. Sometimes a lot faster. VMG. A little trigonometry doesn't bother you does it? Running the numbers is easy. Paying attention doesn't bother you? You run numbers once a watch, look at sail trim every fifteen or twenty minutes when you do a horizon scan. This is not hard work. It's good seamanship and part of the fun of passagemaking.

Each to their own, think we're coming from very different perspectives. Long distance cruising for me will be timed to decent weather , if the boat can't handle a bit of a summer low it's no business being out there. Usually downwind anyway, motoring? Flat calm for days maybe turn it on if yo get bored drifting. And of course I pay attention () , if the boat's happier pointing at Iceland instead of Falmouth for half a day then so be it. No big deal. Just don't get obsessed pushing the boat to get another half knot VMG, you'll break something. Keeping the boat happy is paramount, above VMG IMHO. Which before has meant not touching a sheet or the windvane for days on end, beautiful

Edit, Thinking a little more about it I really think keeping the boat happy is psychologically very important as well, ditch the calendar - if heaving to is best for the boat then any kind of schedules shouldn't muddy your mind, do it early without the undercurrent of get there fast. Especially for solo sailing, play safe, play cautious , not having fastest VMG as any kind of determining factor. If another day or 3 is the best thing to do then do it - it's good seamanship, just keep the kindle charged

[Charlespeck]

I second the notion of reading Andrew Evan's SingleHand Sailing.
I keep it handy on my kindle, well phone with the reader app.
Since I pretty much sail using my tiller every mile I find keeping necessary things handy, like snacks, coffee thermos, etc. useful.
Though I am usually coastal on the gulf of Mexico, I like to stay out 10, 20 miles unless i am hunting nooks and crannies to look into.
Though not always successful i try to sleep during the day and sail through the night.
Been doing this for awhile now and I like the sound of an AIS and one day may well get one. Heck I just started using a jack line since the decades are starting to pile up and those old man conservative qualms keep snatching my attention.
I usually hove to for a nap, call of nature, fancy food (cooked).
I rarely sail with another except to take someone on a day sail or overnight to a barrier island. I find nothing else really compared to being out there on your own.
The main thing to keep in mind is you are on your own so pay attention.

[roverhi]

Don't know if it's still marketed but there was a radar alarm device available a few years ago. Consensus was it worked but was a total PITA coastal and where there was heavy commercial traffic as it was constantly going off. Most that had it quit using it from what was reported on the net.

You can invest in all the electronic goodies before going anywhere if you are followed around by a Brinks truck with your money in it. You're looking at $10,000 dollars or more by the time the systems that are being touted as must haves are up and running and then that cost is only as long as it is up and running. Keeping the systems working can be many thousands more on a regular basis.

The cost of all those gadgets could easily equal a couple years of actually going somewhere rather than sitting at a dock and pontificating while you work to buy and maintain the gear.

If you really want to go solo cruising, get out there and do it. A GPS and a backup are relatively cheap and mostly reliable. You can work out whatever watch system works for you. From experience, a 24/7 constant watch is only required coastal and in very limited commercial choke points. The chances of running into a continent are much greater than being run down by another cruiser or a container ship. Once you are more than 50 miles off immovable hard objects there is precious little out there.

Practice before you go, at least a couple of out and back 200 mile trips, to learn how you handle solo sailing and making whatever improvements you deem necessary would be a good idea. It seems you really don't know what you'll need till you're too far away to get it easily.

[Manatee66]

Have the radar working with alarms on.

Have the AIS on.
Consider that not everybody on this planet has his AIS on because he does not want attention (e.g. illegal fishermen - up to 300´ vessels).
Consider that you might not want attention as well (e.g. pirates tracking a private vessel on AIS. AIS is tracked via satellite - hence you are visible to everybody…).


Have a cheap timer set to 20 minutes intervals. Have a second one set after the first - and a third one after the second (like 2-3min apart). Make sure getting up is easy (e.g sleep fully dressed in the cockpit). Get up, look around, check the auto pilot, go back to sleep. If you want/need to use longer intervalls - heave to. Do never ever rely on "there is nobody out there".

[Radsmoots]

No one seems to be mentioning how much electrical power it takes to have a radar on all the time, plus the AIS, autopilot, GPS, and all the rest. Also, after too many false alarms from guard zones I stopped using them and just made sure I kept a better lookout. I don't trust that any other boat or ship is keeping a good watch and and plan accordingly.

[surfmachine]

Ahoy shipmates, some observations on short handed and single handed sailing around Sumatra for 8 years.

Lots of the ferries dont have their AIS on, a German yacht, without radar, ran into one off of Padang last year, 2017, nearly sank, as the wife was below whilst "on watch" at 0300 hours.

I quite often ask ferries making the same passage as me to switch on their AIS, which some do for a short time, then off it goes again. At night they seem to be on auto pilot, I have had to avoid several stern overtaking collisions!

The number of first hand horror stories of single handers narrowly escaping disaster on the Malaccan straits passage to and from Thailand is shocking.
Waking up bumping a huge steel hull.
Being rolled in "sumatran squalls" at night sailing with the jib and main up.
Being swamped by following seas when coming into "safe anchorages" as a last resort.

Just dont sail single handed in high risk areas, always have some one on watch!!

Fair winds from Keith.

[JDGreenlee]

Solo'd Coral Sea, South Indian, Cape Good Hope, and Brasil to Tobago using AIS transponder and broadband radar with alarms set conservatively, with masthead lights, and slept in the cockpit.

Selected Pacific Seacraft 37 based in part on my perceived ability to sail the ship solo while injured in fair to moderate weather.

A Scanmar Monitor Windvane was a very good investment but I carried a knife when tethered because the boat would not stop and I wanted the option. I added four padeyes about the cockpit to tether-in, and did so at night and foul weather; wore a lifevest while sleeping.

After being caught too many times with too much sail up, I reefed at night and when sleeping an extended period. Cat-napped 45 to 90 minutes segments but slept for 3 - 4 hrs at least once a day. Timers useful but discipline to mentally control sleep cycle helped improve alertness on awakening.

My steering cable broke south of Durbin and I was on the emergency tiller into East London. Bungee cords on tiller helped temporarily hold course when Nature called, but sleep was scarce due to adrenaline. Pipe tobacco provided entertainment. Knocked down by rogue cross-train but survived. The brave and hospitable sailors at the Buffalo River Yacht Club sold me a perfect steering cable for U$20.

May you be so lucky.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by conachair

Long distance cruising for me will be timed to decent weather

Maybe we have different definitions of decent weather, or of timing, or of what a passage is. Newport to Virgin Gorda is well beyond the range of any confidence in a weather forecast - mine, Chris Parker's, OPC, or NHC. No one is going to run away from a major system. "Local systems" can easily go on for a day or longer and that is wearing on everybody, especially single handers.



You make your best forecast and choose your departure time and then you get what you get. The faster you go the less time on passage exposed to risk.

Originally Posted by conachair

Usually downwind anyway

So you de facto give up half or more of the possible destinations? I'm glad people exist who feel that way. Part of my business is heading upwind because owners can't be bothered. In the tropics I'd rather some wind over deck anyway.

Originally Posted by conachair

if the boat's happier pointing at Iceland instead of Falmouth for half a day then so be it.

Which is my point EXACTLY. Happier is usually faster. Why beat (ha!) your head against the wall pounding into seas at 4 kts when you can crack off 15 or 20 degrees and pick up 2 kts? Lets run the numbers shall we? Assume the 4 kt course lays your destination so VMG is 4 kts. VMG for 20 degs off at 6 kts is COS(20*PI()/180)*6 (note Excel functions use radians for angles) or 5.6 kts. Wow. Crack off and go faster and shorten your passage.



Heck, if you're cruising just decide to visit Iceland (visas and other logistics permitting) and your VMG goes up even more. *grin*

Originally Posted by conachair

No big deal. Just don't get obsessed pushing the boat to get another half knot VMG, you'll break something.

There are certainly limits. Sailing the boat optimally is LESS likely to break something. Optimum doesn't mean rail in the water. That is slower. Optimum means good sail trim and balanced sail plan. Sails don't last as long as they could with a "set and forget" attitude. Every horizon scan should include a sail trim check. If you don't know how to trim for effect take a class.



CREW: "Hey Dave - I think I can get some more out of the boat if I trim the jib."
DAVE: "You're the watchstander - let me know when you're happy and we'll talk about it."
- time passes -
CREW: "Okay. All the telltales are streaming aft, both sides, top to bottom."
DAVE: "How fast were we going when you started? What was our average weather helm?"
CREW: "I didn't look."
DAVE: "6.1 kts rough average and 3°. What are they now?"
CREW: "5.6 kts and 12°."
DAVE: "Okay lets ease the jib until we get a little flutter on the luff and then crank in until it goes away. Let the boat settle and then check numbers again."
CREW: "6.2 kts and about 4°"


We can talk about sail trim for cruisers. The point is that sail trim isn't hard and that good trim leads to a faster, happier boat. 0.5 kt is 12 nm each day. Over a US Midatlantic or New England run to the Virgins that takes a day off. Over a shorter run such as Norfolk to Bermuda it could make the difference between a daylight entry or a night one. Make the destination Bahamas and it could mean the difference between heaving to for most of the night waiting for good light to run an inlet. Time and distance management is of course a topic in itself.

Originally Posted by Charlespeck

Since I pretty much sail using my tiller every mile I find keeping necessary things handy, like snacks, coffee thermos, etc. useful.

For everyone a snack bag is critical to morale. People eat from boredom as much as anything else.



For singlehanders you really have to pay attention to hydration (urine color is a good indicator) and getting decent calories in. Fruit, hard-cooked eggs, granola bars are better than junk food. Get some decent meals into yourself. If you can't cook, learn.

Originally Posted by Charlespeck

I usually hove to for a nap, call of nature, fancy food (cooked).

No you don't. *sigh* If you are as old as you say then you should understand conjugation.



"I usually heave to for a nap."
"I hove to to unclog the head."


I must heave to. I will heave to. I was hove to.


Pet peeve. Vocabulary and grammar are important. How else do we communicate effectively?

Originally Posted by roverhi

Don't know if it's still marketed but there was a radar alarm device available a few years ago.

Right. See-me I think. X-band only. There are some newer ones (EchoMax) that are both S-band and X-band. While not as important as it was during the days of traveling wave tubes (TWTs) there are still ships that shut down X-band offshore (better resolution, poor penetration through rain and a hassle to declutter). Don't get cocky.

Originally Posted by Radsmoots

No one seems to be mentioning how much electrical power it takes to have a radar on all the time, plus the AIS, autopilot, GPS, and all the rest. Also, after too many false alarms from guard zones I stopped using them and just made sure I kept a better lookout. I don't trust that any other boat or ship is keeping a good watch and and plan accordingly.

The order depends on the particular outfit and use profile but the big consumers are autopilot, refrigeration, and displays. That big old 12" display draws more power than the radar. You can put the radar on the "every so often mode" (which I find awkward but YMMV) and not get as much power savings as by dimming the display.



You can greatly reduce the draw of autopilots by paying attention to sail trim and balancing the boat.



Snack bag instead of rummaging in the fridge helps also. Set fridge and freezer temps (I use 40°F (4°C) and 10°F (-12°C)) to balance food safety with energy consumption. On my own boat (one fridge, two freezers) I manage content so I can shut down first one freezer and then the other as we eat the contents down.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

Which is my point EXACTLY. Happier is usually faster. .

Think our viewpoints are actually quite close, but you want to get home to the wife.

I'm at home already so the only factor is keeping the boat happy, nothing in the back of your mind about getting to port as quick as possible. Which may or may not getting max VMG. It might mean heaving to for 6 or 12 hours longer than you would 'til the seas calm down more. You'll be motoring putting more hours on the engine for days in calms, I'll be reading a good book Whats best for the boat it's always the fastest way to port. IMHO a calendar is one of the more dangerous things you can have on a boat.

Windvane means sail trim doesn't need doing every few minutes, the boat will tell you if it's not happy, just need to listen to it.

[Pendragon35]

Originally Posted by Suijin

It’s all about managing fatigue. Fatigue will render all other preparations and readiness moot at the most inconvenient times.

Not just interfering with maintaining a proper lookout, but doing little things like mis-running lines, forgetting to turn on the masthead light, etc.

When solo you want to prevent small problems because many of them can turn into large problems or ones that are difficult to deal with alone.

I don't make long passages, I do single hand on the Chesapeake. After a few cruises alone, I've found this is the most significant thing.

To me it means...
1. Eat. Eat endlessly. I tend to forget this and I'm always too tired to cook. Healthy snacks need to be at hand, also protein like jerky.
2. Drink. Lots of water, lots of gatorade.
3. Go slow. I sail an Alberg 35 wtih a largish main; singlehanded, I almost always take the first reef.
4. Don't go as far as you think you can. Fatigue sets in quietly, but it does set in. Try to plan shorter legs.
That's what I've learned for my sailing. Has nothing to do with long voyages.