Experience

[Slackie]

I'm seriously thinking of doing the JAC next year - boat prep is well underway. I've got a reasonable amount of crewed experience (12000 miles +, including a Southern Ocean crossing), but single-handing has been limited to 24 hour trips without a stop so far.

I need to work out a shake-down / experience gathering schedule for next March - May based from Southampton. The JAC website recommends 500nm non-stop trip - the obvious one being Scillies & return, but this seems more challenging to me that the Azores, given that it's tides, headlands, overfalls, little sea-room and English Channel traffic for 5-7 days.

What would the forum recommend as a suitable set of trips next year, bearing in mind that time off work is not unlimited?

Thanks,

Nige

 

[andlauer]

Practice before qualify

Bonjour
Before going for a 500 miles trip, I would suggest to train via trans-channel one way first then two ways during WE time. It is much easier than costal cruising.
Choose a location with a marina and a ferry back to Southampton (le Havres, Cherbourg Ouistreham or Guernsey if you need an English speaking pub). Leave on the evening to arrive by day time and practice the single handed rest and watch patern.
The 500 miles "qualification" is a, WIZE, recommandation, that I highly support, that's all. But don't put yourself in danger to fulfil it !
I remember a Morlaix to Cowes as one of my first training on my new Figaro boat in september 2005. I survived... so I learned a lot. It was a crazy nut game.

An interesting paper on spring qualifications :
http://www.petitbateau.org.uk/articles/qc.asp
Eric

PS : In case of fog don't cross the channel vessels corridors: back track. Don't ask me why I know....

 

[Slackie]

Bonjour
Before going for a 500 miles trip, I would suggest to train via trans-channel one way first then two ways during WE time. It is much easier than costal cruising.
Choose a location with a marina and a ferry back to Southampton (le Havres, Cherbourg Ouistreham or Guernsey if you need an English speaking pub). Leave on the evening to arrive by day time and practice the single handed rest and watch patern.
The 500 miles "qualification" is a, WIZE, recommandation, that I highly support, that's all. But don't put yourself in danger to fulfil it !
I remember a Morlaix to Cowes as one of my first training on my new Figaro boat in september 2005. I survived... so I learned a lot. It was a crazy nut game.

An interesting paper on spring qualifications :
http://www.petitbateau.org.uk/articles/qc.asp
Eric

PS : In case of fog don't cross the channel vessels corridors: back track. Don't ask me why I know....

Eric,

Thanks for the advice and the link.

I did Southampton - Cherbourg (& return after a few hours sleep) three weeks ago - learned a lot & wasn't wiped out by the end of it, but didn't get into the nap / watch pattern.

So I'm starting to think that something like a Cherbourg n/s return (160nm) followed by a Le Havre n/s return (210nm) would be a good start. Then maybe getting 500nm by going twice twice round a triangle (Isle of White - Cherbourg - Dieppe) - avoids the TSSs and hopefully won't be a long beat past the headlands that a Scillies trip could well turn into ...

Cheers,

Nige

 

[andlauer]

Bonjour
Rather than the Scillies that are one of the worst places to be, I would suggest to go through the middle of the channel into the southern part of the Irish sea. It could be an interresting alternative.

To go into the nap / watch pattern is very important and you should really practice at it. I also practice a sort of "auto-hypnosis" to keep relax and half awake for hours.

When you are overtirred you just become mad (I tried twice) and it might be dangerous. Single handed, I think that you should alway be ready for a 24 hours non sleep ahead. That what happenned, fro example, when the autoplot ram get loose (it fell on the floor!) and I had no other choice than to hand stear the boat until the end of the gale.
Eric

 

[co256]

Can I suggest that it is the "time" at sea that matters and not the distance.

3,4 or, 5 days at sea together is worth more than any distance run!

I find it helps to get in to the rhythm of watch keeping by simply making yourself lie down and close your eyes, don't wait for tiredness to knock you out, even if you are lying in your bunk wide awake it is better to make yourself rest than to sit and wonder.

All the best,

guy

 

[jesterchallenger]

I agree, it's time at sea, not distance that's important. I found it took a bit of practice before I could climb into my bunk and go to sleep - you want to keep putting your head out of the hatch to check if anything's there! Once you get the hang of it, catnapping from anything between 5 minutes and 5 hours becomes quite straightforward, but it does take a bit ofd practice. If you are having moments of stress, it's amazing how long you can keep going if you catnap continuously - 5 minute spells with two minutes in between to check everything's ok - but you must have a good set of (noisy!) timers. I carry three, one to wake me, the second to wake me a few minutes later if I manage to sleep through the first and a third in case any of the others fail. How I hate them, but they keep you awake and alive at the right moments. I tend to avoid coffee so that I retain the ability to drop off to sleep whenever I choose, though at moments of extreme fatigue and high stress it can be a help. There is a caveat though - it took me a couple of months to readjust to NOT catnapping once I was back in the office!
An AIS reveiver and a Seame will set off an alarm if a ship and/or radar comes within their range, so these are relatively inexpensive items that can give a lot of peace of mind to let you sleep for longer periods. And sleep you must, you won't get there without it.
Good luck and happy sleeping!

 

[Pye_End]

Eric,

Thanks for the advice and the link.

I did Southampton - Cherbourg (& return after a few hours sleep) three weeks ago - learned a lot & wasn't wiped out by the end of it, but didn't get into the nap / watch pattern.

So I'm starting to think that something like a Cherbourg n/s return (160nm) followed by a Le Havre n/s return (210nm) would be a good start. Then maybe getting 500nm by going twice twice round a triangle (Isle of White - Cherbourg - Dieppe) - avoids the TSSs and hopefully won't be a long beat past the headlands that a Scillies trip could well turn into ...

Cheers,

Nige

I struggle with the idea of sleeping for too long in a coastal environment. If you are able to get away from the risks of regularly meeting particularly small fishing boats then that will probably give you the best experience. It would be interesting to hear what people got out of 5 days and nights that they didn't get out of 3. At least if you are in big ship territory you can use an AIS alarm.

The best patch of water for you may well be the Normandy coast (it is where I did mine). However, after meeting the first fishing boat that appeared after a 15 min nap, (which was close enough and had the traditional watch system!), I could not sleep for longer. For the challenge this should be rather different (hopefully!).