Have you ever left the helm to go below for a quick pee?

The discreet among us choose our moment and have a bucket to hand; hope not too much detail but some waterproof trousers are a bit restrictive so a bucket held is a lot easier and more respectful of cockpit seats !
 
Single handed one night after checking all around I went down below to use the heads.
When I came up I saw in front of me an anchored boat full of head torches pointing my way.
It was pitch dark. No anchor light. But a bunch of people night fishing in an open boat in complete darkness.
 
The discreet among us choose our moment and have a bucket to hand; hope not too much detail but some waterproof trousers are a bit restrictive so a bucket held is a lot easier and more respectful of cockpit seats !

I think you need a longer hose ;)
 
Astounding that the bridge could be left unmanned for two hours between Belfast and Greenock.

The report states: “It is highly unlikely that the chief officer suffered stomach cramps, passed out in the toilet, or remained unconscious for one hour and 45 minutes.

“It is considered much more likely that he was asleep in his bed.”

Not sure about in his bed,but asleep on watch somewhere around the bridge area is quite likely.Considering that it is common for ships mates to be up all day in port loading/discharging cargo,then leaving port,then having to be up all night on watch,probably having been doing similar patterns for many days means this sort of incident is by no means unheard of.
 
Not sure about in his bed,but asleep on watch somewhere around the bridge area is quite likely.

If you read the actual report, you'll find he was certainly in his cabin. There's dispute over whether he was on his bed or in the en-suite heads, but reading between the lines the former seems almost certain to be the case.

Pete
 
I once met a chap who'd sailed from Grimsby to Weymouth, cat-napping for 20 minutes in the English Channel, " I had a 100,000 tonner and he wouldn't give way ! "

He wasn't joking.

This became a standard catchphrase on my boat - I doubt the crew of the 100,000 tonner was even awake, let alone knew the berk was there.

I used to visit Portpatrick, SW Scotland, there was a wreck of a ship piled up there right under the lighthouse; the crew had set the waypoint then got trollied and fell to sleep.
 
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