How tiring is single-handed sailing?

[NotBirdseye]

I wear one of those heart-rate monitoring wristbands, and it's quite interesting what it records on sailing outings. The trace below is a typical one; a nice easy day out, just me and wife, poddling up from Wicor to the top of Southampton water and back. No hassles or alarums at any stage. Nonetheless, my heart-rate was a bit over 100bpm pretty much all of the time (annoyingly, the screenshot doesn't have a vertical scale, but it's about 60bpm when I was asleep and, as as you can see, about 120bpm at peak). The Garmin app therefore thought I'd burnt through about 3500kCal in the day. I asked various doctor friends about whether this was real energy burn or not, and the general opinion was "probably not, but that's quite a high heart-rate!"
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I like the spike at around 7pm where someone clearly thought: "oh s#17". After a brief lull (false sense of security?)

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Yes, mine is similar on bike rides of that sort - depends on the hills, of course. Well, a bit lower overall, as I tend to take a bit over 2 hours for 40k. That's on a bike with "a basket, a bell that rings, and things to make it look good", not a road bike per se.

did you borrow it?

 

[sgr143]

I like the spike at around 7pm where someone clearly thought: "oh s#17". After a brief lull (false sense of security?)

That would have been coming into Portsmouth entrance. I don't remember it being at all problematic - but it's interesting to see it gets the heart rate up a notch or two.

Here's another one... The first spike is me getting the sails up; after a morning motoring, there was finally enough wind to sail. The second spike (157bpm) is due to "issues" anchoring at East Head, Chichester. If any forumite was on one of the other boats there, my grovelling apologies; we really were a bit useless. Sorry.

 

[sailaboutvic]

Blackbeard your 77 you will find it tiring and at time stress full at times , some of the reply you got are from much younger guys .
I spend over 10 years single hand cross biscay twice and taken boats back and fro to the Med , not sure 20 years later I could or want to do it SH now .
If your day sailing take your time , as some have said get things ready in plenty of time a good AP helps but most of all enjoy and don't over do it .

 

[yimkin]

My boat is a Victoria 800 cutter which I sail singlehanded all the time. Having 2 foresails reduces sheet loads and the the staysail is a self tacker. My best investment is a Seafeather wind vane. It is invaluable. In open water it does most of the steering and there is no power consumption. I also have a tiller pilot
but it is not very powerful so I generally only use it whilst motoring. The boat is well balanced and I have a light chain straddling the tiller which I can drop on the auto pilot tiller pin when I want the helm held; for instance whilst tacking. The most stressful times are berthing activities. I prefer to warp out of a marina berth as going astern in confined spaces is not the forte of a long keeler. I'm a year younger than blackbeard and I find checklists essential.
If you find the sailing you do too exhausting sail shorter distances sail midweek and anchor earlier. Sailing for us 'mouldy oldies' should be a leisure activity not a competition.

 

[Blueboatman]

Have single handed a fair amount over the years. In the early days, without autopilots-now that was tiring and not really so much fun. Good windvanes AND autopilots ( and carrying spare ones) seems to really have changed all that .
The distinction between good ( healthy) tiredness and bad ( stress/worry/ situations of mounting uncertainty or outcomes) is imho very relevant..

A happy s/handed sailor eats regularly and well , keeps on top of catnapping and proper rest when not at sea, knows where they are and where they will be and what they will be doing vis a vis deteriorating weather and has confidence and competence and reliability in his boat, steering systems,( with back up steering systems too) and of course the more you plan and execute sailing sortees the more ‘ normal’ your brain and body perceive it to be! Without wishing to be the Flying Dutchman or Bill No Stop, No Mates?
I don’t think I have ever actually heaved to other than to try it out on each boat I have owned.
I do however almost always always prefer to drop a deep reef in and just Jill along under mainsail alone when faced with a night approach in tiredness IN COMBO with an uncertain area/leeshore/lobster pot arrival scenario. Not always as easy as you might think to tell yourself to stop and wait until dawn!
One still reads of people getting into a rescue situation by ‘ pushing ‘ on solo into mounting tiredness and mental fatigue and making errors that clearly relate to tiredness as they approach breakwaters /pots/shallows etc ..

So that’s my two bits worth.

Otoh. A thread on all the mistakes one has made as a single handed sailor, now that would be quite long?

 

[Birdseye]

I ask because after having spent quite a lot of summer sailing s/h on a 25-foot yacht (Hunter 245) I am left feeling as if I have over-trained (as in training for running) and need a bit of a rest! despite not having (so far as I can recall) done anything especially taxing. Is this normal, or is it just me?
There's a good side; despite having eaten well, I tend to lose a bit of weight ...
Blackbeard (age 77 - is that the problem? I hope not)

Of course it is the problem. Like most of us on here, you are old and knackered.

 

[jbweston]

The answer to the question in the thread title is 'It all depends . . .'

I reckon there are five factors: weather conditions, length of the passage, boat (and how it's equipped and set up), traffic conditions, and the skipper (in my case, me).

If all those are favourable, I find singlehanding far less tiring than sailing with a crew. If they are all unfavourable, it's very tiring or even just plain impossible.

 

[Achosenman]

An over speced, reliable auto steering system is IMO the answer to stress free solo sailing. It is the crew that does what it is told and allows me to do other necessary jobs an sit back and relax and enjoy the trip.
Because autopilots are expensive people tend to fit the minimum spec for their boat. They work ok in moderate conditions but are totally inadequate in gusty conditions or running with a building sea up your chuff.

I have just gone through that upgrade. The difference is noticeable in how it handles challenging conditions. Of course some of it might just be a modern autopilot as opposed to an old system, but I'm happy. I did beef up the rudder, steering quadrant and install new bearings to cope with the higher forces of the type 2 ram. The other add on was a remote control. That alone is worth getting even if you don't change the pilot. Lastly, a doppler radar is an eye opener, you can almost relax in busy coastal area's...almost.

 

[ColinR]

On longer passages it depends on weather and the amount of traffic . For example a Channel crossing say Devon to Brittany involves the shipping lanes, usually at night to arrive in daylight so you really can't get much rest. Or Cornwall to SW Ireland I saw nothing once offshore until the middle of the night when the place was full of fishing boats for hours, no rest to be had. In good vis you can scan the horizon often and track any vessels from a long way off, especially at night, but poor vis is really tiring as you have to be alert all the time, checking AIS and radar and keeping a close lookout and its really tiring. Well offshore if there's not much traffic, even in bad weather its much easier to get enough rest during the day and short spells at night. Having said all that, as I've got older I find the lack of sleep more difficult to cope with. But solo night passages can be completely magical.