Overnight passages

[fireball]

So - forums learned opinions please..


You lot seem to have had (or are on) your summer hols - but mine is yet to come ...
Planning an overnight trip to get her into the locality where we'd like to cruise - so it's "delivery crew" (or just an excuse for a bluddy good sail hopefully!) time ...

But - after a day (or 1/2) at work - then onto the boat - how do you keep yourself awake for the night?

 

[epervier]

So - forums learned opinions please..


You lot seem to have had (or are on) your summer hols - but mine is yet to come ...
Planning an overnight trip to get her into the locality where we'd like to cruise - so it's "delivery crew" (or just an excuse for a bluddy good sail hopefully!) time ...

But - after a day (or 1/2) at work - then onto the boat - how do you keep yourself awake for the night?

sleep in the afternoon

 

[Poignard]

But - after a day (or 1/2) at work - then onto the boat - how do you keep yourself awake for the night?

Fear.

 

[snowleopard]

The first night isn't too bad. A second night is nigh on impossible. The trouble is you start to wake up again as dawn comes up so you can't just crash for a few hours once you arrive. I find that sending SWMBO to bed around 9pm then waking her to spell me for a couple of hours around 2am helps to take the edge off it. Of course I have to fit that to a time when we are well clear of the shipping lanes.

 

[V1701]

Tea rather than coffee, eat plenty but not big meals, 20 minute power naps if possible...

 

[tt65]

Make absolutely absolutely sure you will not get cold.
Keep apple juice handy.
Put position on to chart at regular intervals.
Learning characteristics of major lights gives a great sense of place.
Stay warm

 

[andymcp]

If it's just you helming all night, have someone bring you regular tea/coffee/soup and food. If you're comfortable that there is nobody anywhere near and no dangers nearby, the 20-min power nap is ideal. What really worked for me was having a conversation topic that didn't run out - we rehearsed night navigation last time endlessly, but we had the perfect night for it. Otherwise, anchors, colregs or slimate change should do it.

Oh, and lay off the coffee during the day - I find it leaves me struggling later if I'm buzzing all day.....

 

[VicS]

I used to prefer short watches. ... the shorter the better.

If there are two of you on watch together doing longer watches swap over at half hour intervals between being actively on watch/on the helm and resting/ making refreshments.

I agree about keeping warm but I never found it a problem at this time of year. It is in May/early June

If you have had a hard day and are tired don't set out on a night passage!

Make sure the off watch crew get their heads down straight away and don't enjoy a couple of hours sailing and nattering first.

 

[Lee_Shaw]

So - forums learned opinions please..


You lot seem to have had (or are on) your summer hols - but mine is yet to come ...
Planning an overnight trip to get her into the locality where we'd like to cruise - so it's "delivery crew" (or just an excuse for a bluddy good sail hopefully!) time ...

But - after a day (or 1/2) at work - then onto the boat - how do you keep yourself awake for the night?

For overnighters sometimes there isn't any need to to be up on deck all night if you're under sail. We recently sailed from Falmouth to Milford Haven in one go - took over 36 hours, to pass Lands end took all day and the channel took all night and most of the following day. The only thing we saw all night crossing the Bristol channel were dolphin's flourescing outlines accompanying us through the otherwise pitch black, cloudy night, and distant ships lights in the TSS to port.

If the engine is propelling then there is the lobster pot issue, and personally I will not motor at night at all. But under sail, especially reduced sail (3-4 knots), I just stick my head out every 30 minutes for a scan about and then go down to resume the kip. The missus sleeps all night through.

 

[Allan]

My last two deliveries have been exact opposites. The first was 3 days with no break, no watch system, tiredness, sea-sickness and hallucination. The second was a similar distance with the same crew, we had a break, due to the weather, a watch system, little tiredness and a much more enjoyable trip. Unless single handed, I would always have a watch system. If single handed I would never think of doing more than one night. In the case of a plan like the OP I would always be stopped by the second night. The longest I would do is day, night, day. I believe the time you get up is the start point, even if you don't sail until the evening.
Allan

 

[Poignard]

R.T.McMullen, who pioneered single-handed sailing in the 19th century, used to sit on a milking stool so that if he dozed off he fell onto the deck and woke up.

What's needed is some kind of nautical 'dead-man's handle', as they have on electric trains, so that if you don't press a button every few minutes the boat will heave-to! You can get the same effect on tiller steered boats if you let go of the tiller.

 

[snooks]

We found 3 crew perfect, two hours on 4 hours off, and stick to it day and night.

Person coming off watch has two hours off completely, person coming on watch next cooks at preset times be that breakfast, lunch or dinner on a change over hour. Set the times so a different person is cooking and ta everyone is happy.

We did 48 hours like this from Howth to Falmouth and we could have carried on for longer. No one was tired, it worked really well.

When there are two of us we still do two hours on, two hours off, but the extra crew is a luxury worth having.

Having done 4 hour stints in the past I much prefer 2 hours

 

[vikinglish]

I used to smoke like a chimney...... Clearly not the healthiest way of managing the night watch but.......

 

[TQA]

Get some serious footstomping, fistpumping, headbanging rock and roll on the sound system and pump up the volume.

Whatever you do don't make the mistake I made of having chillout flute music instead.

 

[VicS]

Whatever you do don't make the mistake I made of having chillout flute music instead.

The biggest mistake was to listen to the weather forecast before setting out, hearing about 2/3rds of Sailing By then waking up, still on the mooring next morning

 

[charles_reed]

So - forums learned opinions please..


You lot seem to have had (or are on) your summer hols - but mine is yet to come ...
Planning an overnight trip to get her into the locality where we'd like to cruise - so it's "delivery crew" (or just an excuse for a bluddy good sail hopefully!) time ...

But - after a day (or 1/2) at work - then onto the boat - how do you keep yourself awake for the night?

Unfortunately "storing" sleep, is not possible.

I quite often do single-handed overnight passages and find the guard-zone up on the radar, heaved to and 20-40" sleep is quite possible.

Of course, if you're not single-handed, the question is superfluous.

 

[fireball]

Tea rather than coffee, eat plenty but not big meals, 20 minute power naps if possible...

Hmm 20 minute powernaps might be the issue. Unless I can find a way of waking me up 20 minutes will run into a few hours!

 

[fireball]

Get some serious footstomping, fistpumping, headbanging rock and roll on the sound system and pump up the volume.

Whatever you do don't make the mistake I made of having chillout flute music instead.

Ah. Er I can go to sleep whatever the music. Spoken books are no good either. I need to find a way to keep my eyes open or at least keep the brain active.

 

[Poignard]

Hmm 20 minute powernaps might be the issue. Unless I can find a way of waking me up 20 minutes will run into a few hours!

My Monitor windvane came with a kitchen timer included.

 

[fireball]

It's only going to be a trip of 24hrs max.