Sailing solo

[Seastoke]

I am really interested in how you raggies are say sailing across Biscay , how do you sleep and sail.

 

[veshengro]

I'll risk an answer, of sorts.

In 17 years voyaging I only entered Biscay once, and that was to inspect for damage after striking a semi submerged object in thick fog. I altered course for La Coruna and went into a Marina .
This one, can't remember what it was called.

This is all from memory...
My Port of departure for all voyages was always Falmouth. Clear of Falmouth Bay I set a course of about 225 give or take depending on wind. This would take me ..roughly clear between the shipping lanes of the Isles of Scilly and Ushant on the French coast. I would steer that course or as near as possible down to roughly N 9 16 - W 10 or further West depending on weather. That position put me clear of Cape Finisterre and the shipping lanes. From that position I would alter due South and run down the Spanish/ Portuguese coast being fairly confident I was outside the inshore fishing boat areas. Positions are from memory, but give a general idea and I'm too lazy to dig a chart out and too thick to Googly to the nearest cable for the forum Nerds...

I used to leave Falmouth late evenings which meant after a days sleep at anchor in the Custom House anchorage, I was easily capable of being awake for 24 hours which would see me well clear of the land. I never slept at night at sea, only during the day. I had no radar but I did have an American Radar Alarm, an excellent bit of kit which sounded when struck by another vessel's Radar sweep.
I slept with a kitchen timer during the day, 20 minutes, get up, do 360 degree sweep with the Binos, set the timer and crash out again usually in the cockpit unless really wet weather.

In my Gaff Cutter I always reduced sail at night, struck the topsail and rolled away one Jib. Navigation was by plotted GPS onto paper charts and cockpit magnetic compass. 90% of the steering was by Hydrovane wind vane, day and night it would flip flop away, and hold a course better than me on the Tiller.. No chart plotters or electronics although I did have a basic VHf and a hand held for the grab bag.

Just a note. I had never had a 9-5 type job. All my working life had either been sea watches or later working ashore very irregular ( and irrational ) hours. Broken sleep was really nothing new, but..obviously on a long voyage it took it's toll. When I anchored in Fort De France in Martinique I slept for 14 hours after a 29 day crossing...

 

[capnsensible]

I think that's just called Marina Coruna now. Used to have the most awkward diesel dock this side of the black stump.

Admire your single handed sailing adventures!!

 

[veshengro]

Thank you. Marina Coruna, I remember this Castle coming out of the Murk close by the entrance..

 

[Roberto]

I am really interested in how you raggies are say sailing across Biscay , how do you sleep and sail.

Like at school, "You have two hours, discuss", one could easily write a hundred pages.
You would find the complete spectrum, from people happily wearing their pyjamas at 10PM and going to sleep for the full night "why bother there's no one", to people refusing to sail long passages singlehanded because of strict adherence to rule 5 and all that. Between the two extremes there are a lot of different approaches to suit every different way of looking at this kind of sailing.
For a scientific take to sleep, google Claudio Stampi "Why we nap", or hypnograms from racing sailors doing simple overnight races, Figaro circuit (up to 2-3 nights), or Imoca/Ultim offshore races where one basically needs a long term sleep/awake periods balance (20' kitchen timer is of no use). Very different situations.
Biscay is interesting (I often used it as a case study) as it offers various alternatives. Areas where one must be very careful and basically no sleep is allowed (say TSS crossings, or south brittany coast), then areas where the 20' nap would -riskwise- be ok, then other areas where a full 1.5-2h deep sleep cycle would -riskwise- be acceptable. Very different routes, where very different sleep patterns are needed to minimise risk. "Risk" being traffic, weather, etc etc.
One example of difficult hours (my mistake, that's how one learns sleep management first hand): coast of northern South America, into Galleons passage with Trinidad Tobago: the whole ship traffic from South Africa or Santos Brazil going to Panama or South US ports passes there. While in the open sea during the afternoon I had an eventful fishing time so did not accumulate enough sleep time, when it got dark I entered a one night long passage and found myself converging with a huge number of ships, who were then overtaking me. Sleep deprived, you cannot sit for one second as you will immediately fall asleep, I stood in the cockpit while singing loud silly songs to keep myself awake, several DSC calls to red-and-green navlights behind "sailboat on your bow, have you seen me, can I help do you want me to maneuver". Credit to professional seamen, all said "thanks no worries we have you on radar, keep your speed and course". Total nightmare. One learns, I did not get caught the second time a few years later, took the fishing rod away, slept, and could sail the same overnight passage while sleepless but conscious (situational awareness seems to be the proper term) of what was going on around me. Other fellows said they slept the whole way, why not, each to one's own
Anyway, singlehanded long passages are by definition not compliant with Rule5, there is no doubt one is creating risks for other vessels and is taking additional risks for him/herself; what is acceptable...

 

[Buck Turgidson]

All my sailing is solo multi day.
Wait till I'm tired enough then 30 minute cycle of check everything go below and place my phone next to my head, snooze, alarm, up and do the same until I no longer snooze then wait until im tired again and do the same routine. Once I get into the rhythm the snooze turns into a sleep and it goes deep. I sleep seconds after putting my head down and I can check the boat and nav and scan the horizon in 5 minutes or less. I often wake up just before the alarm goes off and I wake up instinctively when something unusual happens like a big wind change.
As soon as there is a possible hazard or the need to change sail plan I stay awake until everything is done and safe then start again. Some nights I get 10 or more sleeps other nights 1 or 2 depending on circumstances.
Longest Ive done this for is 18 days but I could have continued indefinitely by then. That was Falmouth across Biscay, down the Atlantic outside the shipping lanes then into the Med and up to Valencia.
You need a boat you can trust.

 

[RunAgroundHard]

All my sailing is solo multi day.
Wait till I'm tired enough then 30 minute cycle of check everything go below and place my phone next to my head, snooze, alarm, up and do the same until I no longer snooze then wait until im tired again and do the same routine. Once I get into the rhythm the snooze turns into a sleep and it goes deep. I sleep seconds after putting my head down and I can check the boat and nav and scan the horizon in 5 minutes or less. I often wake up just before the alarm goes off and I wake up instinctively when something unusual happens like a big wind change.
As soon as there is a possible hazard or the need to change sail plan I stay awake until everything is done and safe then start again. Some nights I get 10 or more sleeps other nights 1 or 2 depending on circumstances.
Longest Ive done this for is 18 days but I could have continued indefinitely by then. That was Falmouth across Biscay, down the Atlantic outside the shipping lanes then into the Med and up to Valencia.
You need a boat you can trust.

Great post, thanks.

 

[BobnLesley]

... people happily wearing their pyjamas at 10PM and going to sleep for the full night "why bother there's no one"...

We met a Canadian couple in Cabo Verde who did exactly that, well almost, they went to bed at 20:00.

When we were organising to set-off a week or so later, we discovered that they intended departing the same day; I expected they'd be quicker than us, so we stayed in port for a couple of days longer... I didn't want to be anywhere near them. That said, they were coming towards the end of a RtW voyage and indeed completed it without incident, so it worked for them.

 

[DownWest]

Close friend got run down in the Atlantic by a big ship. Glancing blow, but he had looked about and and seen nothing, then gone below for tea and write up the log.
Bang!
Ship didn't stop, even after he got them on VHF. damage was so bad he abandoned and was picked up by another ship.

Nother friend was on route to the Carib. Came up on deck to see a big ship directly astern, no AIS indication alarm. Shouted for rest of crew to get on deck with LJs, the helm had not looked astern for a bit.. Got the ship on VHF and they said that they had seen him.. Given the distance, he didn't believe them.

 

[Roberto]

That said, they were coming towards the end of a RtW voyage and indeed completed it without incident, so it worked for them.

These were less lucky: en route from the Caribbean, they probably put a waypoint to Horta marina, without considering there is a huge promontory to be sailed around, being asleep did the rest. They were both rescued, basically walked ashore I took the video from the nearby street, the following day there was almost nothing left of the boat.

 

[MontyMariner]

how do you sleep and sail

The boat sails, I sleep
I've done Camaret Galicia solo a few times as it's difficult to find crew that have that amount of free time. Even at home I don't sleep much, two or three hours at a time normally, so on a crossing I do a 'long range' scan on radar and ais, check the wind direction and sails, then rest for an hour or so in pilothouse saloon. During the day I can take a lookout through the windows as well as from on deck, at night there isn't much point as you can't see much in the dark so it's mainly checking the wind direction and sails and 'electronic surveillance'.
The beauty of the Camaret Galicia route is that, unlike the Channel, there is little or no cross route traffic, the big stuff are further out in the shipping lanes and fishing boats are recognisable from there erratic/reciprocating course. As for boats going in the same/opposite direction, as it's mostly down wind sailing, my strategy is to not follow the straight line bearing but sail about four or five miles off and parallel to it. It's not an infallible strategy, but seems to work ok.

 

[mattonthesea]

As said above, different strategies for different situations, so I won't repeat.
One thing I found on long passages, is that I was highly in tune with the boat. Anything out of the usual would wake me and I would be out of my bunk and in the cockpit within seconds.

 

[dunedin]

Are people able to get comprehensive insurance cover for sailing solo long distance?

Most policies I have seen limit solo trips to 18 or 24 hours, which seems reasonable as max able to keep full watch.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

My comp insurance has no mention of crew requirements.

 

[Roberto]

Are people able to get comprehensive insurance cover for sailing solo long distance?

I used to with Pantaenius (EU/Monaco), transatlantic included, confirmed in writing. I recently dropped full cover and now have only third party.

 

[MontyMariner]

I also used Pantaenius, no problem on going solo

 

[AndyDavies]

I also used Pantaenius, no problem on going solo

Also with Pants but I do wonder if they'd reject, or at least reduce, a claim based on non-compliance with Rule 5. Insurers tend not to be forthcoming with their bases for rejection until after the fact.

 

[dunedin]

My comp insurance has no mention of crew requirements.

Interesting, which company?

And regarding references to Pantaenius, I get the feeling that what they were happy to allow a few years ago and for existing customers was a lot more than they offer to new customers. Certainly they had restrictions on solo sailing when I got a quote recently.

 

[AndyDavies]

Interesting, which company?

And regarding references to Pantaenius, I get the feeling that what they were happy to allow a few years ago and for existing customers was a lot more than they offer to new customers. Certainly they had restrictions on solo sailing when I got a quote recently.

There was a specific question on whether I solo'd on my 2024 proposal form. I ticked yes and no further questions were asked.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Interesting, which company?

And regarding references to Pantaenius, I get the feeling that what they were happy to allow a few years ago and for existing customers was a lot more than they offer to new customers. Certainly they had restrictions on solo sailing when I got a quote recently.

Pants. 5 years with them. No restrictions in the application or in any of my terms and conditions. Trust me I have checked.