Good
New member
Hi i want to sail from denmark to spain true the English channel singlehanded bout howe do i overcome the sleeping problem can you give me some tips please?
Singlehanded Sailing
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G
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If I was a rude person ..... to ask this question means some lack of experience to do this
If I was a practical person .... I would suggest doing it in short legs allowing sleep at harbours / anchor etc. each evening.
If I was a suggestor of ideas ..... I would ask if you had thought about another person going with you and forget the singlehanded for such a trip.
So ?
Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !
If I was a practical person .... I would suggest doing it in short legs allowing sleep at harbours / anchor etc. each evening.
If I was a suggestor of ideas ..... I would ask if you had thought about another person going with you and forget the singlehanded for such a trip.
So ?
Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !
qsiv
New member
Yees ...
but even if you do aim to grab sleep at sensible times and places, there is always the scope for plans goinf awry.
I quite frequently sail too and fro between Jersey (where I live and keep the boat) and the Solent. I usually do have crew, but even so I often find the eyelids growing heavy at the end of night crossing - and my crew are not always competent to be burdened with command of a biggish sailing boat - so I face similar problems.
My strategy is firstly to recognize the problem, and manage it. When the body demands sleep it is not always possible to just stay awake 100% - however I find (and everyone is different) that small microsleeps allow me to continue funtioning well. My concern is that a microsleep must not turn into something longer!
I resolve this by either setting an electronic timer that is hooked up the GMDSS siren on the VHF (which would wake the dead), or more normally I wear one of those clockwork kitchen pingers round my neck and set the alarm for 5 minutes. If I'm watchkeeping I regularly set it to 15 minutes 'in case'. If you hae an Autohelm pilot you could also get the siren, and use the Watch timer, and cancel iyt every X minutes.
I wake quickly and easily, and have never slept through an alarm, and as yet I dont fear doing so.
I quite regularly make passages that result in being awake for 48 hours or more, and dont usually grab more than a 10 minute 'spell'. Others find this unusual - but it suits my body and sleep style.
OTOH, at home I cant stay awake for the 10 oclock news, and pass out like corpse until the early morning!
but even if you do aim to grab sleep at sensible times and places, there is always the scope for plans goinf awry.
I quite frequently sail too and fro between Jersey (where I live and keep the boat) and the Solent. I usually do have crew, but even so I often find the eyelids growing heavy at the end of night crossing - and my crew are not always competent to be burdened with command of a biggish sailing boat - so I face similar problems.
My strategy is firstly to recognize the problem, and manage it. When the body demands sleep it is not always possible to just stay awake 100% - however I find (and everyone is different) that small microsleeps allow me to continue funtioning well. My concern is that a microsleep must not turn into something longer!
I resolve this by either setting an electronic timer that is hooked up the GMDSS siren on the VHF (which would wake the dead), or more normally I wear one of those clockwork kitchen pingers round my neck and set the alarm for 5 minutes. If I'm watchkeeping I regularly set it to 15 minutes 'in case'. If you hae an Autohelm pilot you could also get the siren, and use the Watch timer, and cancel iyt every X minutes.
I wake quickly and easily, and have never slept through an alarm, and as yet I dont fear doing so.
I quite regularly make passages that result in being awake for 48 hours or more, and dont usually grab more than a 10 minute 'spell'. Others find this unusual - but it suits my body and sleep style.
OTOH, at home I cant stay awake for the 10 oclock news, and pass out like corpse until the early morning!
LadyInBed
Well-known member
I sail on my own quite a lot. Any long journey is broken down into manageable day passages, the maximum being about 70 miles.
I don’t bother with night passages, as your ‘alertness’ diminishes to the point of nodding off through the night, and you end up shagged out the next day, so you are not fit to do much or continue that day anyway.
I take days or a week off for sightseeing, lazing around or whatever as the trip is not a make or break ordeal or a race. The getting there should be as enjoyable as the being there.
I don’t bother with night passages, as your ‘alertness’ diminishes to the point of nodding off through the night, and you end up shagged out the next day, so you are not fit to do much or continue that day anyway.
I take days or a week off for sightseeing, lazing around or whatever as the trip is not a make or break ordeal or a race. The getting there should be as enjoyable as the being there.
david_bagshaw
Well-known member
Personaly I aim for 10 hours underway per section, try not to be underway in the dark as submerged items are impossible to see, Have a rest day every 3 travelled days. (weather changes usually ensure this any way)
Makes for :-
A fun Voyage
A safe Voyage
Gives time for proper & though safety checks.
Have fun
David
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.euroboating.net>http://www.euroboating.net</A>
Makes for :-
A fun Voyage
A safe Voyage
Gives time for proper & though safety checks.
Have fun
David
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.euroboating.net>http://www.euroboating.net</A>
aod
New member
How do you hook up a timer to the GMDSS alarm?
Trevor_swfyc
New member
I wonder how anybody manages to sail single handed for any distance with the amount of shipping about. It is now mandatory that all vessels keep a constant look out and monitor there position continuously. So in theory even shutting your eyes for a 10 min cat nap is out and certainly not on the dog watch (joke).
Can I refer you to www.mcga.gov.uk/news/prosecutions/index.htm see page7 failure to keep a proper look out cost defendant Mr xxxx £1500 fine + £1000 cost so be advised do not travel through the channel without being able to keep a constant lookout.
Trevor
Can I refer you to www.mcga.gov.uk/news/prosecutions/index.htm see page7 failure to keep a proper look out cost defendant Mr xxxx £1500 fine + £1000 cost so be advised do not travel through the channel without being able to keep a constant lookout.
Trevor
Gunfleet
New member
I agree. I sail alone a lot and I reckon 10 hours is best, 14 is pushing it and 17 is an absolute max without putting unwarranted strains on yourself or the people who might have to rescue you (!). That 17 hours would be ample for summer coasting on the English or French shore, where by careful tidal workings you can do fifty miles on a long rising tide. You can get most of the journey between Southwold and the Blackwater done on one rising tide, for example, as the high waters are later and later as you run down the coast. Of course there is always the channel crossing problem but there are ways around that - cross at a narrower point, for example. Of course in the deep sea different arrangements apply.
polarity
New member
If you are heading for the Med I can recommend the Canal du Midi - Bordeaux to Sete.
Locks single handed are not that much of a problem - take lots of fenders, and it's great scenery! http://www.canalmidi.com/ and yes, it really looks like that !
Otherwise short hops - I timed them with the turn of the tide when heading up the French/Dutch/German coast, never really minded sailing in the dark - sometimes I felt it made the Nav easier!
As for shipping the best thing is to be where they are not. The channel seems to be very regulated with lanes and zones, study these carefully. Fishing boats are much more of a hazard as they dont follow a set pattern... like keeping going in the same direction!
Good sailing!
Locks single handed are not that much of a problem - take lots of fenders, and it's great scenery! http://www.canalmidi.com/ and yes, it really looks like that !
Otherwise short hops - I timed them with the turn of the tide when heading up the French/Dutch/German coast, never really minded sailing in the dark - sometimes I felt it made the Nav easier!
As for shipping the best thing is to be where they are not. The channel seems to be very regulated with lanes and zones, study these carefully. Fishing boats are much more of a hazard as they dont follow a set pattern... like keeping going in the same direction!
Good sailing!
qsiv
New member
I'm honestly not sure - a friend created a 'black box' with a bit of circuitry inside, and a button on the outside - I press the button and 15 minutes later the alam goes off - if I presee the button again it is cancelled ..
Please post the brand/model of the kitchen timer, I expect to need one later this year.
> Have a rest day every 3 travelled days
I agree, cumulative loss of sleep is more dangerous than the occasional 24 hour stint.
When trivial setbacks trigger temper tantrums or you feel the need to thump most people you encounter it is time to rest up and get 2 nights of deep sleep. A night at anchor does not count as deep sleep in my case.
I agree, cumulative loss of sleep is more dangerous than the occasional 24 hour stint.
When trivial setbacks trigger temper tantrums or you feel the need to thump most people you encounter it is time to rest up and get 2 nights of deep sleep. A night at anchor does not count as deep sleep in my case.
Johnjo
New member
Use a clockwork egg timer myself, set it for what you want,
stick it in your hood, always works for me!
cheap and simple, and it will wake you if you should drop off.
only thing is you got to reset itevery ten minutes or whatever you set it for!
At least it gives you something to do!!!!
mike
stick it in your hood, always works for me!
cheap and simple, and it will wake you if you should drop off.
only thing is you got to reset itevery ten minutes or whatever you set it for!
At least it gives you something to do!!!!
mike
polarity
New member
If I have pushed it in terms of sleep and I'm doing say 15mins cat naps, I set 2 timers, one at 15 mins one at 35... then re set the first for 35 and so on....That way you get woken if you sleep through the first, it does not go off, or you forget to set it.
Cheap insurance!
Paul
Cheap insurance!
Paul
SailingDoc
New member
I enjoy single-handed passages; but my insurers exclude single-handed night passages. No problem if I'm late arriving, in the dark, or setting out at dawn. But to be uninsured, in the Channel, at night, is unwise. It's worth checking the small print on your policy.
Brian
Brian
G
Guest
Guest
Convoy clock ...
Yes I'm old enough to have seen these fitted to the Wheelhouse of older shiops I was on .....
It is a standard marine brass clock with a metal ring fitted around the circumference of the dial. It is insulated from the case. On the ring is fitted small movable pointers that protrude a few mm inside the ring. The ring is connected to one lead from a bell or buzzer.
The minute hand has a small stiff wire protruding from the end that 'just touches' the pointers when passing them. The minute hand is connected to the other lead from the buzzer / bell. Of course power must be fed into the loop so that when the pointer is set to the time interval you want and the minute hand touches .... of the alarm goes.
This system was designed to remind of the times to zig and also zag in the convoys. It also has the ability to be set and forget about .. as the whole hour can be set .... whicyh of course makes it work repeatedly ..... A simple switch in the circuiot can switch it all off - etc.
Surely not too hard to knock this up given the cheap clock mechanisms available in 50p shops etc.
Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !
Yes I'm old enough to have seen these fitted to the Wheelhouse of older shiops I was on .....
It is a standard marine brass clock with a metal ring fitted around the circumference of the dial. It is insulated from the case. On the ring is fitted small movable pointers that protrude a few mm inside the ring. The ring is connected to one lead from a bell or buzzer.
The minute hand has a small stiff wire protruding from the end that 'just touches' the pointers when passing them. The minute hand is connected to the other lead from the buzzer / bell. Of course power must be fed into the loop so that when the pointer is set to the time interval you want and the minute hand touches .... of the alarm goes.
This system was designed to remind of the times to zig and also zag in the convoys. It also has the ability to be set and forget about .. as the whole hour can be set .... whicyh of course makes it work repeatedly ..... A simple switch in the circuiot can switch it all off - etc.
Surely not too hard to knock this up given the cheap clock mechanisms available in 50p shops etc.
Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !
polarity
New member
One word re insurance:
Pantaenius
Paul
Pantaenius
Paul
PaulJ
Member
A couple of years ago I was in Fecamp, it was blowing a 6 or 7 and we had delayed our return to Eastbourne. A 39ft steel boat came in with a single hander at the helm. The first thing we noticed was that he was about to try and berth without any fenders down. We managed to point this out to him and he aborted his approach and put out a couple of inadequate fenders and then tried again. He finally managed it at the third attempt and the assembled throng helped him to make it fast. It transpired that he had come from somewhere in Holland, the wind had been Southwesterly and strong and the poor guy had been awake for THREE DAYS..... He was completely exhausted and should not have been in command of an inflatable dinghy on a pond, let alone a large heavy yacht in some of the busiest waters in the world.
DO NOT attempt to sail single-handed in these waters without regular stops, you will be a danger to others as well as yourself...... I agree with the others that 10 hours is a good maximum for planning purposes and if you go a bit over it is no big deal.
DO NOT attempt to sail single-handed in these waters without regular stops, you will be a danger to others as well as yourself...... I agree with the others that 10 hours is a good maximum for planning purposes and if you go a bit over it is no big deal.
Gunfleet
New member
I'm amazed he got in there with a blow like that on- and he'd just sailed past Dieppe!
hylas
New member
15 minutes is much too long.. If you want to be safe 5 is a maximum..
I've been sailing single handed since Israël to Canaries islands, and it isn't always possible to stop for the night...
Usually I'm sleeping in the central cockpit, and I'm use to wake up every 5 minutes.. Then I have a look around and start sleeping again.. I try to sleep more during day time than during night time, as I suppose all boat crew will be awake during the day and it is easier to see the boat..
If I'm tired or, for example, I will have to cross a line with a dense navigation, then I have an electronic timer with an alarm every 5 minutes.
The new Raymarine automatic pilote ST 4000 + (and perhaps others?) has a watch alarm every 4 minutes..
I've been sailing single handed since Israël to Canaries islands, and it isn't always possible to stop for the night...
Usually I'm sleeping in the central cockpit, and I'm use to wake up every 5 minutes.. Then I have a look around and start sleeping again.. I try to sleep more during day time than during night time, as I suppose all boat crew will be awake during the day and it is easier to see the boat..
If I'm tired or, for example, I will have to cross a line with a dense navigation, then I have an electronic timer with an alarm every 5 minutes.
The new Raymarine automatic pilote ST 4000 + (and perhaps others?) has a watch alarm every 4 minutes..