Sleep or the lack of it.

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Last year my summer cruise was a 30 passage coastal hopping in the UK. Sleep was an issue in that I was not getting enough quality/deep sleep. This year's cruise was a 10 day passage from Portugal to Falmouth and I had the same problem, I'd come off watch and not go into a deep sleep. Movement and noise kept my brain active even though I knew I had to sleep.

Do others have the same issue on a long passage and any tips for getting a deeper sleep? While I comment about my favorite Highland Park 12 year old often I don't drink on passage.
 
Here's a useful article with onward links

Sleep and Seamanship - Sail Magazine

Until recently for over five years while ashore I have not slept longer than three hours at night but it was vital to have at least one hour during the day otherwise concentration just disappeared and preliminary signs of hallucinations appeared.. When off watch afloat, ear plugs or soundcancelling 'cans' are useful, and eye shades essential. Avoid white/blue light when going to sleep, try for a shade of sunset/orange as that is a signal to the brain of day end.
 
If you are the skipper then part of the issue maybe a lack of confidence (misplaced?) in the crew. You don't mention how big a crew you had/have but a skipper is either 'on watch' or sleeping - you need implicit trust in the crew (that they will wake you if unsure about anything) and/or they are totally competent. Seasickness may result from the tensions of being the skipper - relax. You may also have chosen the wrong berth (location).

I too mention whisky, decent, but have never developed a taste for Highland Park, nor drink on passage - but do enjoy a drink or 3 when we arrive. Buying whisky is not difficult (its just money) - sourcing decent and appropriate water is an issue - a problem of living in the Colonies.

When we raced (4 day ocean races) I never slept well and I could be seasick. This was a wrong - I should have been coddled - so I was then constantly tired. Return passages were thoroughly enjoyable - no concerns about squeezing the last part of a knot from sail etc etc.

Relax.

Jonathan

PS - Based on my experience - you are normal. If you are skipper then for most average human beings you are never, ever ultimately responsible for the safety of a bunch of people (or even one other person) plus the value of the yacht. You are 300nm (or more) from the nearest help - so if the chips are down - its you (but stop worrying, nothing will happen). Its a state of mind - relax (or maybe I've said that?)

I suspect its a very personal thing - it is something you need to work out. People in the armed forces are trained to sleep at the drop of a backpack and mariners on large commercial vessels have a crew trained and honed over decades - you need to cope with the idea that your amateur crew will not actually need you.
 
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Sandy said:
Last year my summer cruise was a 30 passage coastal hopping in the UK. Sleep was an issue in that I was not getting enough quality/deep sleep. This year's cruise was a 10 day passage from Portugal to Falmouth and I had the same problem, I'd come off watch and not go into a deep sleep. Movement and noise kept my brain active even though I knew I had to sleep.

Do others have the same issue on a long passage and any tips for getting a deeper sleep? While I comment about my favorite Highland Park 12 year old often I don't drink on passage.
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Antihistamine tablets induce drowsiness, better than sleeping tablets. Non habit forming too I think.
 
I find it gets better after the first 24h. You get into the shift rhythm and also your lack of sleep by then gets you exhausted enough that you eventually will sleep, no matter what. Earplugs do help, but I prefer to hear the boat - it's been more than once that me hearing some unusual squeak or clank and investigating it saved us from great trouble later.

In the Med it's sometimes very hot and stuffy down below and I'm better off napping in the cockpit. It's also quieter, not just when motoring (wave slaps, winch and sheet noise all get amplified inside). And you're near the crew and can be up in a second to help if need be. That's where I slept during our Medicane crossing from Greece to Sicily - eventually exhaustion overcomes excitement!

On rough passages, the couch in the center of the boat with a leecloth (webbing) is much better than cabins on either end of the boat.

In general, when you can't sleep, nothing is worse than laying there and thinking you must sleep. Read a book until your eyes fall shut (not on a glowing screen though).

Addendum: I would avoid drugs or alcohol, because your attention might be needed suddenly, and you wouldn't want to be facing a crisis with a brain full of booze or drug-induced drowsiness.
 
I have no answer to this. I am unable to cat-nap unless I am truly whacked but others seem able to catch up whenever they wish. The worst sailing night I had was on a 24hr passage to Ireland from the Scillies when a forecast F4 SW turned into a F6 NW and we ended up motor-sailing to hold the course. My efforts to sleep failed entirely due to the motion and noise and it was a good thing that the wind died before we approached land in the morning. All I could do was tell myself that at least I was resting.

I think that any attempt at medication on passage is likely to be deleterious or ineffective. Alcohol may induce sleep if enough is taken but to release of catechol amines, = adrenaline, will shorten sleep and the result worse than without alcohol
 
Yngmar said:
I find it gets better after the first 24h. You get into the shift rhythm and also your lack of sleep by then gets you exhausted enough that you eventually will sleep, no matter what.
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Agree with this whole post except that it takes me about 72 hours of not falling asleep, only falling asleep just before I’m due back on watch etc. before I get into a watch rhythm and start developing the insta-off function. However I wonder if sandy is sailing solo which would be a different ball game.
 
Thanks all, good to see that I am not the only one that this affects.

I both skipper and crew on boats ranging from 10 to 30 metres, I single handed and am part of crews up to 24 and find it an issue in all cases.

If sailing single handed I 'micro sleep' in the cockpit, still not a deep sleep, if part of a crew go to my bunk to rest.

Oddly, I am never tired as I make sure I am rested, but do miss that refreshed feeling after a deep sleep. Not keen on using medication with a drowsy side effect as you never know when you need to do a sail change.
 
I wonder if you are expecting too much of yourself?

In my working life I sometimes do really long hours for extended periods of time (so think long days, sometimes overnight into the next day, for a period of days).

I used to get wound up at the fact that I wasn’t getting enough sleep and this would add to the problem…..a bit like wanting to get a really good night’s sleep before an interview - it doesn’t happen does it!

These days when I am faced with a period of long hours I just accept that some days I may only get two hours sleep and it may not be the best sleep.

If I were you I would factor in an appropriate amount of resting days in between your passages in the expectation that you will indeed not get good sleep at all whilst on passage but will then have a chance to catch up.

Check out the last verse of John Masefield’s famous poem…..he didn’t expect any sleep either….

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
 
I've always been a bad sleeper on land or at sea & would suggest get what you can whenever you can. A kitchen timer is useful for quick naps to make sure you wake up...
 
Sea-Fever said:
These days when I am faced with a period of long hours I just accept that some days I may only get two hours sleep and it may not be the best sleep.
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If he's anything like me I've found as i get older i really need a decent amount of sleep or it catches up with me. In fact thats what's changed, it used to catch up with me after a few days so it was alright for most sailing, now it catches up with me the next day. But with a crew there's no reason why can't have 8 hours over 24. Watch the sugar, thats the one that has me tossing and turning for hours unable to drift off, and blue light from screens and LED lights. Blue light blocking glasses are fantastic.
 
Athomson said:
If he's anything like me I've found as i get older i really need a decent amount of sleep or it catches up with me. In fact thats what's changed, it used to catch up with me after a few days so it was alright for most sailing, now it catches up with me the next day. But with a crew there's no reason why can't have 8 hours over 24. Watch the sugar, thats the one that has me tossing and turning for hours unable to drift off, and blue light from screens and LED lights. Blue light blocking glasses are fantastic.
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You may be right. I simply know that I sleep better when I’m relaxed about sleeping, if I start counting hours and worrying about what ‘type’ of sleep I’ve had, I’m doomed.

I’ve had a lot of experience of this….like about a quarter of a century.
 
Sea-Fever said:
You may be right. I simply know that I sleep better when I’m relaxed about sleeping, if I start counting hours and worrying about what ‘type’ of sleep I’ve had, I’m doomed.

I’ve had a lot of experience of this….like about a quarter of a century.
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But not in a boat, admittedly.
 
I find that audio books help. It draws my brain into picturing the situation of the story and away from anything else. When I review to where I can remember the place I got up to, it's usually less than 15 minutes after I started although the book kept on playing. One full story takes a long time to get through it all in these short remembrances. Older more descriptive stories work well although at present I'm "reading" short ghost and horror stories from Libravox, more ghost than horror, and they seem to work very well.
 
From observing lots of crew doing long deliveries......and myself......I would say its not a problem to over concern oneself. People, I would say, sleep far more than they think they do. How many times have I heard someone say ' I didn't sleep at all' when they've spent hours snoring?

Generally, no matter which style of watch keeping pattern is used, most people seem to adapt within a couple of days. The ancient memory must be buried deep within us...8 hours asleep at a time is not natural, I don't think. Several shorter sleeps over the period feels better to me as have most offshore sailors I've talked to.

Easy to say, hard to do, but just relaxing, letting mind drift, all works. In time,nature always seems to win....

Oh the only training about sleep I got in the military was regularly being dragged out of my rack to do stuff no matter what!
 
I did a 10 passage SH cruise once (my first) and had to get up early for the tide. I'd slept on the boat at my home mooring to get the early start but slept very badly. Made the first leg and tied up and went to bed early - again slept badly. So, rather than head off in the morning, I stayed on the pontoon all day and napped and read my kindle napped again, cooked a dinner, wandered round the town and finally slept well enough to head off the next morning. Thereafter, I'd tie up or drop anchor late afternoon, have a wander, cook an early dinner then settle down to read. I never got through more than a page before nodding off. I've never slept better before or since! Even when the tide changed and the boat swung round, waking me up, I went back to sleep straightway.
 
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