Sleeping whilst at anchor?

[Neeves]

When we approach an anchorage I'm please if we see anchor lights (though many of the anchorages we use would normally be deserted). . Too often we find that as we get closer the number of yachts far outweighs the number of lights. I simply do not understand with low power consumption LEDs why all yachts don't exhibit anchor lights. However we also prefer anchor lights that are low down and not mistaken for stars or shore lights. Low down lights also serve to illuminate the deck and as most yachts have white decks the combination of the light and the illuminated deck is much easier to see.

For these reasons we have an anchor light that is at about head height over the foredeck.

The other advantage of the low level anchor light is that as it illuminates the deck then if you need to make some alteration to the rode - the 'deck light' is already on.

Jonathan

 

[Daydream believer]

I think there's a best-seller self-help book in there - 'Feel the Fear and ... Take Up Golf Instead.'

I think my wife must have read that book because now I sail single handed. Thus paying marina fees AND golf club fees

 

[Daydream believer]

I completely disagree with you.

Rubbish

 

[Daydream believer]

Personally I prefer a decent marina -Somewhere like Cherbourg- get to sleep just after midnight if one is lucky --only to be woken by the sound of high heels clip clopping their way back to their boats at 4 AM in the morning
At least I do not have to worry about the anchor dragging

 

[Neeves]

Personally I prefer a decent marina -Somewhere like Cherbourg- get to sleep just after midnight if one is lucky --only to be woken by the sound of high heels clip clopping their way back to their boats at 4 AM in the morning
At least I do not have to worry about the anchor dragging

What is this Cherbourg place? Crew wearing high heels -here we wear Uggs

Here, even the young ladies don't actually wear high heels until they get to their destination - and because it can get so hot (daytime) life begins early - not long after 4am - but maybe .........

Jonathan

 

[chockswahay]

I would rather sleep lightly and sense when something has changed. I usually set an alarm for slack water anyway and see the boat settled again. It is no hardship and quite pleasant sitting in the cockpit with a cup of tea enjoying the night sky.

One can usually catch up on missed sleep and if you don't it won't do you any harm.

What!?! In a Force 8 or 9??

 

[Poignard]

What!?! In a Force 8 or 9??

Under those circumstances I would probably exchange the cup of tea for some "Dutch courage"!

 

[JumbleDuck]

Ok, I'll bite: why do you deplore us? I'm currently behaving deplorably in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua with about 50 fellow deplorables.

The theory is that nobody ever looks high enough to see a masthead anchor light. Since my masthead is at about the same height as the crosstrees on a Bavaria 37, I take this with a pinch of salt.

 

[Daydream believer]

What is this Cherbourg place? Crew wearing high heels -here we wear Uggs

Here, even the young ladies don't actually wear high heels until they get to their destination - and because it can get so hot (daytime) life begins early - not long after 4am - but maybe .........

Jonathan

Cherbourg can sometimes be a great party place in France for Solent sailors to meet up after a 60 mile jaunt cross channel
Perhaps they do not get up to the same antics in Australia- Although I am surprised.
The clue is in the phrase " BACK to their boats" & who says they have to be that young?

 

[rotrax]

It is not looking too likely that visiting Cherbourg will be on the agenda for some time.

Vaccine reluctance, poor vaccine numbers, third wave taking hard hold.

I have NEVER heard high heels clicking on Cherbourgs pontoons, but there is still time...................

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It is not looking too likely that visiting Cherbourg will be on the agenda for some time.

Vaccine reluctance, poor vaccine numbers, third wave taking hard hold.

I have NEVER heard high heels clicking on Cherbourgs pontoons, but there is still time...................

The only place I've heard high heels on pontoons was at James Watt Dock Marina - and that was a young lady who lived aboard a motor cruiser and went to work every day in "office" clothes!

 

[mattonthesea]

@Cornishwesterly This may work for you - or it may not! And it won't work in F9!!!

Don't try and sleep at first. Sit up in the cockpit and enjoy the evening/night. Let your thoughts wander; let others visit for a while and leave no memory. Think not of sleep but of interesting things: Lemorna, is there not a rock that was replaced? Did smugglers use this cove? Every now and then a noise of movement will bring you back to the present. A ripple slapping against the hull; a heading shift with a gust of wind; a saucepan shifting with the heel. Look around; be satisfied that you have not moved. Relax. Then, an hour or so later, when you're ready, go to bed.

Wake yourself at slack water and go back on deck. Repeat the above and watch the change of tide as you move and settle; listen to the sounds and feel the hull move to a new position. Relax; go back to bed.

To me, this going to bed relaxed makes the sleep much better quality. Plus I like being on deck at night - it's another world.

Slowly (fronted adverbial), you will get used to the sounds and feel of a boat at anchor. Your brain will hear and feel this and filter it out, thus letting you sleep soundly (think of the traffic noise you don't hear at home). If something else happens then you will wake; and deal with it. It may be nothing: a car starting up on a hill nearby; or a startled owl. You can investigate, check your position, listen for a while and, when you are satisfied that all is well, go back to bed.

I use a quiet alarm (app). It's the sound of a rowing boat, set to come on very quietly, and slowly build up in volume to just a above quiet over 20 mins. It means I am never torn from my sleep but awake gently. The only time it's gone wrong is when a rowing boat did go by! I was on deck in seconds.

I agree with CTVA that you would probably benefit in practising in large sandy bays rather than dramatic rock strewn coves

Hope that helps

 

[RupertW]

Err? Anyone recommend and anchor alert app for iPhone ? Just so that I can have one more thing to worry about ?

Actually, it would be good to know if there any good apps out there....... you can never have too many tools in the box ?

Anchor! has been our favourite for a few years.

 

[Kukri]

Anchor! has been our favourite for a few years.

I recently discovered it. Seems good.

 

[sarabande1]

Err? Anyone recommend and anchor alert app for iPhone ? Just so that I can have one more thing to worry about ?

Actually, it would be good to know if there any good apps out there....... you can never have too many tools in the box ?

FWIW I use this one SafeAnchor.Net Anchor Drag Alarm for iPhone and iPad

The problem with these anchoring apps is that they eat the phone battery. I had a USB socket connected to the 12V system installed next to my bed to keep the phone battery charged whilst using this app

Again FWIW my personal rules for anchoring overnight are to arrive in the anchorage by mid afternoon so that by the time I retire to bed, the boat has been on the hook for several hours and I'm as confident as I can be that the anchor is well set. I also try to anchor in the middle of the bay with plenty of swinging/dragging room, even if that means we're a bit more exposed to wind and swell. I'd rather be kept awake by the slap slap of waves on the hull than worrying about the rock 50m astern. Lastly, I am lucky that my wife is a bit of a night owl and I'm not. When we are at anchor overnight often I will agree with her that she stays up to 1.00 or 2.00am on watch but I will go to bed earlier and get up at 5.00 or 6.00am. That way there is only a period of 4-5hrs when there is nobody on watch

 

[steve yates]

I think waking hourly to go out and check is serious overkill and will just knacker you, I would start by setting an alarm for the change of tide, and reassure yourself then that all is well. Realistically, if it was holding when you went to sleep it wont drag until the tide changes direction, as not much else will have changed. If the wind has started blowing a real hoolie, it WILL wake you anyway as a) its noisy, and b) the boat will start leaning over.

One idea I use is to set your phone or navionics to track your course after you anchor. If you are nervous and keep waking up, just glance at your track, it will probably be a ball of yellow squiggles, we call it checking mr messy. But as long as that ball of squiggles is within a reasonable circumference you are fine. If you have dragged or are dragging, it will show where you have gone and how close you are to anything dodgy.

 

[Kukri]

I really am a bit mystified by this thread.

Generations of people messing about in boats dropped the hook, hoisted a riding light, cooked a meal / went to the pub and back in the tender, turned in, and slept till morning.

It’s a very simple thing.

What am I failing to understand here?

 

[Dan Tribe]

I really am a bit mystified by this thread.

Generations of people messing about in boats dropped the hook, hoisted a riding light, cooked a meal / went to the pub and back in the tender, turned in, and slept till morning.

It’s a very simple thing.

What am I failing to understand here?

In my neck of the woods many of the pubs are closed or have become "bistros" & don't welcome muddy, scruffy yachties. A good few landing places now sport "private, go away" notices.
Not all, but a few of my old favourite places. We usually booze on board, less likely to fall in the mud / water.

 

[Kukri]

In my neck of the woods many of the pubs are closed or have become "bistros" & don't welcome muddy, scruffy yachties. A good few landing places now sport "private, go away" notices.
Not all, but a few of my old favourite places. We usually booze on board, less likely to fall in the mud / water.

Plus ça change, plus ça c’est la même chose. My father told me that in the 1930s he was taking a boat that he had just bought from Scotland to Falmouth and he and his crew were allowed, reluctantly, into the dining room of a respectable hotel on condition that they dined behind a screen so the other guests could not see them.

 

[laika]

Generations of people messing about in boats dropped the hook, hoisted a riding light, cooked a meal / went to the pub and back in the tender, turned in, and slept till morning.
[...]
What am I failing to understand here?

Put a kid on a snowboard, point them down hill, they go zooming off without fear and grow up being naturals at winter sports and can't understand why anyone would be nervous of a piste.

Put a 40-year-old on a snowboard for the first time and they're acutely aware of all the ways in which they can break. They aren't so confident.

Generations of people were brought up sailing by their families (you included I see) and grew up dong the things you describe, so it was normalised and they can't understand anyone's excessive worrying.

These days people who haven't spent a lifetime on boats are taught to sail by training centres. Training emphasises the things that can go wrong because if it didn't the gung-ho would quickly come to grief. Unfortunately for those already on the cautious side that heavy emphasis can make it sound like all the *possible* hazards are *probable* ones. It's really only the repeated reassurance of everything being fine that overcomes that.