Yacht deliveries, any interesting points, especially night watches?

[Frogmogman]

First Dog is 1600 t0 1800. Second is 1800 to 2000. You may be thinking of the n8ght watches, first middle and morning.

The dogs were invented so the large crews had rotation and not the same one every day.

Depending on how many crew I've got on deliveries...often 3 of us....I generally go for 3 hour watches and shake things around a bit. Others prefer the same one every day. However, many years of 6 on 6 off makes me happy to experiment.

I like the regime of 2 x 6 hour watches twixt 6am and 6pm, then 3 x 4 hour watches between 6pm and 6am.

 

[zoidberg]

I like the regime of 2 x 6 hour watches twixt 6am and 6pm, then 3 x 4 hour watches between 6pm and 6am.

When single-handing one easily confuses whether one is 'coming off a 6-hour watch' or 'just coming on'....

 

[john_morris_uk]

I remember a pigeon landing on our deck as we departed A Coruna bound for the Solent. We fed & watered it and cleaned up its mess each day. As we approached the Solent, probably 10 miles offshore, we passed the Portsmouth Ferry heading for Spain. The ungrateful bird flew off and landed on the ferry and presumably got a free lift back to where he’d just hitched a ride from us. I’m still waiting for a postcard from it.

I love night watches especially on bright starry nights mid ocean when I can often be found lying on my back looking through a pair of binoculars at the heavens. Venus is absolutely beautiful with twinkling colours and there are occasional glimpses of Sputniks or whatever. Like Beelzebub, I try to identify star constellations to pass the time.

I have SkyView® Lite – Apps on Google Play on my phone. It’s a fascinating tool.

 

[Leslie frank]

I remember a May trip at night. It was tipping down with rain heading East from Portsmouth. I was off watch asleep down below. The wife at the helm screamed out as she was lit up by flood lights and immediately boarded by armed men in black outfits and heavy boots.
It was uk customs.
They separated us and interviewed us separately, with me below, feeling slightly weird about standing there in my underpants.
They kept asking us where we were going. I said that if it was still raining in the morning then Dover. If not then Belgium.
They needed a port to write down so I said Oostende (only Belgium port i could think of).
In the end we did go to Oostende just because they had been so hostile that I thought we would be in trouble if not .



It transpired that we were immediately north of the Sangatte refugee centre so presumably that's what they thought we were up to out there in such miserable weather.

 

[KevinV]

I remember a May trip at night. It was tipping down with rain heading East from Portsmouth. I was off watch asleep down below. The wife at the helm screamed out as she was lit up by flood lights and immediately boarded by armed men in black outfits and heavy boots.
It was uk customs.
They separated us and interviewed us separately, with me below, feeling slightly weird about standing there in my underpants.
They kept asking us where we were going. I said that if it was still raining in the morning then Dover. If not then Belgium.
They needed a port to write down so I said Oostende (only Belgium port i could think of).
In the end we did go to Oostende just because they had been so hostile that I thought we would be in trouble if not .



It transpired that we were immediately north of the Sangatte refugee centre so presumably that's what they thought we were up to out there in such miserable weather.

Yikes, that reminds me of a similar run in I had with US customs /immigration on passage south of the Puerto Rico. Skipper, his pregnant wife and toddler asleep down below.
Sailing along quite happily on a clear night when a light was put on me - I never heard or saw them coming. They loud-hailed a command I couldn't hear, so I vhf'd. They insisted I heave to for boarding. I refused, as I had no means of identifying them and they could just as easily be pirates - and the safety of those below took precedent. They argued the toss for 5 minutes, shining lights on their crew (and weapons), but as their black hull had no markings I held out. They gave up after a while. Scary stuff in an area not devoid of piracy.

 

[NatalieG]

@Allan — The dolphin bioluminescence is one of those things you can never quite describ. We had a pod come through mid-Atlantic at about 0300 . Those moments are what make night watches worth the tiredness.

@Beelzebub — Learning stars on watch is such a good use of the quiet hours. — that kind of mental engagement probably helps keep you alert too, which matters more than people realise on long watches.

Have a good day.

 

[Frogmogman]

@Allan — The dolphin bioluminescence is one of those things you can never quite describe.

I vote for that one too. Pretty much the most wonderful thing I’ve seen on night watch.

 

[Graham376]

I've not read the whole thread but two instances of luminescence come to mind. On one I was alone on watch and a school of dolphins appeared, they looked exactly like the torpedoes in old war films. At times the luminescence on their foreheads made it look like the had head torches. The other time with two of us on deck we went through and enormous shoal of fish. They seemed to scatter away from the hull and looked like an underwater firework display.
Allan

We had similar night experience once. Had been watching warships on exercise most of the day and at night one at a fair distance off to port. Suddenly saw two torpedo trails heading straight for us, nearly crapped myself until they both jumped out of the water a few metres away.