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from
The SAIL Book of Common Sense Cruising
Edited by Patience Wales
CHAPTER IV: SAFETY
Secrets of Sleep at Sea
D?ecisions made by a tired crew are the frequent cause of groundings, pilot errors, gear failures, or crew conflicts. In storm conditions a severely sleep-deprived crew and skipper may opt to abandon their boat for a nearby ship, a one-way (and danger-fraught) ticket out of the situation. In contrast, people who bring their boats safely through the same storm invariably say, “We did everything we could to make sure everyone on board got some rest.”
Getting rest isn’t always easy, but there are important ways to improve your chances. Some start when you are planning your boat’s interior, and others happen at sea. The easiest ones to implement are those affecting your onboard, at-sea scheduling.
Making rest a priority
One rule we’ve learned the hard way is: Start watches promptly at 2000 hours (or before dusk) even if you are on a one-day passage, even if the harbor entrance seems only a short distance away, even if you still have daylight. Time and again, tides, strong currents, adverse winds, or engine failure can delay what looks like a certain just-at-dusk port entry. Having one watch belowdeck getting some sleep is like insurance; their well-rested decisions could be the deciding factor in a difficult situation later on.
On a shorthanded cruising boat it may pay to heave-to just before making a landfall so that the whole crew gets some extra rest. Make sure you have sufficient sea room before you heave-to; a changing wind could put you ashore. If there is any doubt about your position, heave-to and wait for dawn, but continue your watches. The more comfortable motion and lack of concern about running full speed onto a reef will help you get the rest necessary for making proper decisions.
During the first few days at sea, almost everyone on a boat feels tired. The motion of the boat and the excitement of last-minute preparations and farewell parties all contribute to this weariness. Tiredness can also be a sign of seasickness and is often the only symptom displayed by those with strong stomachs. So plan on arranging extra sleep until the crew gets its sea legs.
Yet it’s hard to fall asleep at 2000 in a strange bunk with the unusual motion, especially if it’s still light. Try to start any voyage early in the day so the crew won’t have to bunk down only a few hours after leaving the harbor. Avoid coffee, tea, or chocolate drinks for 4 hours before your watches start. Plan a daily routine that includes some quiet time as evening approaches, soothing music before dinner, and a leisurely but somewhat heavy meal within an hour of 2000 if the crew isn’t prone to seasickness (seasick crew will usually fall asleep easily, and it is best to have them take the first off-watch).
If one of us aboard Taleisin, our 29-foot, 6-inch cutter, is unable to sleep for more than 40 minutes the first night out, we change places and restart the watches. Then a motion-sickness tablet, such as Dramamine or Stugeron, taken 30 minutes before the sleepless one’s off-watch assures a good sleep—without the side effects of a sleeping pill.
Improving sleep conditions
To help the off-watch sleep, quiet down or stop every rattle possible before they get in the bunk. A can rolling around in the locker under your bunk can wake you every time you almost doze off. If the person on watch can leave the helm, it pays to take a stroll throughout the boat past sleeping crew at least every hour. This seems to subconsciously reassure sleepers that all is well. The skipper who doesn’t quite trust his crew is rarely going to get enough rest; take time before any voyage to be sure each person on board knows basic sailing and emergency procedures. Let it be known that calling the skipper on deck when something is amiss is the right thing to do.
If your whole crew realizes it is easier to handle a situation before it becomes an all-hands-on-deck affair, everyone will sleep better. When we delivered a 60-foot ketch across the Atlantic, I didn’t like the look of some clouds forming astern. Although Larry had just crawled into the bunk, I called him up, and we decided to drop everything except the jib even though there was only 15 knots of wind. Twenty minutes later the clouds covered us and we roared along in a 30-knot squall, perfectly canvased. The rest of the crew never woke up.
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