New Conservative wrote:
Hi all,

I haven't actually sailed a boat yet but plan to later this year. I am
therefore still a bit green when it comes to the intricacies of the
subject.
Say I'm keen to visit the West Indies and I'm leaving from say
Southampton, England. I'm on my own and will need to sleep every day,
even if only for a few hours. Is it safe to let a boat 'sail herself'
while I catch some shut-eye, or is this a no-no?

Is it safe - not really because of the risk of a larger vessel turning
your boat into smaller pieces. I had an acquaintance who was single
handing who was bashed into by a cruise ship. He swore he was just
below for 15 minutes having a cup of tea and updating the chart
position.

Ships can come over the horizon in about 10 minutes to your position
if moving at say 22 knots. They seldom keep a good lookout at sea in
my experiences, and a small boats lights at night are only visible 2
miles away. At 22 knots that's a pretty short time to notice a
contact and alter course for the big ship. Big ships often have their
radar off during the day too.

Can it be done safely
or would I have to drop all sail and just bob around in the dark for a
while until I've awoken?

Dropping sail just makes you a stationary target rather than a moving
one and increases your exposure time.

Obviously it'd make for a shorter passage if
I could somehow keep going 24/7. And ideas? Thanks.

1. Consider taking a crew member just for the offshore passage from
England to the West Indies. Crew fatigue is probably one of the
biggest causes of accidents on offshore trips

2. If you're determined to do it solo, invest in a Radar with a
"guard zone"; a radar detector like a CARD, and carry life insurance.
Get a timer that wakes you every fifteen minutes to look around.

3. The most dangerous times are within a few hundred miles of the
coast but that is probably 48 hours of sailing for a typical cruising
boat so you need to be alert for that time period. That's a long time
to be alert after an ocean passage.

In short it's not a good idea, although people do it.

Evan Gatehouse