Here is a link to a single handers thoughts on watch keeping


http://www.latitude38.com/changes/Ch...tml#moonduster

A little background on Wayne,
An Apple multimillionaire exec who quit to enjoy life. Said
to be a little eccentric.

Actually, he is probably keeping better watches than crewed boats.
Gordon

Gordon:

That was one of the few honest descriptions of singlehanding I have read.
Jon Eisberg who livens up CSBB says much the same thing.

I am planning to single hand cruise the east coast next year. That is a
much, much tougher situation than a 3000 mile downwind run to the S Pacific.
AIS won't help because 95% of the traffic you encounter along the coast will
be non-AIS equipped recreational and fishing boats.

I believe his point that 150 mile legs are the toughest, but that is exactly
what I may be doing. I have done the ICW and I never want to zig zag through
Georgia and S Carolina again.

So, I guess I will tough it out with the radar alarm watch on and a kitchen
timer set at 15 minute intervals. I don't really expect to get much sleep
during a 24-36 hour run up the coast.

David

On Jul 24, 8:38*pm, "David Marchand" wrote:
...
So, I guess I will tough it out with the radar alarm watch on and a kitchen
timer set at 15 minute intervals. I don't really expect to get much sleep
during a 24-36 hour run up the coast. ...

The radar alarm is less than perfect. We recently had a container
ship slip through two alarm rings in weather where I would usually be
pretty confident of getting a hit. Keep in mind that you need 6 min
to do a proper radar plot (by hand) and closing speeds may be ~30
knots. Sleeping 15-20 min between visuals will pretty much guarantee
that you'll sleep through some contacts that you ought to plot but the
ocean is big and with a little luck you should do okay. I have an AIS
system on order so I can't say how well it works, but the idea is
good. The largest and fastest targets should be AIS equipped.

On our last passage I tried caffeine gum and found it very useful. I
used some Canadian Army surplus stuff that tastes terrible to me
(bought it through Amazon.com) so there was no chance of an overdose.
I found I could reliably control my caffeine dosage so that I had
enough to keep me alert through the watch but not so much that it
disrupted my sleep. YMMV. But, I was surprised at how well it worked
for me.

-- Tom.

On Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:26:29 -0700, Gordon wrote:

Here is a link to a single handers thoughts on watch keeping


http://www.latitude38.com/changes/Ch...tml#moonduster

A little background on Wayne,
An Apple multimillionaire exec who quit to enjoy life. Said
to be a little eccentric.

Actually, he is probably keeping better watches than crewed boats.
Gordon

I made an electronic gizmo with a digital timer that plugs into a deck
outlet. It can be set to whatever period one wishes but I chose 1200
seconds or twenty minutes. On the top is a large waterproof
pushbutton. If I do not push the top button to stop the count within
the twenty minutes, a very loud piezzo alarm sounds which will awaken
the dead. I stand up, slowly do a 360 degree scan using mainly
peripheral vision, lie down again and press the start button for
another countdown. I found that I usually awaken by about the 1180
count.

I have found that I can easily do at least 12 to 14 days of this
without any mental effects. After that, unless I have a longer deep
sleep, my mind starts playing tricks.

It is a simple and very effective device to make. I had previously
bought a couple of clockwork kitchen timers but found them to be too
quiet to ensure that I was awoken.

I also have found that the radar is not the complete answer due to
rain, squalls and large waves. Hopefully the AIS receiver I installed
earlier will provide a not perfect but better answer. After receiving
confirmation of Larry's advice that I can install a more powerful
piezzo alarm than the little one it was supplied with I bought a truck
reversing one ($7) to make it different to the others and thus
instantly identifiable.

regards.
Peter