Two coffees please,

Chris Patterson · Apr 7, 2014

Oh Lordy. When I read the decaf part I about rolled. I could just see myself slamming cup after cup......with zero result. Except the usual result that a man my age deals with because of multiple cups of coffee.
(I'm leaving next Monday to Miami to move a boat North; Titusville a nice place to bump a dock? I might not shoot it straight through)..

WayneH · Apr 7, 2014

All U Get said:
Hi all,

With the renewed spirit and coffees I knew I could make it to sunrise. Well at 0530 I began to fade even with all the coffee so I gave my wife a gentle nudge, no response. I tried a little verbal, still out cold. So I decided not to wake her and just keep active to make it to sunrise. At 0645 my wife sits up and asks me how I'm doing and I give the report. She then fluffs the pillow in the cockpit and goes back to sleep. When she woke again at 0730 she didn't remember getting up earlier but now she was ready for the day. I did the quick pitstop then back at the helm to steer into the Canaveral Barge Canal.

All U Get

OMG! You're married to MY wife?!?!?! LOL I just read this to her and she's rolling about how it sounds just like her.

Thanks for setting up our overnight schedule as we've been trying to hash one out for a while now. 1 on and 3 off works for my wife, too.

Winkfish · Apr 7, 2014

Well done, All U Get. It's a great feeling to do that, isn't it? Especially the first time.

Ariel · Apr 7, 2014

Several years ago I wrote this summary of an article for a club newsletter. It may be helpfull for you on the next overnight cruise. You are not alone with this problem.

SLEEP STRATEGY FOR AN OVERNIGHT CRUISE

Like so many other coastal cruisers, Lois and I have found that the most difficult part of a cruise has been the trip that requires one overnight sail. The adrenalin created by the excitement of an offshore sail keeps us both up and active and we are tired by the time night comes and nether of us can sleep. We have tried watch keeping from the outset with no avail. Neither of us can sleep effectively and one of us usually ends up staying awake for twenty four hours or longer. We both end up cranky, tired and prone to bad actions. Does any of this sound familiar?

In an article titled The Sleeping Enemy in the June, 2006 issue of Blue Water Sailing magazine, Erin Myers discusses what makes us snooze and how we, as sailors, can best strategize our sleeping. This article is based on research and studies by Dr. Claudio Stanpi. I have condensed Mr. Myers article here in the hope that it might help in the development of a sleep and watch system for overnight cruises.

Dr. Stampi, sleep guru and accomplished sailor, has a medical degree, a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering and a degree in neurology. He participated in two Whitbread races to gather data from crews and has worked with solo sailors Ellen MacArthur, Mike Golding and Brad Van Liew among others in his study of sleep and the requirement to stay alert while working in intense situations. His conclusions can be applied to short cruises as well as long solo passages.

At the heart of Dr. Stampi’s theory is his finding that alertness and performance are determined less than how long you sleep and more by when you sleep. Adapting to what Stampi calls a “polyphasic” sleep pattern, where sleep is attained in a series of short naps, will result in greater alertness, performance and safety in sleep-deprived situations.

There are some broad patterns that will help a person develop a sleep regimen. Almost everyone has what Stampi calls a “forbidden zone” between 6 and 9 p.m. when it is difficult to fall asleep. Sleep pressure, or the desire to sleep, is high at about 3:30 p.m. as well as early morning between 5 and 7 a.m.

Stampi’s research found truth in the terms “morning lark” and “night owl”. One of the first steps to developing sleep regimens is to figure out into which term you fall. “Morning people (larks) usually require more regular routines than do evening people (owls). On the other hand, larks tend to feel refreshed after even brief naps, while owls require longer naps to feel satisfied” he wrote.

Ellen MacArthur is a lark and often wrote about sleep in 20-minute naps in the most intense parts of her voyages. Mike Golding is an owl and has a very different sleep strategy, rarely getting less than an hour of sleep in any nap.

Stampi’s sleeping experiments have shown that in situations of sleep deprivation, polyphasic sleep preserves more performance and alertness than monophasic sleep. Individuals sleeping for 30 minutes out of every four hours, for a daily total of three hours, performed better and were more alert than those receiving three hours of uninterrupted sleep. He suggests 20-minute naps because you don’t have enough time to get into a deep sleep, as well as 80-minute naps because you get into deep sleep and cycle out to lighter sleep. He cautions that 50-minute naps can be trickier because you might wake during deep sleep, leaving you feeling groggy with detrimental effects on alertness and performance.

The brain likes predictability, he points out. Making naps routine will help train the brain to prepare for a nap and then recover from one. For example, regularly brushing your teeth or reading before a nap can hypnotize your brain to enter sleep. Likewise, a cup of tea, putting on a harness or washing your face can become stimuli to transfer you from sleep to alertness.

It is also important to identify what Stampi calls “circuit breakers” in your system - things that will serve as a red flag to let you know that you are critically sleep deprived and your performance and decision making are severely impaired. For example, accidentally boiling a pot of seawater for tea should let you know that you are dangerously sleep deprived and should rest before making any drastic navigational decisions.

Stampi suggests a watch schedule for doublehandlers that consists of a shift system with flexibility. Each person would be responsible for a shift, but they can nap or do whatever is efficient with that shift. Flexible shifts should take advantage of instances when you are riding the crest of alertness and your partner is sleeping deeply.

The ideal crew is composed of one lark and one owl. Then you can divide the night into two shifts, with the owl taking the late night shift and the lark the wee hours of the morning. As a rule of thumb, it is most efficient to take the long period of sleep during the night and take shorter naps during the day.

While a polyphase sleep pattern might be the most efficient way to deal with sleep deprivation, there will still be detrimental effects on performance and alertness due to the sheer lack of sleep. For this, Stampi suggests the Sunday Strategy. His research found that when employing polyphasic sleep during lengthy periods, one episode of free-running sleep once a week allows the body to recuperate. This might be most realistic on doublehanded boats, where once a week each person can afford a long period to top off their sleep while their partner stands watch.

You can reed this article in its entirety and with all the technical and neurological explanations by ordering Blue Water Sailing magazine, June 2006, volume 11, number 6, at www.bwsailing.com.

Dave
s/v ARIEL

victorhoisington · Apr 7, 2014

Hilarious.

This just reinforces my decision to not allow decaf on the boat. If I want dark warm water, I'll just use darker rum and leave the ice out.

Well done on the overnight, its something my wife and I have been discussing since it will come up eventually when we complete our 3 year escape plan, for now I'll live vicariously through others while I sail in a land locked puddle.

Victor

Gunni · Apr 7, 2014

When it comes time to run watches, I find it best to have firm rules that. 1) All able-bodied must participate, 2) There is a schedule for watches, 3) Nobody is going to get enough sleep, but when off, you sleep. 4) the watches start well before a normal bedtime hour - to get the catnap routine established long before the 0400 daze. For us, a 4 hour watch with 2 hours overlapping works well.

Roadking Larry · Apr 7, 2014

"the coffee we had onboard was decaf"

I don't drink coffee but even I know that borders on justification to reinstate the time honored tradition of keel hauling.

gettinthere · Apr 7, 2014

We do lots of one nighters going up the coast.

What works for us is we try to catnap in the afternoon. Then I sack out around 10pm. She wakes me when she gets drowsy. That is around 2am. I helm from then till I get drowsy. Usually around 4am. She takes over and we keep cycling like that. Works well for us so far.

Bill Roosa · Apr 7, 2014

I feel your pain guys.
A trick I learned in the Army has application here. if all you are trying to do is get through one night then stock up on sunflower seeds. something about cracking the seeds in your mouth wakes you up. Good for at least 24 hours. After that they still work but your judgment is off.

Now if you want to do the 72 hour stint that takes some practice. Start with sunflower till you hit 32 hours. At that point you are tired enough to use the 1/2 brain technique. It needs to be quiet and alone and it works best at night. Close one eye and that half of your brain will go to sleep. the other will stay awake. After 15 - 20 minutes open the eye and get fully awake, then close the other eye. I know it sounds crazy but I can attest to it working. At 72 hours you are awake and completely functional (if not some what smelly)(that may be an Army thing). I suspect you could do this indefinitely but never had to.

Bill Roosa · Apr 7, 2014

Works when driving too BTW.

Bill Roosa · Apr 7, 2014

on a related note:
I have noticed that some folks don't wake up fast. It can take them 30 minutes to become functional. Yes they can carry on a conversation and they can answer questions but a minute later they have no idea what you just said to them.
KNOW your crew. Before you hand off control to the next guy make sure you get a "back brief." That is ask them what you just told them. If they can't get it right just wait a few minutes and start again from the beginning. And share this among the crew. It is just a fact of life and nothing to be ashamed of so just be mater of fact about it. Safety is everybody's business.