Crew rest and watch schedules

10º 04.633n 121º 04.855w

Thu Apr 25 2019

I don’t know how single handers do it. Perhaps they set various alarms and just go on to bed? There’s an alarm for AIS traffic (just like an aircraft ADS-B transponder), an alarm for radar traffic, an alarm for sudden wind or heading changes, you name it. Makes me tired just thinking about it. Imagine making a 30 day passage all by your lonesome. Not only might you have trouble getting adequate rest and remaining alert, but you’d have to carry a volleyball named Wilson just for someone to talk to. . .

A few years back the Acoustics Research and Development folks at NASA Langley asked me to fly around in a big ole Sikorsky MH53E Navy helicopter. They set up a giant microphone array across a big field down near Destin, Florida and each morning the helicopter would ferry up from Panama City, land so I could board, then we’d tool around for a couple hours over that big field. When we were done, we’d land and I’d get out. Never flew over water.

Naturally to be allowed aboard as a flight crew mission specialist on a Navy helicopter I was required to take water survival training. Never mind I wasn’t ever going to fly over water. Go figure. Your tax dollars at work.

Anyway, the first day was classroom work, and we learned a lot about self rescue and sleep science - things Navy SEALS are highly trained for. Apparently it’s best to sleep in 1 1/2 hour blocks to get in a cycle of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and to nap no more than 30 minutes to avoid awakening feeling worse than when you nodded off. Good stuff to know when we’re at sea for 3 weeks with only 3 folks to mind the store.

Thad, Isabel and I discussed watch rotation schedules and decided upon a 3 hour watch schedule. Three hours on watch is short enough to not get completely bored and become inattentive to the task at hand, and six hours off watch is long enough to grab a quick shower and wind down, get as much as 3 blocks of sleep and pop out like a piece of toast, ready to rinse and repeat. During the day watches folks take shorter naps and hang out in the saloon or cockpit watching the world go by. Lots of water out there, and what’s bizarre is to observe sea birds like boobies flying about, hundreds of miles from land. Haven’t seen an albatross yet, but we’re hoping. . .

There are also crew member’s personal biorythms to consider, and as none of us are night owls like mom was, that 0100 - 0400 watch is a tough one, but so far we’ve powered through.

We’re 9 days in, over 1200 miles at sea, and it seems to be working out so far. Only 1600 miles and maybe 11 days (if we’re really fast) to go! When we arrive we’ll set the anchor in a quiet, calm bay, celebrate with one of Isabel’s killer margaritas, then take a seriously long nap.