[PUP] Watch Schedules.... (follow-on to Nordhavn's South)

[Peter Pisciotta]

BOB AUSTIN:
> I strongly recommend that you start standing watches
> at dark--we usually did 3
> hours, 9-12, 12-3, 3-6 and 6-9....we
> didn't formalize the day watches, but made sure that
> one or the other of us
> was on deck.

The vast majority of my deliveries along the Pacific
Coast were myself and 1-crew. I personally greatly
preferred a defined watch schedule during the daylight
hours too - just made it more comfortable for the
off-watch to scoot off and take a nap or grab a bite
to eat. But I think most folks tend not to define
watch schedules during the day either because they are
so used to working together (like Bob and his longtime
wife) or they just don't do a lot of multi-day trips
where everyone's on the bridge all day anyway so it's
easy to duck out and take a nap.

When cruising with my partner of 12-years, she greatly
prefers defined daytime watch schedules, though we
often let the schedule lapse a little if the other
person is napping and doesn't get up at at their
scheduled watch time.

Watch schedules seem to be a very personal thing.
2-hours is the perfect amount of time to stand watch,
but incredibly imperfect for the off-watch: just can't
catch-up on sleep. With my best, regular crew, we'd
stand 4-hour watches, but that's rare I think, at
least for coastal cruising versus ocean crossing.
3-hour watches seem to be the number I see most folks
settle on, perhaps shorter during the night hours.
Another common schedule is 4-hours during the day,
3-hours at night, though it can be hard to
logistically 'fit' the schedule into a 24-hour period.
For husband/wife teams, I sometimes see the husband
take longer watches (especially for new cruisers) -
but not always. One experienced couple I met who
cruise a Willard 40 between the PNW and Florida have
the perfect setup. He's a retired fireman and has
always gotten up early. She's a retired ER nurse who
worked graveyard for the bulk of her career --- she
preferred the solace of nightime cruising. I don't
recall their exact schedule, but I think they stood
very long watches - she, almost all night (I think).

Rotating schedules: Developed for offshore sailboat
racing teams. The idea here is that no one gets
"stuck" with the dog watches. I have never met anyone
who uses this consistently. Given the choice, folks
seem to prefer a consistently 'bad' to an inconsistent
schedule, especially for longer passages where folks
tend to develop a rhythm for their watch regardless of
the hours. 

A delivery I did several years ago had perfect crew
for watch schedules (perfect crew for a lot of other
reasons too - a great trip): Dennis Bruckel and his
friend Rick crewed from Los Angeles to Fort
Lauderdale. Dennis must have been a dairy farmer in a
prior life because his NORMAL schedule is obscene:
awakes at 3AM, in bed by 8PM. Rick, on the other hand,
is a true Night-Owl, normally up past midnight and
easily sleeps until 10AM. Between the two of them, the
dog watches were comfortably covered.

I guess there's no perfect watch schedule, you have to
try several to find the one that works best for your
style.

What are other folks doing out there - for multi-day
trips?

Peter
W36 Sedan
San Francisco