SailNet Community banner
  • SailNet is a forum community dedicated to Sailing enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about sailing, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, repairs, reviews, maintenance, and more!

How to sleep

10K views 54 replies 25 participants last post by  darksails 
#1 ·
You know those fancy yachts at the boat show with the queen sized beds forward and aft? We'll I'm crewing on one in the Salty Dawg Rally. Lucky me I'll be trying to sleep in one of these heeled over. How do you stay in bed? Or should I just sleep on the floor?
 
#10 ·
Yep. Every time I've passaged on a boat with crew we all just crashed out on whatever pile of gear looked the least uncomfortabe. Worst experience for me was actually finding myself in the berth that the owner's muttley considered his own and which just happened to be right below the tiller pilot. Mmmmm. Wet smelly dog and bzzzt bzzt bzzzt ... such fun. Even so I still got to sleep and loggishly at that.

Our quarter berth mattress is split with a lee cloth riggable down the middle. That makes for OK comfort either tack. We also have lee cloths on both port and starboard saloon berths but reality is that unless you are in really bumpy conditions offshore as long as you crash in the leeward berth you'll stay put well enough. Even the v-berth is not the horror story you often read about provided there are plenty of sail bags around.

Failing all that ? Yep, the floor. :)
 
#5 ·
Sailing condominiums are...
A hammock would be a great addition and a good place to sleep while underway. A lee cloth can be fixed on some bunks which keeps you from rolling out of bed. Usually the outside of the hull (ceiling) or a settee back cushion is on one side and the lee cloth on the other. The top of the lee cloth may be hung from something above the bunk or fixed at the ends. The bottom is fixed to the bunk. A settee is a better place to sleep while underway or a pilot berth which is often above and behind a settee.
Blue Performance Lee Cloth - Bunk Safety Guard
But sleeping underway in a sailing condominium...
- CH
 
#7 ·
Sleep on the floor. We have one of those in our boat and they're really not good in heavy weather.

A hammock will continue swinging long after the boat does. They don't work when a boat is under way, at least I don't think so
 
#12 · (Edited)
Part of the point of center island queens is to be able to climb in and out easily without disturbing whoever you are sharing the berth with. Usually that means it is difficult to stack gear or anything else to wedge yourself in. Everything--including you--ends up on the floor.

Lee cloths work fine although depending on configuration it may take some work to mount fittings to connect it to. On Auspicious the aft berth lee cloths are permanently fixed and are usually under the mattress. They rig to backed up rings in the overhead. I have a plan for a third, centerline cloth that I haven't tried yet. We'll see how that works out.

Sleeping on the floor is highly underrated. It's one of my favorite spots. After all it's hard to fall off the floor. *grin* A good bit depends on the configuration of the boat - you need to find a place that isn't in the way of people getting to the head, nav station, and galley. That usually isn't a problem if those spots are at the base of the companionway (where they should be). It is more problematic with a forward head or a shotgun galley.

Hammocks are a poor solution. They take up a huge amount of room, their swinging gets out of phase with boat motion which is unpleasant, and for those of us who aren't 20 anymore contribute to aches and pains. Day after day spending off watch underway in a hammock below is much different than a nap on the foredeck at anchor. Most assuredly not recommended. Makes my back hurt just thinking about it.

Have fun on the Salty Dawg. Let us know which boat you are on so we can watch on the tracker.

It's only chilly for the first day or so until you get past the Gulf Stream.
 
#16 ·
Have a great time.

I see a different story for next week. This is what I look at: AuspiciousWorks - Communications / Yacht Management / Deliveries Worldwide . I see a front moving over Hampton on the 3rd (about) and good wind (about 20 kts) Nly behind it. If you head out at 135T (my preferred course leaving the Chesapeake) you'll cross the Gulf Stream where it is fairly diffuse and NEly. It might be bumpy for half a day but shouldn't be bad. Do meal prep ahead and look forward to warmer temps. Keep everything tied down and secure. By the time you get to 65W and turn South the ride South should be glorious until at least the 9th.

Is Chris Parker saying something different?
 
#18 ·
Chances are, most of the trip will be sailed on port tack, so the starboard settee will be the prime spot... Unfortunately, looks like it might be a bit short...



If there's more than one off watch at a time, the only real alternative would seem to be the aft berth, sleeping across the head of the bed, with your feet outboard... As usual with these aft stateroom arrangements, it's guaranteed to place your head as close as possible to the autopilot motor and ram... You may have a better appreciation for one of the unsung advantages of windvanes, by the end of the trip :)



Good luck, and have fun, let us know how it goes...
 
#19 ·
I sailed back from Bermuda on a Beneteau with a big queen bed aft. Only the aft side of the bed was against the hull, so there was walking space along the other three sides. After a midnight to 3:00 am watch at the tail end of tropical storm Curtis, with the boat tossing and heeling horrendously I found it almost impossible to sleep on the bed without sliding or rolling off. Finally I hung my arms, head and upper torso over the side, positioned like I was about to pull myself over a wall, and managed to sleep some, due to sheer exhaustion. They clearly weren't thinking of big seas when they designed this boat.


The skipper said he didn't want us sleeping on the settees in the saloon, because his wife didn't want sweat stains on them or something like that. After 24 hours I rebelled and jammed myself between some gear on a settee and slept like a baby.
 
#24 ·
The skipper said he didn't want us sleeping on the settees in the saloon, because his wife didn't want sweat stains on them or something like that. After 24 hours I rebelled and jammed myself between some gear on a settee and slept like a baby.
Never ceases to amaze how poorly prepped so many boats going offshore are, the absence of forethought given to the simplest, most basic stuff...

Such a thing can always be solved with a set of fitted covers/sheets over the upholstered material... My settees are Ultrasuede, but they are always covered on a passage, when I know I might be sleeping on them in wet gear, or whatever...
 
#20 ·
If it is an aft cabin catamaran, you just pull the sheets up.:)

I've slept underway with a bad back in spasm, lying on a heating pad, in rough conditions without trouble. Just a gentle up-and-down motion. It helps that the bunks (queen each side) are athwartships. My family always sleeps in.
 
#23 ·
I've tried lee cloths, found them to be a bit of a pain. This is arrangement has worked nicely for me. On a starboard tack, you can simply move the back cushions to the rail side. It also works nicely for stowing gear, seabags etc. Most of the time I can just leave it in place. Otherwise it stows nicely in the V-Berth against the Hull tucked between the cushion and the hull.



 
#25 ·
I've tried lee cloths, found them to be a bit of a pain.
Lee boards are just fine. More sturdy, a little less comfortable. I wouldn't turn my nose up at them.

Never ceases to amaze how poorly prepped so many boats going offshore are, the absence of forethought given to the simplest, most basic stuff...
Agreed. There is a limit to what I can pack in on delivery. I usually bring a couple of rolls of blue painters tape to protect varnished handholds from wedding and class rings and other assorted bits that are likely to be banged into.

I've bought inexpensive single mattress pads (which can be cut in half lengthwise) and single fitted sheets charged back to the owner to be sure crew could flake out on the settees without generating damage potential. Crew have to get rest or they aren't crew anymore.
 
#26 ·
Have seven berths with 5 aft of the mast and "queen" island forward. Except DDW or in light air nobody wants to sleep in front of mast. Saloon berths near 7' with lee clothes. Double in aft quarter stateroom with berth separated with lee board when neccessary. Think hot bunking gets old after 2-3d. Think sleeping with pillows/sheets and blankets is nice. Think having more berths than crew means you can usually sleep to leeward so leeclothes/boards not necessary except when really rough. Carry sleeping bag to drape over and pad lee board. Think boats of last 10y are usually slip condos not "real" boats as that's what sells now.
 
#28 ·
Minnewaska: LOL. I WISH I COULD ONE OF THOSE ON SHORT NOTICE!!!!
Jon Eisberg: yes the stand settee is actually two captain chairs.
I was also thinking maybe try sleeping across on the queen bed. Btw there's another guy I'm sharing the bed with!
The owner is sleeping in the v-berth: crazy!
A female species crew is sleeping on the port settee. Best Berth period!
Auspicious: I think Salty Dawg is scrubbing Monday departure because of wind mostly from the east.
 
#30 ·
Jon Eisberg: yes the stand settee is actually two captain chairs.
Well, depending on how comfortable they are, and how hard on the wind you might be on port tack, one of those things might actually be your best bet...

i ran this H-R 43 back north from the islands in June that had such an arrangement, Until we got north of Hatteras, the entire trip up from Trinidad had been on starboard tack or DDW, so the port settee was the place to be. But around Hatteras the breeze came strong from the W, and I managed to grab a couple of nice catnaps in those chairs, add 20 degrees of heel and it's not much different from a snooze in a Business Class seat:)



The owner is sleeping in the v-berth: crazy!
I'm gonna guess that might be 'Subject to Change', once you hit the Trades.. :)
 
#29 ·
Anybody who goes offshore on a multiday passage without lee cloths or boards is NUTS.
Being offshore with a broken limb is to be avoided!

You must have a secure berth, that means one that prevents you from becoming a an unguided missile inside the boat in the event of being hit by a rogue wave.

Sleeping on the floor is only partially safe especially on a larger boat where you could still go a fair distance.

A couple of eye bolts and a piece of canvas 4'x3' provides the basics.
 
#31 ·
Here's a piece of the routers forecast:
Wed6 departure from Chesapeake: 060@12<110@9, 2-3' wind-chop, swell
6'/9secE.
Wed6 night/Thu7 morning, ENTER GulfSrteam 36-20N/74W: 130@12<150@15,
3-4' wind-chop, swell 5'/9secE.

What does 130@12<150@15 mean? Winds 12 kts from 130 degrees true........
 
#36 ·
For the second year in a row, the 1500 departed a day ahead of schedule...

Smart move, looks like everyone will make it across the Stream with the breeze still out of the NW, before moving to the NE... In this case, heading down the beach to Hatteras is the way I'd be inclined to go, as well...

I like the track being sailed at the moment by the skipper of TE MANA, a Kanter 65... Looks like he has the right idea, crossing the Stream at a favorable angle, staying high and putting some easting in the bank, and being well-positioned when the breeze does begin to come NE...

Good for them, good luck to the fleet...

World Cruising Club - Fleet Viewer
 
#38 ·
In this case, heading down the beach to Hatteras is the way I'd be inclined to go, as well...
Why? I would have stayed further East and crossed the GS further North perpendicular to the stream, about where Rayana and Intruder II are. I think Te Mana would have been further East and just as South if she hadn't stayed so close to the beach for so long.

Nothing like armchair quarterbacking. *grin*
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top