Forums > Sailing General

How well do you sleep on a boat?

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Created by southace > 9 months ago, 31 Jan 2014
southace
SA, 4776 posts
31 Jan 2014 11:20PM
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Now thats a island bed!

Adams 42 steel for sale in Townsville. I might buy it just for the bed! Haha





cisco
QLD, 12337 posts
31 Jan 2014 11:33PM
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In answer to the question. A lot better than I do in a land lubber's bed.

LooseChange
NSW, 2140 posts
1 Feb 2014 1:51AM
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Maaaaate! If all you need is a good bed ........ maaaate, have I got a deal for you ....

yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/ron-holland-design-33m-large-volume-ocean-cruising-ketch/144147

Toph
WA, 1838 posts
1 Feb 2014 12:28AM
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I don't sleep too well. Actually I sleep quiet crap. That bed would no doubt make a difference though.

BlueMoon
866 posts
1 Feb 2014 4:21AM
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Chartered catalina 320 in the Whitsundays once, & the aft cabin had the bunks Arthwartships, slept like a log!, Arthwartships is the key I reckon.

Ramona
NSW, 7584 posts
1 Feb 2014 9:11AM
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Select to expand quote
southace said..

Now thats a island bed!

Adams 42 steel for sale in Townsville. I might buy it just for the bed! Haha




Mate has a steel Adams 45 centre cockpit yacht. While I have not been in his stern cabin I doubt its as wide as that one in the photo. That must be 10 feet across the stern!

keensailor
NSW, 699 posts
1 Feb 2014 6:56PM
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My girlfriend and I don't sleep too well, but what do you expect for a 27 foot boat!
The existing bunks are either too narrow or to claustrophobic.
We have been toying with the idea of sacrificing the centre area of the boat to make a decent double bed we could both sleep in.

Boatin
NSW, 179 posts
1 Feb 2014 8:02PM
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On our 25 foot Mystere we found the best arrangement for us was to support the starboard cushions with the esky and sleep across the cabin rather than along. Works well and gives the length and width that the normal extending bunk doesn't.

Will make a folding set up soon so I can always get to the esky.

cisco
QLD, 12337 posts
1 Feb 2014 10:56PM
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I can't think of anything worse than an athwart ship bunk especially if you have a gut full of swill.

Even a hammock has to be better than that.

SeaDragon330
47 posts
1 Feb 2014 9:10PM
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You guys need to get into Cats,my 33' Grainger has two queens and a double. Sleep aboard every night just fine.

southace
SA, 4776 posts
1 Feb 2014 11:55PM
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Y

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SeaDragon330 said..

You guys need to get into Cats,my 33' Grainger has two queens and a double. Sleep aboard every night just fine.


Yes but how many cats have island beds? I'm over climbing up onto a bunk!

Dunedinite
WA, 184 posts
1 Feb 2014 10:14PM
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+1 for Athwartship.
Very comfortable.

Sleep great but will wake at the slightest strange sound / motion.
Then it's a scramble over the Mrs. to find out what's up!

Ramona
NSW, 7584 posts
2 Feb 2014 7:27AM
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Select to expand quote
cisco said..

I can't think of anything worse than an athwart ship bunk especially if you have a gut full of swill.

Even a hammock has to be better than that.




3 years on Parramatta with an athwartship bunk. Miserable in heavy weather. Gut full of swill not a problem because we would be alongside!

Watermark
NSW, 102 posts
2 Feb 2014 10:19AM
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I must say sleeping on the Catalina 320 is very comfortable with her huge aft bed athwartship. We always sleep well when on board.

sirgallivant
NSW, 1531 posts
3 Feb 2014 12:14AM
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What's wrong with you - l wonder - that you can't sleep on a boat? I sleep on the settee berth with lee sheet, in the aft cabin, in my hammock on deck or in the cockpit no worries. A tent is good too. Gotta have my own down sleeping bag thou. Never wake, never dream just sleep like a log. A nice glass of white and a good book...

southace
SA, 4776 posts
3 Feb 2014 12:56AM
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A

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sirgallivant said..

What's wrong with you - l wonder - that you can't sleep on a boat? I sleep on the settee berth with lee sheet, in the aft cabin, in my hammock on deck or in the cockpit no worries. A tent is good too. Gotta have my own down sleeping bag thou. Never wake, never dream just sleep like a log. A nice glass of white and a good book...


And no doubt snore! What about when the anchor is dragging do you wake the second it drags or wake at the last minute!

Dezman
NSW, 818 posts
3 Feb 2014 4:21AM
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My main bunk is next to the mast and just below the water line which is close to the pivot point of the boat, little movement here and I sleep well. Haha, I remember my little Roberts 25 hobby horsing at the Percy Islands and feeling weightless in the front berth. Always thought if I took out the engine of Valkyrie I would build a bed down there as the lowest point :))...
Oh yeah Southace its amazing how tuned we become to the right noise of even movement of our boats!

Seamonkey_H2024
VIC, 344 posts
3 Feb 2014 8:45AM
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I sleep great on the boat. Normally just in the V berth at the front of the clansman with a hatch open a little to give me some fresh air. I prefer to be anchored or moored. The groaning of lines and squishing of fenders when tied up to a jetty can be a little anoying. Also when at a jetty in rough conditions it feels like your stuck in the middle of a tug of war match between the spring lines.

MorningBird
NSW, 2662 posts
3 Feb 2014 12:04PM
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You guys need to spend more time at sea. Sleeping on a mooring or at anchor is like sleeping ashore. The question could be how do you sleep in 15+ knots of wind in a lumpy sea. The v berth is the last place to be at sea, I use the pilot berths where the motion is minimal.

As skipper I am constantly alert to motions and sounds that might spell trouble so don't sleep well unless the conditions are benign.

When I am crew on somebody else's boat with a skipper I have confidence in I sleep like a log.

southace
SA, 4776 posts
3 Feb 2014 12:00PM
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I don't sleep well on passages even with a skipper onboard.

The longest I did solo was 3 days and 2 nights I will stay up as long as I can drinking coffee till 2 or 3am and then sleep in 20 minute periods with a alarm on my chest till the sun comes up.

I know a Spanish global sailor that sleeps in the day and sails at night he seems to think the ships can see him better during the day!

Anyway I'm over getting beat up at sea ! now I'm just a day sailor looking forward to enjoying the sights and getting sheltered sleep in my new island bed!



kitebored
NSW, 561 posts
3 Feb 2014 1:49PM
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I'd sleep better if it was GRP not steel. With aft space/center cockpit it screws the deck space up too much for me.

keensailor
NSW, 699 posts
3 Feb 2014 2:16PM
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southace said..
!
!
I don't sleep well on passages even with a skipper onboard.

The longest I did solo was 3 days and 2 nights I will stay up as long as I can drinking coffee till 2 or 3am and then sleep in 20 minute periods with a alarm on my chest till the sun comes up.
!
!


I would be the same, I had trouble having a half hour nap in the middle of the day on a 3 hour passage with my girlfriend skippering.
No way I could sleep solo at night ;)
Although if you have the right radar gear it should alarm you of an approaching ship right ? Did'nt seem to work for Jessica Watson before her circumnavigation though.


MorningBird
NSW, 2662 posts
3 Feb 2014 2:43PM
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Two things keep me awake, concern for the safety of the boat/passengers/crew and violent motion. Violent motion I can't do much about except wait for it to abate.

I occasionally sail solo overnight, well offshore, and find I sleep better because there is nobody else to worry about.

It is only coastal, admittedly where we spend most time, that you need a crew to keep watch. AIS is useless, as Ramona noted elsewhere, fishing boats are the major hazard and they don't use it. Radar can help but in any sea state it can't be relied on to pick up a fishing boat against the sea clutter. Mates have sailed solo up the coast staying awake for 36 hours etc between stops but I reckon that is high risk and I can't do it anyway.

Once you are clear of the coastal traffic and fishing craft, usually off the continental shelf, the risk of meeting someone needing the same 34 ft of water as I am using is almost non-existent. I have gone for 72 hours out there in a crewed boat keeping watches and we have not seen one vessel let alone been near one. Boats going to Lord Howe often go the whole way from 50nm out without seeing another craft.

The chance of being run down out there is so low that it doesn't keep me awake. Jessica's solo sail to Sydney in coastal traffic was dumb. But she handled the aftermath very well without panic and I believe she learnt from it. The rest of her voyage was untroubled by further close calls.



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"How well do you sleep on a boat?" started by southace