Preparation for night crossings on a yacht

Preparation for night crossings on a yacht

Preparation for night crossings on a yacht

Regardless of whether you are crossing a canal or an ocean, a night yacht crossing is something every yachtsman faces at some point, and knowing some simple tricks you can get through it much easier and safer.

Every yachtsman at least once in his life heard a question from people far from yachting: "What are you doing in the ocean at night?" It often comes as a surprise to them that yachting has always been a 24/7 activity.

Traditionally, crossings have always been night and were planned to land at dawn to identify the lights and confirm the yacht's position. Then the skipper could safely enter the port in daylight.

Today, with the help Gps rather, we underestimate the usefulness of position fixing lights, and since many yachts are equipped with AIScrossing shipping lanes is now less difficult as you rely on more than just identifying the navigation lights of each ship, although of course you need to remember that not all ships have AIS!

How to prepare for long yacht crossings

How to prepare for long yacht crossings

Usually, night swimming falls into one of two categories: the first is a one-off night sail, such as starting a summer cruise, such as driving a boat to a destination, or perhaps races such as RORC or JOG... The second is a long transition, where there will be several days between the start and the finish with successive night transitions. Accordingly, there is a slight difference in the preparation of the boat for each option, and there are also differences in the scheduling of observation shifts.

Whether it's a cruise or a race a crew that spends more than one night at sea requires a more stringent clock system, covering a full 24 hours, in contrast to the crew of a one-day voyage. But the basic observation principles also apply to the one-day hike.

Of course, people don't see very well at night, and it takes a long time to achieve maximum night vision. The eyes are incredibly complex and there are three phases in dark adaptation. First, our pupils dilate to let in as much light as possible, and this can take from a few seconds to a minute. The next phase occurs in the cone cells of the eye. In the absence of light, we get chemical changes in the cell, and it can take ten minutes for the cone cells to adapt to the dark.

Finally, we have stem cells, which are responsible for black and white vision, and they contain rhodopsin, which is activated in the absence of light. And it will take several hours to fully adapt to the dark.

Although we are all different, it takes about ten minutes to get the most out of our night vision, which slowly improves over the next few hours. And accordingly it returns to zero very quickly if you look at bright lights.

Most boats are logical in their layout, and it’s always nice to have a new but experienced crew on board and they don’t have to tell twice.

Close your eyes and feel - the size becomes very noticeable and the lids are different. Take a spinnaker halyard in one hand and a boom topper in the other - experience different sizes and textures. It is always good to keep the same cables in the same position so that at night, in the dark, when the label is still not visible, you can easily find the correct one.

How to use light on board at night

How to use light on board at night

All crew members must have a flashlight in addition, it is worth keeping a powerful searchlight on the deck for checking equipment and in case of emergencies. If necessary, use a flashlight as low as possible, or even a red light, and warn the crew on deck at the time, especially the helmsman, before using it.

In the experience of many yachtsmen, the effectiveness of painting the lenses of flashlights in red has been provenfor example using red nail polish. Red light is much more pleasing to the eye and nail polish is more readily available than flashlights with red lenses.

Also, one of these tricks is the use of red film from a photographic store, which usually covers partially and completely the night lighting on the yacht. White light from floodlights destroys night vision, so such finds on board a yacht are natural. Plus, the less light you use, the less your vision needs it.

Thanks to the latest Navionics tools and multifunctional displays, you can control the brightness of the image: setting the level to minimum, or switching to night mode, helps night vision and also uses less power.

Night crossings during the cruise

Night crossings during the cruise

During a cruise, a lot depends on the number of crew members on board and the surveillance system. Most ARC crews lower the spinnaker on a routine basis, and generally sails at night. This is of course very prudent, but the nights in the tropics are long, and reach 12 hours.

If you are not an adherent of clear rules, you can prepare your boat for easier sail control and let the conditions dictate the sail plan. You can mark the halyards and main cables by stitching them in a contrasting color on the line marking the correct position just protruding from the coupling. This mark can be felt as well as seen. You can also mark the halyards at maximum lift to avoid being over-enthusiastic and wearing down the splice or knot in the pulley. This is what racing crews have been doing for years, and cruise crews would benefit from learning from them, which will be effective for them for both day and night sailing.

Light stripes can be added to the sails to help define the shape of the sail, and a small amount of reflective tape can also be glued around the boat to identify weapons. You can also mark the steering wheel with Turkish braid to get a feel for the center point, to which you can also add reflective tape to make it visible in low light.

By planning your trip, make your life on board easier and safer by maximizing your lunar hours: swimming under the full moon and clear night skies is as easy as swimming during the day.

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Preparing the crew for night crossings on the yacht

Yachting is not a lot of fun when you are tired and hungry. A typical cruising yacht requires a number of roles to perform different jobs, so an ideal deck layout in terms of efficiency and performance will be at the expense of the space below. This tends to contribute to slow sailing: if it is difficult to reduce the sails alone, it makes sense to automatically take reefs at night, then you do not have to call someone for help.

Two or three hours is long enough to watch independently, and with shorter shifts, it is possible to change sail during watch shift when there are two people on deck. If you are on a cruise as a couple, you can stick to three hour shifts, as this is the maximum concentration time and even that is exhausting. For ocean crossings it is better to have an additional train on board.

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During the races, the pressure on the crew is around the clock, although at night you can relax a little to maintain strength. After heavy night crossings, the crew can be motivated by additional pleasures during lunch. It is hard to cross the ocean on dry and frozen foods. Food and drink are important not only for nourishment, but also for enjoyment.

Eating at night is especially important for energy and wellness. Leakproof beverage bottles stay hot for hours. Snacks are also good at night hours: our bodies are used to sleeping at night, and snacks help us stay awake.

During their shift, crew members must clearly understand the responsibilities. If you are crossing a channel or narrowness at night, you will need the most experienced crew member due to the increased level of navigation and the required navigational knowledge required for such a crossing. On the high seas, this is not necessary, as you have more time to call the skipper for help in case of a crisis.

Preparing the crew for night crossings on the yacht

Why long transitions are easier

Everyone on board should receive adequate sleep. It is physically possible to spend 24 hours without sleep, but the adequacy of decision making is already in doubt, and it is easy to make mistakes.

It is best, if possible, to have at least two people on shift at the same time, this avoids the need to call additional crew for small sail changes or maneuvers. This also means that when you are not on duty, no one will interrupt your sleep. Three or even four hours, together or three, pass quickly, and responsibilities are divided between the helmsman, the overseer, and the navigator.

It's a little different on racing boats as it's usually a big team and everyone gets a good night's sleep. For longer races like Fastnet, there must be a clear and rigid clock system for everyone to get a good night's sleep. If something goes wrong, it always happens at around 4am, when people are at their lowest level of activity and concentration. Our bodies are very complex and take time to adapt, and a shorter crossing can be more tiring than a transatlantic one.

After three days of shifts, it is advisable to get a good deep sleep one night and you will be fine for the rest of the flight. Since short treks of two or three days are more tiring, it is preferable to take a large team.

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22.09.2017