Overnight running
We are considering taking the leap and getting a new (to us) boat this
spring/summer. My concern is cruising it back to Duluth from the Detroit
area. Here are the pertinent details. The boat is a semi-displacement
hull, pilothouse trawler, about 42 feet LOA with twins, displacing about
40,000 lbs, active stabilizers, a full suite of electronics and remote
control search light, vintage about 10 years old. The engines have
relatively low hours.
We have 10 years of boating experience on Lake Superior and have done
night running, but we have never ran all night. I anticipate a crew of
three (including me as skipper). Weather permitting, I would like to run
the length of Lake Huron from Port Huron to Detour Village, MI (entrance
to the St. Marys River) in one shot, a distance of about 220 miles.
Assuming a speed of about 9 knots, we are looking at a 24 hour run. After
arriving in Ste. St. Marie, MI, resting etc., and conditions permitting,
we would like to run another 240 or so miles to the Houghton, MI area in
one shot, again an overnight run. And then another 200 mile run on to
Duluth, after resting in the Houghton area. We have no schedule other
than to get home as quickly as is prudent. We plan to stay relatively
close to the American shores and out of the shipping lanes.
What words of wisdom, warning, or advice has the list for us?
David Sorenson
Duluth, MN
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David,
If you do this in June you should have relatively long hours of daylight.
Since you're not offshore, why not just anchor up for the short night so
everyone can get a proper night's rest? You won't be losing that many
hours, and the risk due to night running and fatigue will be a whole lot
less.
Seems like it'd be a nice trip - why the rush?
Bob Deering
Juneau, Alaska
On 1/9/09 7:45 AM, "David H Sorenson" davidsorenson@juno.com wrote:
What words of wisdom, warning, or advice has the list for us?
Depending upon age, you will need more recovery time than you can believe.
It is not easy to stay up and alert thru your normal sleeping hours,
As usual your experience may vary
Anthony and Jane, Carmen NT42 La Paz
On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 9:45 AM, David H Sorenson davidsorenson@juno.comwrote:
We are considering taking the leap and getting a new (to us) boat
this......
What words of wisdom, warning, or advice has the list for us?
David Sorenson
Duluth, MN
Start your medical billing career! Click here for more information.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/PnY6rw38dqUL0WqFnMVlkA4n6TjgFNwhsDqCdam4qaVJs3mmZaFqM/
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What words of wisdom, warning, or advice has the
list for us?
I think that "overnights" are exciting, interesting, scary, boring,
dangerous, calming, and fun. It's all those things. I'm really glad
that we do a few to stay in shape. I think it has given me a better
understanding of my abilities and limitations.
If you have the luxury of picking the right night, choose one where the
moon is out for the darkest part and is mostly full. With those
conditions, you can see pretty well if everything is kept very dark.
You have to be very comfortable with your electronics and radar (all
pilots). You obviously have to pick a proper weather window, especially
for the first time.
We didn't do an overnight until we had about 5,000 nm under our belts.
Now if the conditions present themselves and we're interested in jumping
the distance, we go. We do hourly engine room checks during the day and
2-3 hour checks at night. We start out in two hour shifts: 8pm-10pm,
10pm-midnight, and then switch to three hour shifts: 12am-3am, 3am-6am.
When one is piloting, the other is sleeping. The pilot is not allowed
out of the pilothouse during the shift for any reason without waking up
the other person. No one is allowed to be annoyed if they get woken up
(it has rarely happened).
You'd need to find the rules that work best for you.
We've also done double-overnights. Now I know that for some cruisers on
this list who have jumped across oceans, this isn't a big deal at all.
And to be honest, a double isn't any more difficult than a single -
although I wouldn't want to do much more than 2 nights with only 2
people aboard - you start losing too much sleep.
Here's a video I took at 3:30am with my mobile phone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK1eH7gnd5c
That overnight turned into a double-overnight because the weather was so
calm that it just didn't make sense to stop. We left Charleston, SC.
The video is that night off the coast of Georgia. We eventually pulled
in a day and a half later into Port Canaveral.
Having an internet connection while on watch is really nice. Searching
destinations, reading Wikipedia, and just messing around makes the hours
fly by. I've even made T&T postings while offshore overnight!
---=
Jeffrey Siegel
M/V aCappella
DeFever 53PH
W1ACA/WDB4350
Castine, Maine
www.activecaptain.com
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