In a previous 'post',  watch systems were briefly discussed.   Many who go throught the night try a 3 hour on, 3 hour off system of watches.

My recent trip directly to Spain from Plymouth and back, where we expected to be sailing non stop for 4 - 6 days each way, with skipper + a crew of 3,  we tried a system as written of,  by Eric Newbury in his book 'The last Grain Race'.   The watches go as follows:-

0000-0400, 0400-0800, 0800-1300, 1300-1900, 1900-0000.

After 48 hours we really began to get into the swing of the routine but up 'til then, our old bodies didn't like being woken up 20 minutes before the watch commenced, and particularly the 0400 to 0800 watch, which we all nicknamed 'the graveyard watch'.  This we all found very difficult, but as you see you were only on this watch every other day.   

As I remember, their was the sad case where the guy drove all through the night with a trailer behind a landrover. He then fell asleep at the wheel in the early hours and went down an embankment onto the train track and caused an horrific accident. At the inquest/trial it was said to have happened during the hours when his body needed to be in the deepest of sleep e.g. the few hours before he normally woke up as his usual routine.   As we on board in our everyday life were usually waking up around 7.30ish we all found that we were not happy at rising to do the 0400 watch and desperatly in need of sleep by 0800.

We hot bunked by simply changing sleeping bags for our own and jumping in to share the bunk.  Using two cabins, one forward, one aft, the two on watch together, did not share the same cabin. This meant that we had far more space to change and get ready etc, without being in each others face both on and off watch and we were not disturbing oneanother so much during the sleep periods....snoring etc.

This system also gave us longer in the day to relax or settle into the watch and we found this to be workable.Some of the night shifts we found ourselves in difficult seas, and those in both fore and aft cabins  were thrown about so much that it was best to sleep in the central saloon, strapped into a settee bunk with lee cloths.  

Hi Cathy, yes very civilised.

Although we were two on watch at any time, it meant that one of us on watch, in between checking the AIS screen etc, could actually catnap, all geared up in the saloon for half hour on, half hour off, most of the time.    It meant that all in all, although not completely rested, we were rarely out on our feet.  

During the very rough spells when viz was less than 100m and especially downwind, we found we did have to hand steer for hours, and that we found tiring.

The boat has a very good autopilot but I missed the use of a windvane which I am used to.  The wind did move around a little on occassions and we did accidentally gybe twice in the 900 odd miles, due to the autohelm keeping its course and us being tired.