I don't have any experience with crossing seas, but I do have some experience in sailing single-handed, sailing night time and sailing offshore.
In my previous sailing boat the engine was not working. I was frequently stuck throughout the night with no wind. Staying awake throughout the night was just not an option - so I put an alarm to wake me up every twentieth minute, I'd look around to ensure everything was OK, and then sleep again for 20 more minutes.
Today we have radar, that helps a bit; I can put the navigation system to beep if the radar senses something, I can also set it to beep if it's too shallow (not much useful when being on deep water). In addition to a timer, I can sometimes nap a bit in the cockpit while sailing. Of course, there is still the risk of getting entangled with fishing equipment, crashing into floating containers and other objects too small to be seen by the radar. Then again, I probably wouldn't spot those things in the darkness until it was too late even if I kept a watch.
Hi tobixen,
thanks for sharing your experience. I think this might be the toughest thing on a sailing trip when sailing single-handed. Did you had any training before or did you adjust easily to the new sleeping pattern?
A steel boat is a big radar reflector, so it might sail save even without a radar on itself. Corrosion is a big pain point I have. I don't know how the boat looks like inside in every corner and I do not know a solution to be safe on that...
Do you have a boat? Would you prefer steel over pvc or the other way around?
I do have night shifts with on-call duty every now and then at work, it's a bit of the same. Sleep, but if there is any alarms or telephone calls from customers, I have to jump up, be alert and solve problems. It's not so much different when sailing in the night time.
My boat is made from wood and epoxy, my previous boats were made of glass fibre and polyester. I wouldn't choose steel for the very simple reason that I'm not competent on steel. Well, to be honest, I'm not that much competent on wood nor glass fiber ... but at least I can do some work with it.
I see, so maybe it's not as hard as I imagine. Anyways it will be hard to adjust to if you are not used to it.
Oh cool! I've seen it on some of your posts. It' s looking great! Okay I got you, and I am completely with you on that. I think the most important thing with a boat is to be able to handle some things on your own when they break. Unless I am not a mechanic nor an ingenieur nor a hobby craftsman I need something simple.
Next week I am going to check out the steel boat again. I will take some pictures too and post them here on steem.
Hopefully I find someone with a Wibo 930 to ask about the common issues he has with this model.