A friend of ours who has had a successful corporate law career filled with stressful schedules and conflicts that needed resolving once told me that he found the first 48 hours at sea aboard his new 47-foot cruising sloop to be among the most stressful experiences in his life. The problem is that he can’t go to sleep when off watch.
This is a fairly common issue, particularly in the first years of the cruising life. A skipper is responsible even when off watch and that can create a state of vigilance, worry and anticipation that are all the enemies of sleep.
But we all learn that one of a crew’s or a skipper’s most important jobs on a boat at sea is to tune out, nod off and get a proper sleep even if it is only in three-hour segments. Tiredness leads to poor judgement which in turn leads to bad decisions that can lead to a cascading series of small and then larger crises.
Sleep is the essential remedy. And, it’s not just when at sea that a good rest is an essential part of the cruising life. Living aboard and facing ever changing weather and environments means you have to be alert and ready to react when something changes for the worse, whether it be a wind shift, the rise of a storm or dragging anchor as 2 am. That’s just the cruising life.
Veteran high-latitude cruise Megan Schwartz, who is a sub editor for Noonsite, likes to muse on various aspects of the life she and her family have chosen to live. She recently penned a thoughtful article on the importance of sleep and resilience.
(Photo above by Megan Schwartz.)
