Something that is obvious once you do the arithmetic, and that I never did before I started reading the fatigue research.

Dawson and Reid published in Nature in 1997 that going without sleep degrades performance in a way you can put on the same scale as alcohol. Williamson and Feyer replicated it in 2000. Roughly: about 17 hours awake leaves you performing like someone at 0.05 percent blood alcohol, which is the drink drive limit across most of Europe. About 24 hours awake looks like 0.10 percent, which is over the limit essentially everywhere.

Chart attached. The two marked points are what those studies actually report. The line joining them is just joining them up, not a fitted model.

Now take a typical evening departure. Up at six for the last provisioning run, the fuel dock, stowing, the weather check. Off the dock at six in the evening. By two in the morning on your first night watch you have been awake 20 hours, and you have not stood a single watch yet. The tiredness was all spent on land.

The clock that matters is not when the passage started. It is when you last woke up.

Disclosure so it is not a surprise: I work for a marine electronics company, and we made a free tool out of this. It asks for the sleep you actually got before departure, along with crew size, route and sea state, and works the curve out hour by hour. Free, with no subscription and no premium tier. Happy to link it if anyone wants it rather than dropping it here.

The useful part does not need the tool though. Before your next overnight, work out what time you will have woken up on departure day and add the hours to your first night watch. If it comes out past 17, the fix is cheap: leave in the morning, or get a proper sleep in before you go and let someone else do the last jobs.

Huge support on our first post here! We even connected with people who knew Mezzaluna from her time in 🇺🇸 The power of the internet! 🤟🏽

Thought we’d throw in a little introduction of ourselves!

Let’s start with this… we knew absolutely nothing about sailing. To be honest, we thought it was for the wealthiest folk and completely out of our reach, until we discovered that wasn’t the case 🙂‍↕️

At 25, we bought our first boat, a 36ft Swanson, with zero experience and just dove headfirst into it.
We flew across Australia with three suitcases of belongings and moved aboard. That’s where we LEARNT everything. From living in a small space and maintaining a boat to fixing all sorts of things and, of course, learning how to sail.

After 18 months and many nautical miles, we knew this lifestyle was for us. But if we were going to do this properly, we needed a little more space. So, our girl had to go on the market.

Fast-forward to now, at 27, and we have our absolute dream boat: a Tashiba 40! Everything we learnt on our 36-footer led us to finding exactly what we needed in a vessel.

The plan now? Spend the next six months making some cash and tidying up Mezzaluna before finally throwing off the lines here in Australia 🇦🇺 and heading off to see what the world has to offer! 🌎
We hope to see more young crew jumping aboard this lifestyle and chasing the dream. It truly is something special.

If you have any questions or just want to connect, reach out! We’re always happy to chat and share what we’ve learnt along the way. 🤟🏽🫶🏼⛵️

Instagram - sailingmezzaluna

“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.”

Hello, Looking to purchase my first sailboat. Interested 19 west wright potter,Catalina 22, Catalina 250, Hunter 23.

This will be something i’d like to learn on yet also be able to spend the weekend sleep aboard with my Lady.

Hoping to have a trailerable cruiser that I get up close to the shore line. Swing keel or removable board would be ideal.

Any advice from someone who’s sailed any of these. What did you like or dislike about it?

Would you recommend any of these for a beginner/weekend camper.

I’d likely be sailing the majority of the time solo, so easy set up and take down is something i’m considering heavily.

Budget >10k

Thank you 🙏

27YO - 2 years cruising and counting. Just started this reddit account to find more like minded people.

SV Mezzaluna - Tashiba 40
Instagram @ Sailingmezzaluna 📸

was been looking into sailboat charters and trying to understand what makes one booking option better than another. For those who have booked a sailing trip before, what matters most to you the boat’s condition, the skipper’s experience, or what is included in the price?

Hello all. Can I get your thoughts on the following:

While I have enjoyed a lifetime of boating and sailing through family and friends I bought my own first boat this year in South Florida. As part of the insurance requirements I had to have some repairs made prior to operation; it involves a haul out of the water.

Prior to close August 15th, I arranged the repairs with a local reputable yard to close the deal. We agreed in principle and I signed the form to inform my insurance.
However, since then I cannot get the yard to provide me an estimate for the work nor will they provide the date to schedule the haul out so I can hire the captain to deliver it to the yard. Very non-responsive.

While I do not plan to operate the boat until December 1, after hurricane season as I live outside of Florida, it’s been like 50-60 days now.

Is this normal?

A competitor yard is hounding me to switch to them but I’m afraid that this might be normal behavior since this isn’t a megayacht but it is a 47’ sailboat.

I’m newly retired from a hungry industry that if I could smell a sales opportunity I was all over it. But these folks seem to care less, not communicative or responsive. My money is no good?

Normal or this is weird?

Hi fellow sailor, I want to start to sail around the world within the next two years. I am an educated boatbuilder and I am thinking about building a small workshop in my boat in a cabinet to store material and Machines to have a floating workshop.

Is there a demand on anchorages around the world for gelcoat repairs and small fixes ? Or would it be better to rent out a cabine once in a while and try to find work in shipyards on my way ?

Hi does anyone know what this flag is for? I don't know what it means. No idea why its onboard! Lol

I’ve been invested in sailing -with -Phoenix for quite some time now. He was supposed to leave for his around the world Trip yesterday and yet I’ve read absolutely nothing on any platform of him departing. What in the heck is going on????

Hier mal mein 7 Jähriges Projekt :)

I have been fixing up a Coronado 23 (early 1970s). I am planning on sailing around Lake Ontario all this summer and am adding some things to make the boat a little more safe for a long trip (reefing ties, boom vang, step ladder, etc). I bought a “lot” of hardware on ebay which came with these two rail-mounted cam cleats with eyes in front of them

What are these for? Sorry if this is an obvious question, I am new to sailing.

I am 41yo US nurse who wants to travel the world in a sailboat. Unfortunately, I never ever had an opportunity to be on a sailboat or powerboat for that matter but lately, for last year, that’s all I think about. I envy watching YouTubers on sailboats doing crossings. I dream of that life minus being a YouTuber. Are there any nurses out there who followed their sailing passion? Ideally in a year or two I can cash out my retirement to find a boat but I need to be able to work remotely; I am also open to the idea of leaving nursing altogether for something that can let me work remotely. I don’t have much programming knowledge but if that is one avenue to find a remote job then I am not against the idea of learning that skill.
Anyone else, who left their line of work and chose a different path to be remote and currently enjoying sailing in open ocean?!