Rest Up
I like driving. If the time from door to door is within a few hours, the car always wins over an airplane. Factoring time at the airport and a layover in Atlanta, a trip from my home in Norfolk to my mother’s on Florida’s east coast takes nine hours. I’d rather drive it in eleven and have my car.
What I can’t do while driving that I can on a plane is take a nap.
According to a 1997 study published in Nature, 22 hours of wakefulness has the same effects on performance as a blood alcohol concentration of .085 -- around three stiff drinks. And though no one has ever been charged with Boating While Exhausted, exhaustion has been a leading cause of boating accidents as long as there have been boats.
Here are a few simple ideas from experienced mariners that will help you stay alert on long or late night trips on the water.
“Half the crew – head down – half the time,” is a good rule I heard from Lin and Larry Pardey, a long-distance cruising couple from New Zealand. Lin says it’s important to truly rest and not just be off the helm on longer trips. The couple contends that often, when bad weather strikes, it is exhaustion, not the condition of the boat or the seas, that ultimately make people call for help.
“Stay off the helm when things are easy,” is great advice from our own Captain Vince Daniello. Vince says the guy or gal in charge should take every opportunity to stay off the helm and rest up when the cruising is easy, out on the open water and away from other boats and tricky navigational areas. That way, the most skilled driver is available and well rested when things get trick -- or worse.
“Heading out early? Hit the rack early.” That one is all mine. Even on short day trips, fatigue can play a part in mishaps before getting out of the marina. Early morning starts for fishing trips or morning excursions are fine, but if your plans include getting up earlier than you are used to, get to bed earlier than you are used to as well. 4:00 AM is a funny time no matter how much sleep you’ve had; reaction time slows, focus narrows and attention spans decrease. It’s definitely no time to motor through the marina on five hours of sleep. With apologies to Ben, when you are early to rise then be early to bed.
You may not have thought of it in this way before, but your pillow is a vital piece of safety equipment. But like all safety gear, you need to use it properly and at the right times for it to be effective.
