Sleep deprivation

[AZ Sailor]

This is a 'must read' for solo off shore sailors. And a 'must not read' for their loved ones.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2360811/mayday-fathers-disappearance-pirates

 

[Philpott]

Well, THAT was scary! He probably didn't have enough red vines.

 

[Foolish]

There has been so much written about sleep deprivation and hallucinations while singlehanding, that I can't believe that he was not aware of it before he set out. I remember well when I had my first experience that I thought to myself "wow, that must be one of those hallucinations that everybody talks about, cool!" So it could not have been unexpected for him.

 

[tboussie]

I personally had more hallucinations (primarily auditory, but a few visual) in the LongPac (3.5 days) than in the TransPac (14 days), despite similar levels of consistent sleep deprivation. I suspect that my LongPac experience was due to the stress and anxiety of being alone offshore for the first time. A large part of why this poor guy's story went so horribly sideways is that his first-time, multi-day, solo voyage was 20+ days! Even a couple of overnight sails in shit weather would have probably made a world of difference in preparing him for a 20-day solo trip. Thus the logic of the LongPac...

 

[Foolish]

tboussie, your comment doesn't surprise me at all. If you look at the study in my tips book, (chapter 8-B in the free version) you'll see that lack of sleep, nervousness, and all the associated things are most prevalent in the first 3-4 days of the SH Transpac. After this time, racers tend to climb out of the well and reach a steady state of just long term lethargy. Then it is a little later on that the emotional pain starts to set in. People ask why we do it? Then I ask why a marathon runner puts himself through physical pain, or why a boxer takes punches to the head. They are all just different versions of letting us know we are alive.