Watchkeeping, and the science of sleep

  • 13 Nov 2012 10:28
    Reply # 1136172 on 1116981
    Deleted user
    Tut Tut, did I really detect a touch of sarcasm there Annie?? ;o)
  • 13 Nov 2012 07:18
    Reply # 1136140 on 1136111
    Deleted user
    Annie Hill wrote:Oh, great!  Cool, awesome, wonderful!  And only $250!

    What's a PV?
    PV (photovoltaic), Monocrystalline, polycrystaline are different types of solar panels. Theoretically one type (mono) may be more efficient than the others but conventional wisdom is it really comes down to which manufacturer.

    Over here Whitworths are selling 20W panels for $50ea. THough don't know if that helps you much in NZ.

    But I like what the Atom voyages guy advocates. That is have a rotating mount for the panels and manually move them a couple times a day following the sun. That way you can increase AH's without extra panels.
    Last modified: 13 Nov 2012 07:23 | Deleted user
  • 13 Nov 2012 06:05
    Reply # 1136111 on 1116981
    Oh, great!  Cool, awesome, wonderful!  And only $250!

    What's a PV?
    Last modified: 13 Nov 2012 06:06 | Anonymous member
  • 12 Nov 2012 04:29
    Reply # 1135079 on 1134403
    Annie Hill wrote:Neither 4 watts, nor 0.7 amp sounds like a lot, but over 24 hours, 7 days a week it adds up.  My house battery is 80 amp hour.  I have a 25w solar panel and am thinking of adding another.  My alternator puts out (I believe) about 10 amps.  Yes, I could upgrade it all, although there is really nowhere I can put a larger battery.  But a decent solar panel is expensive: so is a new alternator; so is the AIS in the first place.  I suppose I could fit one and only use it when I want to put my head down.  But it's still an awful lot of money to avoid an unlikely occurrence and it would mean that I couldn't do other things - like write on my computer - because of conserving my electricity in case of overcast conditions.

    Annie you can get brand new 90 watt PVs for about $AU250. Most likely Chinese but a lot of them a pretty good.
  • 12 Nov 2012 01:18
    Reply # 1134969 on 1116981
    Deleted user
    This isnt sailing related but since polyphasic sleep is being refered to above. 

    I worked in Taiwan for about 8 years and the custom there is to sleep at lunch time for about 15-20 min. Office workers keep a small pillow for the head down on the desk slumber and on building sites and in factories, you can see pieces of cardboard stored at various places, workers pull them out and lay on them for their snooze. It is quite a universal practice and when foreign customers show up they think it's hilarious seeing the whole building asleep. But I took up the practice too. Put your head down for 15 min after eating lunch means no more drowsiness feeling at 3pm. It is brilliant, I try to practice it today, which I can since my office is at home. No chance to do it in a regular office in Australia, you'd be laughed at.

    But there are several practices that only get noticed in the west if there is first a scientific "discovery" for something which is already known about and taken for granted in the East, and polyphasic sleep is one of them.
    Last modified: 12 Nov 2012 01:27 | Deleted user
  • 11 Nov 2012 21:16
    Reply # 1134870 on 1116981
    Deleted user

    http://www.sleepwarrior.com/why-we-nap-claudio-stampi-pdf

    Just Bing'd this.  Would love to be a sleep warrior!

  • 11 Nov 2012 20:42
    Reply # 1134857 on 1116981

    Claudio Stampi has done a lot of reasearch re. sleep and sailing.  For many years he worked with the Vendee Globe skippers and particularly Ellen McArthur to try and understand the particular effects on sailors.  I'm sure he wrote a pdf on the subject..... might be worth a google...

    Peter S

  • 11 Nov 2012 20:30
    Reply # 1134850 on 1134456
    Gary King wrote:Do you need one around NZ, Annie?
    I wouldnt bother if I just stayed around here, I have two eyes..

    No, of course not.  And I'm not sure I would feel the need for one sailing to the Islands, either.  They come into their own in places like the N Atlantic - full of shipping, or where you get a lot of fog.  In the past, I have found that generally ships do keep to shipping lanes, even though they are apparently often routed round bad weather systems.

    But hey - I may be a has-been in the ocean voyaging sense, but I like to think I might one day take Fantail across an ocean.
  • 11 Nov 2012 00:49
    Reply # 1134456 on 1116981
    Deleted user
    Do you need one around NZ, Annie?
    I wouldnt bother if I just stayed around here, I have two eyes..
  • 10 Nov 2012 22:18
    Reply # 1134403 on 1116981
    Neither 4 watts, nor 0.7 amp sounds like a lot, but over 24 hours, 7 days a week it adds up.  My house battery is 80 amp hour.  I have a 25w solar panel and am thinking of adding another.  My alternator puts out (I believe) about 10 amps.  Yes, I could upgrade it all, although there is really nowhere I can put a larger battery.  But a decent solar panel is expensive: so is a new alternator; so is the AIS in the first place.  I suppose I could fit one and only use it when I want to put my head down.  But it's still an awful lot of money to avoid an unlikely occurrence and it would mean that I couldn't do other things - like write on my computer - because of conserving my electricity in case of overcast conditions.
       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
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