Hello everyone,
Today is the weekend, slush mat, fresh pastries, outings …
Not really when you’re at sea alone!! The days go by and look alike… I will take up the list of specific points at the Solo Nav that I started a few days ago…
Yet the weekend had started well: last night I was not alone on the water, there was a whole host of pelagic trawlers looking for tuna schools on the slope of the continental shelf!
I talked for a few moments with Bara Breizh, one of these trawlers from Les Sables d’Olonne, always nice to talk to someone who isn’t hundreds of miles away, I could see the fires of his boat!
Loneliness
We come to what I really miss when I’m alone: no, it’s not the Sodexo canteen (thank you Myriam for making me think about it!), was it good and more varied than my rudimentary cuisine 😉
These are of course the real human contact, starting by being able to take my children in the arms 🥰
Just as much, I greatly appreciate the little miracle allowed by the New Space: the Starlink system that we installed in a few moments, ‘we branch, it works’, is incredible and allows me to be connected to the internet almost like at home, to do video with my children, to talk with my Friends and my parents, to write on this blog with disconcerting ease…
I remember the first Vendée Globe, where we vaguely heard the skippers talk to us about the end of the world, and who had very little means to communicate with their loved ones for months…
The feeling of loneliness has therefore evolved but I reassure you, it has still not disappeared!! Already, I am aware that this whole system is not infallible, and that I can easily find myself cut off from the world.
And then when I look around me and I only see endless blue, 360° around, I can tell you that the feeling of loneliness can quickly fall on you and hug you.
Quickly a great inspiration! That’s happened!
the day before
There too, there was a real revolution in the way of navigating in general, but even more solitary. This revolution is the AIS (Automatic Identification System). The principle is simple: (almost) all the boats that go a little further than the horizon are equipped with a system that continuously transmits by radio their position, heading, speed, as well as their general identity and characteristics. For pleasure boats it is still optional, but for all commercial or fishing boats it is an obligation. And all are also equipped with receivers, which therefore receive the positions / heading / speed and display them in a simple way:
In short, this device is a little marvel, and as much the first years of its introduction, a significant part of the ships was not yet equipped, as much today it is really systematic and reliable.
And for the lone browser it’s really a revolution that allows you to change the way anti-collision watching. Previously, it was essential to do an overview of the visual horizon every 20 minutes, this time corresponding approximately to the time it would take for a freighter at 20 knots to go from ‘behind the horizon’ so invisible to the naked eye, ‘about enough to be possibly at risk of collision. My first solo sailing, so I had an alarm clock set for 20 minutes… We open one eye, we take an overview and try to go back to sleep for 20 more minutes…
Which brings me to the topic that often asks:
The sleep
With stress management and diet, this is one of the key factors in navigation – solo in particular.
For my part, I believe that I am now both very tired, but also managed to manage my sleep not so badly, and arrived at a level of balance where I am still very lucid, which is the most important. I haven’t drank coffee at all from the start, and drinks tea but more out of taste and for hydration than to keep myself awake.
I sleep quite often in 1h / 1h30 increments, rather at night than during the day (I often take a little nap in the morning and/or afternoon), so much more restful sleep than if I was sleeping in slices of 20-30 min. I still often get woken up before the end of the slot provided for by the AIS alarm or the autopilot which signals a change in the wind sometimes requiring a maneuver.
And you’re not bored?
My daughter Clémentine asked me the question yesterday – very rightly!
Let’s say that between sleep, maneuvers, boat maintenance, meals, sleep, navigation, maneuvers, writing of this blog and videos on WhatsApp etc. The days finally pass quite quickly!!
but I will still be happy to put the boat at the quay in a few days!!
See you soon for more