# tips on sleeping on boat



## smallboatlover (May 11, 2011)

I was wondering about some tips i am make my boat so i can sleep on overnight. just one thing it's 16' sailboat. i made board that come out so i can sleep on. and then a boom tent. any tips what to have on the boat for a over nighting adventure? how to make sure the anchor won't drag? any thing don't play on doing this till next spring but would like advice in what to do and add to the boat.


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

Huck, 

Dave said to just turn out the light and go to sleep, but you'll need 15 anchors.


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## ArcherBowman (Jul 1, 2009)

Huck - if you can figure out how to keep your anchor from dragging, let us know. Worry over a dragging anchor is what keeps all skippers from sleeping soundly. From the smallest sailing dingy, to the biggest super-freighter, the question of "will the anchor hold" is always open to consideration.

The first step to anchoring securely is to have enough rope. The idea is that your anchor line should lie flat on the bottom, so that when wind, tide, and current pull on your boat,the anchor is pulled along the bottom, instead of "up". This makes the flukes dig in more, rather than come loose. 

The second step is to have the right anchor for bottom conditions. Like you, my boat is a dingy with delusions of grandeur: a West Wight Potter - 19. I use a 10 pound danforth with ten feet of chain rode (again, to help keep the line on the bottom) and two hundred feet of rope. I try to let out 7 times the depth of the water in scope. (So if the water on my inland lake is 10 feet deep, I let out 70' of anchor line.) Sadly, I never have remotely that much swing room in the inlets where I have to anchor on these crowded lakes. So I have to make do with between 3 and 5 times the depth, depending on the available swing room. 

I set my anchor via a simple process. I go forward and drop the scope I can get away with. Then I go aft and start my outboard at a slow speed. I gently back up until I quit moving. Then I goose the throttle for a second to set the flukes, and call it done.

After that, I prepare dinner, read a book, and otherwise occupy myself watching the shore to make sure that I'm not dragging.


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## ArcherBowman (Jul 1, 2009)

Now - as to what else you need. Those of us who camp on tiny boats are doing just that: camping. Take what you would for a camping trip on land. Make sure you have multiple layers of blankets in cold weather, and remember that at night the temperature on the water is significantly cooler than on land. 

Insect repellant. In the South I need this at anchor far more than I would like, although if you can manage to anchor out far enough from shore and not get run over by a drunken power plow, you can avoid the worst of the critters.

Dinner should be simple. For short trips I do sandwiches, chunky soup over rice, or other one-pan meals. Look for alternatives that don't have to be refrigerated. It really simplifies your logistics to not have to worry about your ice melting.


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## zz4gta (Aug 15, 2007)

Ear plugs. Hull slap can ruine a good nights sleep. 
Ventillation.
Good foam to sleep on.


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## tempest (Feb 12, 2007)

One of the thoughts that came up on your anchoring thread was why not just beach the boat and camp on shore?.. I forget if you answered that. Other than that, it's camping but just on the boat as others have said.


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## captflood (Jan 1, 2011)

GREETINGS EARTHLINGS , Inflatable matress pillow a good sleeping bag and a good brekfast a braord necked plastic botle for the night call and a bucket with air tight lid for solids old paint buckets are the best for this, dispose of on land . hand held transister radio for weather forecasts plenty of fluids and high energy foods oats or oatmeal biscits (slow release of energy) remembember the seven P's rule Planning Preperation Practice Prevents Piss Poor Performance Go Safe and Enjoy


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Do you have an iphone, Ipad, or droid, etc? An anchor watch app is serious comfort while sleeping. The device needs gps capability, which needs to be added to some.

For Ipad, I highly recommend Anchor Watch.


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## CapnSantiago (Jul 17, 2007)

ALCOHOL...sleep like a baby and worry about it in the morning


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## CorvetteGuy (Jun 4, 2011)

For sure a nice bottle of rum,, try it with a coke its sweet


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

Huck is 15.


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## smallboatlover (May 11, 2011)

no i think a bottle of rum might help lol


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## neverknow (Feb 2, 2011)

SVAuspicious said:


> Huck is 15.


Ok than a pretty girl... Just a friend.. Really


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## ArcherBowman (Jul 1, 2009)

Boat's too small. "Girls won't lie down in boats they can't stand up in."


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## sawingknots (Feb 24, 2005)

we're all going to die"die today die tomorrow same die" its foolish to spend your life worrying about it


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## neverknow (Feb 2, 2011)

ArcherBowman said:


> Boat's too small. "Girls won't lie down in boats they can't stand up in."


She can stand anchor watch, while the Captain sleeps.


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## MarkSF (Feb 21, 2011)

smallboatlover said:


> I was wondering about some tips i am make my boat so i can sleep on overnight. just one thing it's 16' sailboat. i made board that come out so i can sleep on. and then a boom tent. any tips what to have on the boat for a over nighting adventure? how to make sure the anchor won't drag? any thing don't play on doing this till next spring but would like advice in what to do and add to the boat.


You should consider reading "the biggest boat I could afford" wherein a guy cruises up the east coast from Florida along the intracoastal in a 16ft Wayfarer. If it's a light centreboard boat you can simply beach it for overnight sleeping and then have no worries about dragging anchor. He also found lots of sheltered little coves where you could only get a very shallow-draft boat in and then tie the bow up to a tree or tree stump or whatever, drop anchor from the stern.

He seemed to be plagued by problems with the boom tent leaking. I would suggest testing your's for water-tightness, at home. Hose it down and check inside for leaks.


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## ArcherBowman (Jul 1, 2009)

This is certainly a way to go. Where I sail, camping on the beach in the summer gets you eaten by skeeters and no-see-ums. That's why I don't beach the Potter. In the winter there always seems to be an icy breeze coming from the ONE direction there's a gap in your tent. I do best at anchor in small coves.

But there's places that don't raise skeeters like the do down her in the southlands. Beaching might be a good option.



MarkSF said:


> You should consider reading "the biggest boat I could afford" wherein a guy cruises up the east coast from Florida along the intracoastal in a 16ft Wayfarer. If it's a light centreboard boat you can simply beach it for overnight sleeping and then have no worries about dragging anchor. He also found lots of sheltered little coves where you could only get a very shallow-draft boat in and then tie the bow up to a tree or tree stump or whatever, drop anchor from the stern.
> 
> He seemed to be plagued by problems with the boom tent leaking. I would suggest testing your's for water-tightness, at home. Hose it down and check inside for leaks.


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## grindz145 (Oct 7, 2011)

It's great to hear about some more adventurous cruisers  I just picked up a Hunter 23 that I want to do some cruising on. I like the simplicity of the boat as compared with my big Irwin. I was told that it was enough boat to cruise in. Considering I've done many trips weeks on end on a motorcycle, living out of a topcase and a tent, I can't say I'm worried. Compared to a 16 the 23 is a mega-yacht :laugher


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## vega1860 (Dec 18, 2006)

Ground tackle should be big and heavy enough that folks in the marina laugh at you.


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## smallboatlover (May 11, 2011)

they will be already laughin when i pull up in my boat and drop anchor and they see me setting up my bed and then they see that i stayed the hole night lol maybe they will offer me hot coffee


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## tdw (Oct 2, 2006)

smallboatlover said:


> they will be already laughin when i pull up in my boat and drop anchor and they see me setting up my bed and then they see that i stayed the hole night lol maybe they will offer me hot coffee


Mate, I'd offer you full breakfast to go with the coffee ..

I remember as a young bloke going off in a canoe, pulling up late in the day to make camp and if it rained simply pulling the canoe over the top of me. My all time favourite memory from that time.

Great times to be had by you and its something you are unlikely to do as you get a bit older. Enjoy.

ps - I always took a second groundsheet when I went camping. I figure sleeping in the cockpit you are bound to get a bit of moisture if only dew. Damp is no fun.


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## carl762 (Jan 11, 2010)

Camping on the boat is awesome. My 23 footer has a swingstove and BBQ. I'm down sleeping on my boat 3-4 days a week, even now. I bring my 3G Kindle, my netbook and a 16 gig stick drive with music and movies, and reading materials. 

Relaxes the heck out of me, melts the stress of the day right away. The only thing that'll stop me this Winter, maybe, is snow. 

Have fun.


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## ArcherBowman (Jul 1, 2009)

Hmmmm . . . I've sailed in the snow, but I've never camped in it.



carl762 said:


> Camping on the boat is awesome. My 23 footer has a swingstove and BBQ. I'm down sleeping on my boat 3-4 days a week, even now. I bring my 3G Kindle, my netbook and a 16 gig stick drive with music and movies, and reading materials.
> 
> Relaxes the heck out of me, melts the stress of the day right away. The only thing that'll stop me this Winter, maybe, is snow.
> 
> Have fun.


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## JedNeck (Sep 22, 2011)

Wish I had started sailing at your age. 
I used to camp in the bed of my truck under a tarp to keep the dew off. You are deffinatly one up on me!
Let us know how it goes.


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