Want to overnight - but nervous

Sleeping is one of those things with me. After being an over the road truck driver, for a few years. As long as there is some sort of noise, I'm golden. When the power goes out, here at home, I'm up fast. Drives the wife crazy.

When we first got our boat, I slept on it for a few nights. Just me and my dog. Best nights of sleep we both have had. After the first night is when I went in search of the LED bulbs for the whole boat. A few it was easier to just replace the fixture with a newer style bulb. Some of the older ones are hard to find.

Sleeping on the boat, whether on the hook, in a slip or on the trailer in the driveway, it's always a better night of rest.
 
The primary reason for overnighting.

Everyone just left, I just got out of a hot shower and life is damn good.

See you in the morning.

20230705_205007.jpg
 
I don’t sleep good on the boat, up all night checking stuff. We had a raft up of 10 boats and a microburst hit us with 60mph winds middle of night.
All anchors broke lose, dinghies were blown down river. It was scary bad.
Dobbins Island on the Magothy for you locals.
I still anchor out but sleep good? No.
 
@Daniel Sullivan Easy way to safely test things is just unplug from shore power and spend the night in your slip once running everything you would at anchor. Besides the fridge and the anchor light and maybe a phone charging what else will be plugged in or turned on overnight to cause any major draw?
 
Advice here is great, especially the LED light conversion. It dramatically improved our battery life. I'll add a bit more from our experience:
  • Run your shore power battery charger a few days before you go so you're topped off.
  • Figure out some way of making or obtaining coffee if your wife is anything like mine.
  • It's great family time. Your kids are young; bring some favorite board games to play. Everything takes on a new sheen when you're camping on the boat. It's also a good time to introduce new things for them as well.
  • If you're a bit nervous about anchoring, use Dockwa app and book a mooring ball at a marina or yacht club. All the fun of anchoring out, none of the worry, plus there'll be a launch to take you to shore for coffee (see above) or maybe a swim in the club pool or a walk to a new town. Very cheap.
  • Get a pair of binoculars; the kids will love spotting wildlife, stargazing, checking out other boats.
  • Consider also a floating water toy like an inflatable dock. It's close quarters and after a day and a night you might be glad of the chance to put the kids on the float and have them at the far end of a 25' rope (in PFDs!)
We've been doing it since our kids were 7 and 5 which I guess is a bit older than yours. They absolutely love it and yours will too.
 
Pirate Lady said:
With judicious use of fridge, lights, stereo we used to anchor out 4 days on one deep cycle, one start battery with both kids.
Use ice coolers and canned goods for food. Keep lights off, just draws skeeters anyway.
People cross the ocean on a couple batts.
Water was always a bigger issue than batts. But a 8 gal blue jug and a zodiac keeps that supplied.
And a macerator. Sorry if not politically correct these days. But a full holding tank is the biggest emergency of all. If you dont have a macerator you are not prepared to spend a lot of time on the hook.
Click to expand...
Holding tank filters are an absolute game changer for anyone who enjoys boating. They offer numerous benefits that make life on the water much more enjoyable. I would like to introduce, Big Orange Filter a Canadian company that manufactures and sells reusable holding tank vent filters for boats. Our filters are designed to reduce odors and improve air quality on boats. Big Orange Filter is a popular choice among boat owners who are looking for an effective and environmentally friendly way to reduce odors from their holding tanks.
 
bigorangefilter said:
Holding tank filters are an absolute game changer for anyone who enjoys boating. They offer numerous benefits that make life on the water much more enjoyable. I would like to introduce, Big Orange Filter a Canadian company that manufactures and sells reusable holding tank vent filters for boats. Our filters are designed to reduce odors and improve air quality on boats. Big Orange Filter is a popular choice among boat owners who are looking for an effective and environmentally friendly way to reduce odors from their holding tanks.
Click to expand...
May I please speak to someone @bigorangefilter?
 
One think to do before overnighting is be sure amp meter shows what you think it should be (low draw). One of the first times we slept on the hook last year with new to me boat, the bidge light got switched on by accident and the LED indicator was burnt out so house battery was dead in morning. Actually I was woken up by CO2 alarm at 4am... took a little while to sort out what was going on, no genny running so WTF.
 
Still no sign of Dan?

Great night last night but chilly this morning.

The sun finally rose over the mountain and is starting to warm things up.

Rotten weather coming for Friday so we're heading in tonight. It's rough I tell ya.
 
Soulshine said:
Still no sign of Dan?

Great night last night but chilly this morning.

The sun finally rose over the mountain and is starting to warm things up.

Rotten weather coming for Friday so we're heading in tonight. It's rough I tell ya.
Click to expand...

Guess he didn't survive his night on the hook. :rolleyes:

Glad you had a nice time out. We love the anchor, so very relaxing with no time schedule.
 
Maybe.

Just had a surprise visit from Flyer5.

20230803_115548.jpg


Beautiful day here...80s, light SSE breeze and its a ghost town.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,182
Messages
1,428,060
Members
61,088
Latest member
SGT LAT
Back
Top