I use the one you mention -- I think I've heard it called the Swedish watch schedule too -- but start two hours earlier than you do, e.g., 0600-1200, 1200-1800, 1800-2200, 2200-0200, 0200-0600. It can be difficult getting up for the 0200 watch sometimes, but one gets used to it. Don't remember how I got started with that particular set of times, but it seems to work.
It's an individual thing, obviously, but I greatly prefer this to the 4-on, 4-off system. The main benefits for me are just as you mention (rotating time slot, one chance each day to log a solid 5 hrs of rack time plus two shorter rests, some social contact). It also seems to work well that the person coming on watch at 0600 prepares a hot breakfast for both people unless it's too rough and nasty to eat much, the person going off watch cleans up. Likewise at 1800 -- the person coming on watch (who was the person going off watch at 0600 that morning) cooks up a hot meal to share, and the person heading for bed cleans up. Of course, everything goes pear-shaped when something extraordinary happens and both people are needed on duty to deal with it. (If I have crew at all it's typically just one other person.) In that case I think it's better that people catch up on sleep when possible and if a couple of successive meals are a bit catch-as-catch-can, oh well. Just my personal prefs; lots of other ways as well to skin the cat. Phil s/v Cynosure Bahia de Caraquez _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
