Watches

Watches onboard Franda II morphed as the two daughters aged. Initially, aged 13 & 11, the girls were released from night watches. Instead, they would take day watches; typically, at least another person would be "around". Night watches had been excused, probably for many reasons and none in particular. Two hours by oneself in the dark, the responsibility of realising something was about to go wrong, was a tall order for someone young and inexperienced. Everything was different at night; one could not see storms coming unless they contained lightning. One cannot see the waves or the sails if it is dark. Noises appear louder, waves are larger, and the imagination can take over. They had not yet tuned their "senses". Even taking night watches together didn't work.

Franda II had a large centre cockpit with a fixed Doghouse. A fantastic waterproof cover was attached to this, hanging from the boom crutch. It had zippered doors on either side to exit and enter the cockpit. These were normally left rolled up for ease of access, but in wet weather, they would be lowered and zipped in place. Covers for the winches made it almost 100% weatherproof. The crew could work the sail sheets from the dry comfort. However, if winching was needed to pull the sails in, that person was outside in the weather.

The crew worked the halyards from the mast. If a sail needed to be lowered or hoisted, at least two crew needed to go onto the foredeck—one for working the winch and the other one or two to handle the sail. Any crew needing to go onto the foredeck at night would wear and use a harness, but seldom in the daytime unless it was very rough.

Franda II had good lifelines to hook harnesses to, from the leading edge of the cockpit up to the mast. Crew members could also clip their harnesses to the guardrail. However, her movements were subdued due to Franda II's size and weight.

She also had a fantastic hydraulic autopilot that kept a compass course rather than a wind vane, which kept the yacht's heading the set degree from the wind. The autopilot worked off the spinning propeller shaft.

Both had their good and bad sides. For example, when using an autopilot, the crew needed to alter the heading so the sails would fill again if the wind changed onto the nose. On the other hand, if the wind changes in the other direction, sails would need to be adjusted quickly as the autopilot had to work harder if the yacht was not "balanced". Whereas a yacht alters course to stay the set degree from the wind with a wind vane and keeps sailing, you may sail on a different heading than intended if you are not watching. But at least the sails do not "flog" and flap.

On the port side, sheltered under the dog house roof, was the wooden steering wheel—just aft of that, a comfortable swivel seat. The seat was more than an arm's length from the wheel; this enabled you to stand between the chair and wheel to steer. To steer with hands, one had to either sit forward or stand.

The family discovered that by using a foot to steer, one could be very comfortable lounging in the chair.

Franda II's watches were very pleasant, warm and dry. The cockpit was utterly safe, so the crew did not wear harnesses. However, harnesses were worn by the deckhands if the weather was rough. There would always be at least one other person in the cockpit if a crewmember needed to be on deck at night. If a crew member went over the side without being tied to Franda II, they would unlikely be seen again, whether night or daytime.

On the hour, every hour, the crew on watch would fill in the log. The log was a hard-covered book that lived on the chart table down below. It had columns ruled vertically with the headings, Date, Time, Course, Speed, Position(after 1980) Comments. Any course change, regardless of time, would require an entry, as did every position Barbara worked out for Franda II. Post-1980, when Franda II purchased a radar and a Satellite Navigation System, the position would be read off the "sat nav" on the hour and written in the "log".

The going off watch would pass to the new watch important instructions and knowledge like :

• What compass course to steer,
• Wake a particular person when a specific odometer reading is reached,
• A lighthouse is expected at a time and bearing; its signature flash. Etc.

It was called "on Watch" because you are there to watch everything, all the time.

At night, you kept an eye out and senses open for:

• Your compass course, whether steering by hand or autopilot
• Are any lights expected or unexpectedly visible?.
• Change in weather; are the clouds covering stars; any lightning visible?
• Wind increasing, decreasing; change of direction?
• Seas are they increasing or decreasing?

During the day, you watch for:

• Vessel's compass course, whether steering by hand or autopilot
• Any vessel or land in sight
• Change in weather; any squalls on the horizon?
• Wind increasing, decreasing, change of direction?
• Seas are they increasing or decreasing?
• Oh, and fish on the trolling line

What do you do when you see or sense something at night?

If you can no longer steer the compass course because of a wind change, adjust your heading and note it in the log. You would wake another crew member if it was a significant wind direction change. You do this as the wind direction typically doesn't "just" change; there is always a reason. It could be a squall bearing down on you, so you need a hand to quickly adjust the heading and sails. Someone may need to go on deck to "sniff out" the weather. You cannot see what is out there, but your hearing and other senses, when tuned, can give a fair warning of what is coming. If it feels like a significant squall arriving, the crew is turned out of bed, and the headsail is dropped and replaced by a smaller one. Then, when settled, the new course would be entered in the log, with the reason for the change, in the comments section.

An expected light was probably a lighthouse. With the binoculars, try to establish its signature flash. How many flashes are there, and how many seconds are there between the groups? i.e. 1 Flash every 15 seconds or Group Flash 3 every 10 seconds. You double-check the signature flash you saw and count, at least three times, with what should be on the chart. You do not rely on what was handed to you at the onset of your watch. If it was the light expected, at the correct or near bearing, you entered it in the log and continued with your instructions; watch as you sail past, wake the navigator, or change course.

An unexpected light should not be a lighthouse. If it was, wake everyone quickly, as you are way off course. Otherwise, it is probably a vessel. With the binoculars try to identify the lights' colour. You may have to wait until you get closer. Ships at night use uniquely coloured and positioned lights—these relay information about themselves and their heading. Franda II showed a Port(red) light in the bow that could be seen from straight-ahead, around 112.5 degrees to abaft the port(left) beam. A Starboard(Green) light in the bow is visible from dead ahead to 112.5 degrees abaft the Starboard(right) beam. A stern white light is visible from directly astern to 67.5 degrees on either side of the centre. Vessels under engine power also show an all-around white light on the masthead. These are standard lights that should be on between sunrise and sunset. Vessels will show extra lights when towing, fishing, or having difficulty manoeuvring. Best to stay clear.

Using this knowledge, you can determine which direction they are heading. For example, if you saw both Red and Green lights, they would be heading directly towards you; time for action! If you saw the red light, they would pass from your right to left; if the Green, they passed from your left to right as you looked at them. They could be coming up from your stern or coming from ahead and will most likely pass you by. You must closely watch them, especially those at right angles, to Franda II. You do not want them crossing too close to your bow or stern. Once they have passed, you will start to see their stern(white) light. Then only the vessells all-round white light. They will be well clear. Sighting a ship is rare unless you are near a shipping lane. You are more likely to see deep-sea fish boats, Of which sometimes you can see ten or more, all fishing together. Best to go around them.

If you notice a change in weather, monitor it closely and look for more signs of what is brewing. If concerned, wake another crew member. If the wind continually drops or rises slowly, you might need to wake another crew member for sail changes.

If the waves slowly built, there was a chance that some storm was happening or had happened, a long way away and was of no immediate concern; maybe in a day or so—just an indication of what was coming.

There was a good chance that you didn't have to wake a crew member; often, someone would notice the change in motion of the yacht and come on deck to investigate.

What do you do when you see or sense something in the daytime?

Much of it is the same as nighttime. You keep the compass course as passed on to you. Keep watch for land or vessels. Seeing Squalls on the horizon is important for two reasons. First, you may need to alert the crew for sail changes, etc., and for the chance to collect fresh water and to have a quick shower on deck. The fishing line was put out on the daybreak watch and taken in at dusk. If one noticed a fish dragging behind, often bouncing along the surface, "fish" was yelled urgently. If travelling at more than 4 knots, someone would disengage the auto pilot's clutch, and Franda II's heading would be brought slowly up towards the wind, lowering her speed and making it easier to haul the fish in.

By the time Franda II left Darwin, Australia, towards the end of 1977, the girls aged 15 & nearly 13 were experienced and mature enough to take a night shift. With Franda II's crew of six, a two-hour watch each saw the night through. The night watch started at 2000 hrs, finishing at 0800. During the day, it was very fluid, with no set watch. After being up for only 2 hours, in 12 hours, no one was tired. Sleep was not "needed" during the day. The crew just ensured there was someone on deck if they went below.