DeckVaktGuides for offshore skippers
Everything we had to work out to build DeckVakt, written down properly. No listicles, no gear affiliate links — the arithmetic and the practice behind running watches on a passage. The app that follows from this is fully usable on the phones; the desk app is extra.
Watch systems
The five that work offshore
Swedish, four on four off with dog watches, 6-6-4-4-4, staggered pairs and custom — with watch lengths, minimum crew and night rotation for each.
14 min
Crew fatigue
Sleep debt on passage
Why fragmented rest costs more than short rest, how the debt compounds over ten days, and what fatigue looks like in a crew before anybody mentions it.
13 min
Standing orders
A call-me-if template
Thresholds for wind, visibility, traffic and boat speed, the things nobody may do alone, and how to brief them so a tired watch actually calls.
12 min
Hours of rest
MLC-style records
The 10 in 24 and 77 in 7 rules in plain terms, who has to keep records, what a record must show, and where sensible rotas quietly fail.
12 min
Passage planning
The checklist that matters
Weather windows, crew and watch planning, water and stores, the safety brief, documents, and the jobs nobody remembers until day three.
14 min
Man overboard
Roles, drill and the night version
How to allocate the five jobs by name, run a drill worth running, and what changes when the pointer cannot see.
12 min
Night sailing
Vision, lights and watchkeeping
Keeping night vision, setting the boat up before sunset, reading other vessels, and running the watch nobody enjoys.
11 min
The app, and the named systems
Product pages for people looking for a sailing watch app, and dedicated URLs for the systems skippers already search by name.
Features
Everything DeckVakt does
Every feature in one list — the rota, the board and the alarms, plus the sight planner, DR track, provisioning and briefing cards.
7 min
The app
Sailing watch app
Fair watch rota, offline alarms, standing orders, deck log. Crew join by QR and never pay.
12 min
The extra
Desk app
Optional. Phones already run the whole system. The desk is a wide screen plus fairness, rest hours and the other statistics.
6 min
Watch rota
Watch bill and watch schedule
How to build a yacht watch rota that shares the night hours and still protects sleep.
13 min
Swedish
Swedish watch system
Five watches, three pairs, and a pattern that moves so nobody owns the graveyard watch.
12 min
Four on four off
Dog watches, and why they exist
The delivery pattern, the dogs that rotate the nights, and why it fails MLC consolidation.
11 min
Two-handed
Two-handed watch system
Protect one dark sleep block each. The kit is the other watchkeeper.
11 min
Records
Hours of rest app
MLC and STCW rest records written from the rota you actually stood.
12 min
Compare
DeckVakt vs Watchkeeper
Fleet rest-hours compliance versus an offshore yacht watch rota.
11 min
Log
Electronic deck log
Handovers and a passage log PDF, written as the watches happen.
11 min
Atlantic
Atlantic crossing watch rota
ARC and tradewind crews: systems, clock changes, the first three nights.
12 min
Anchor
Anchor watch
A drift ring, an alarm, and an honest battery cost.
8 min
About
Who made DeckVakt
Built for our own boat, sailed on our own crossings, now opening to other skippers.
6 min
FAQ
Questions skippers ask
Crew size, signal, accounts, Swedish versus four on four, MLC, and when you can download.
8 min
Compare
Paper and Excel vs the app
A bulkhead sheet and a spreadsheet plan the rota. They do not stand the watch at 03:00.
10 min
Deliveries
For delivery skippers
Rota, MLC rest records and a handover pack for crews who did not choose each other.
11 min
In development
The app the guides came out of
DeckVakt builds a fair rota for your crew and runs it offshore — alarms, standing orders, deck log and rest-hours records, all without a signal.