Race 7 - Day 13
Crew Diary - Whitsundays to Da Nang, Vietnam
01 February

RAFF'S WAKE UP GUIDE V1.0

The purpose of this document is to act as a guide to waking sleeping crew members.

KNOW YOUR SLEEPER

It is important to understand the person you are about to wake for example are they a deep sleeper, light sleeper, do they wear earplugs and so on.

There is a category of sleeper who you can get a reaction from, you may think they are awake when actually they are still mostly sleep I will call this type of waking "fake awake"

THE DEEP SLEEPER

There are a couple of things that should be clarified with the individual before waking can commence, do they mind physical contact (this also applies to the earplug wearer) if they don't mind, check where physical contact is permitted i.e. foot, shoulder, hand etc.

THE LIGHT SLEEPER

This type of sleeper should cause no issues to the rouser or the wake up person if you will, as the name suggests it will be easy to wake this individual with just the whisper technique.

THE EARPLUG WEARER

Re. Deep sleeper

THE FAKE WAKE

The best way to deal with this type is to engage with them i.e. ask them questions about where they are, who you are, what day it is and things of that nature, this will normally work, if not then you may have to move onto more physical methods like the shoulder shake, this can feel odd if the sleeper has their eyes open, but be aware persistence is the key.

THE JUMPER/ GASPER

It may seem like this individual is going to jump out off bed with fright when you wake them, gasping for air as if coming to the surface after a free dive. The best technique I have found is the whisper, but be warned stand back!

WAKING TECHNIQUES

THE WHISPER

Using a hushed voice repeat these words "wake up (insert name of sleeper here)its time to wake up (insert sleepers name here) ". Repeat until sleeper awakes. This should be used in conjunction. with all the following techniques .

THE BED SHAKE

Using one hand press firmly against the individuals mattress and jerk backwards and forwards.

THE TOUCH

This should be pre agreed with the sleeper before hand, place one hand on the agreed part of the sleepers body and as always use the whisper.

THE SHOULDER SHAKE/PROD

This should only be used in extreme cases, place one hand on the sleepers shoulder and shake backwards and forwards ,if this has no affect then the PROD is your only answer , using the forefinger and index finger of your hand poke the sleeper in the shoulder at a frequency of 1 Hz, increase pressure on the shoulder and volume of whisper until the sleeper is awake. This is very good for waking the earplug wearer or the very deep sleeper.

THIS IS ONLY A GUIDE OTHER TECHNIQUES ARE AVAILABLE.

THE TECNIQUES LISTED ABOVE MAY NOT WORK ON OTHER SLEEPER TYPES.

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY WATCH WAKING!

Love IchorCoal,

By John Rafferty