She slept. She must have slept; a person cannot function for 41 days without sleep, and the specific kind of cognitive function she needed for navigation required rest. How she managed the sleep-at-sea problem on a solo vessel in her specific circumstances is not fully detailed in the sources consulted, but the fact that she arrived in Hilo with her navigation intact suggests that she found a workable approach.
The cumulative effect of sleep deprivation on decision-making and mood regulation is well-documented. At the levels of deprivation that solo ocean sailors experience — interrupted sleep, reduced total sleep time, the physiological arousal of being alone in a potentially dangerous environment — the psychological effects compound with grief, dehydration, and physical exhaustion to create a state of consciousness that is significantly different from normal. The fact that she describes lucid clarity about her choice at the moment of the suicide attempt, and a clear voice that stopped her, may reflect the specific character of consciousness in that extreme state rather than any reduced capacity for perception or decision.
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## The Specific Days of October
The passage from September 22 to the moment of the capsize on October 12 was 20 days of sailing. During these days, the Hazana was making normal passage progress toward San Diego, albeit with the growing awareness that Hurricane Raymond was developing somewhere behind and to the southeast.
The first week of the passage was likely uneventful by offshore sailing standards: working the trades, making good time, adjusting course for the weather windows, managing the vessel and the routine of passage life. Ashcraft and Sharp would have stood watches, cooked meals, made navigation observations, monitored weather broadcasts, read (the Hazana’s stores would have included books), talked, slept.