Hurricane
Well-Known Member
LOL, fuel burn rate? All I've got to monitor it are sight gauges in the e/r... And with 4 thousands liters, at 23 l/h average burn, you can easily guess how often I look at them!
Re. machinery instruments, well, I do turn the lights on, every 15' or so. Besides, I trust the alarms to work, if and when needed.
But actually I very rarely helm from upstairs at night, because I only do that when the visibility conditions are perfect (flat sea, clear moonlight). In those (rare) circumstances, the distinction between daylight and night is academic, because as I'm sure you know it's possible to spot anything at night as clearly as in daylight. Provided that no other lights are around, to protect the eyes night vision, as also Hurricane said.
Otoh, in pitch black nights, I loose the interest in staying upstair, even if it's warm enough, because you can't see better than from the main helm anyway. And if nothing else, downstair I'm nearer to food and wine...
Having had most of my previous experiences in UK coastal waters, I'd never have driven downstairs in the dark. In the UK you are always on the lookout for pots and markers etc. But now that we've done some Med miles, once we are a few miles off shore, its normally too deep for any pots anyway so I would consider moving downstairs. On the other hand, I would normally only be running at night in good conditions - and mainly because I like running at night. So I wouldnt have set off unless there were clear skies to enjoy the whole thing. I still find it really magical when the skies are clear and there's no light polution (you have to be about 40 miles off land to loose all the light polution). I once left the bimini up - that was a mistake - couldnt see the night sky.
