My first night voyage - some random observations

[jonnybuoy]

Been on holiday for 2 weeks & given the weather in the preceeding 2 months I really lucked out, it's been perfect & been out in the boat loads (as my Dad always said "better to be lucky than good"). Yesterday took some novice yachty friends to go watch some of the boats at Cowes week. Was a fantastic day, sea calm and wall-to-wall sunshine. Yarmouth, Newtown, Medina all the usual favourites. As the weather so good and so calm decided to stay and watch the fireworks at Cowes. Watched it last year from shore and looking at all the boats bobbing about thought how cool it would be to watch it from the water and so here I was. Fantastic display, best there is anwhere.

Anyhow to the voyage back to poole harbour which was my first night passage (this is my 3rd full boating season). Had studied the light combinations. Small boat (23ft), gps, dcs vhf, no radar. All quite uneventful but here my random observations and mental to-do list for self next time.

1. 15knots at night feels like 30knots by day. Consequently travel is slower (as I just didn't feel comfortable about going faster even in open calm sea) so voyage time longer.
2. Make sure you know how to turn down the brightness on the gps before setting off as daytime settings are dazzling at night.
3. You can't see anything in the water until you are on top of it (unless it's lit of course). Became a bit paranoid about running into an unlit buoy. I guess this is where radar really comes into its own. Need to make sure to update mygarmin card to make sure have all the buoyage in right positions.
4. Need two pairs of eyes at night, was glad to have someone else with me (ie wouldn't do it alone).
5. Getting used to the orientation of small boats from their lights was reasonable easy (although I am sure I would have not remembered the more complicated lighting arrangements). However it was impossible to judge speed of approach which can be unnerving.
6. Lights on the shore are no help in helping you know where you are unless there is a very obvious lit landmark (eg the balloon at Bournemouth) you are almost certainly not where you think you might be.
7. Was glad to have a properly planned route on the GPS.

Made me think about (or worry about) what would happen in the event of an electrical failure. Unless you had noted your position on gps would be very difficult to get a location fix (I tended to be reasonably zoomed in on the gps to see all the detail & just zooming out from time to time for perspective) so your last look at it might not necessarily give you a good fix.


So there you go. I am sure that there are lots of other things that I should have done or been aware of or planned better but was pleased to get that 1st one under my belt and it was a good experience. Would welcome any other tips from you experienced night time seafarers.

Would I do it again? Well only in similar very calm situations. Or if I had a radar..

Jon.

 

[RIN]

You certainly picked a couple of good weeks for your hols! Glad you got back ok from the night trip.

Did you use the inside route from North Head buoy to East Looe? There's an awful lot of lobster pots that way. How did you get on in Poole Harbour itself?
On our night exercise on the day skipper course the instructor switched off our GPS and we had to navigate by lights and our written pilotage notes. We've kept these for an emergency in case of failure of GPS.

Also he advised travelling at 6knots at night as visibility is so bad you can easily run into a floating object and get away with it whereas at planing speed it could do some real damage to the hull. Intersting hear from other forumites what speed they travel in the dark. As regards GPS failure, you can get battery operated hand held jobbies £75-£100. You can also use it if you go on walking holidays.

 

[tillergirl]

I think this an interesting post. You should think of writing it up and sending it to the MoBo mags as an article. I did a similar thing doing a sort of night sail practice and it was published in Sailing Today. Interestingly, we were sailing pretty much as fast as TG would go and we reefed down to slow her down for exactly the same reason as you. We found light pollution from our own nav lights hindered our night vision and also the background lights of the coast made things difficult. We took quite a while to identify a small coaster again the backdrop of the coast lights. Kind of important as it was on a course at right angles to us. Major advantage of a sailing yacht is that you are going relatively slowly and this gives you a significant advantage in having time to make light identifications and to plot positions on the chart (no chart plotter). Get away from the coast lights and it becomes significantly easier. We knew the passage well but like you were cautious about unmarked hazards, in our case lobster pots. This caused us to head much further out to sea than we would have done in daylight. Would I have been confident at 15 knots - I guess not.

 

[SnaxMuppet]

Very good post and interesting topic.

Last time I went out at night I bumped into an unlit buoy at about 3kts. Not a great deal of damage but costly as it requires a lift out to repair. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif That was in my home port, with 2 persons on board, in great weather. It was a combination of talking (i.e. not paying full attention) and thinking I knew exactly where we were which must have led to a bit of relaxation and, dare I say it - complacency /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

No harm was done but I learned a lot from that much of which crosses over into your post:

1) I won't go out at night now unless I have to. We will do the Fireworks Competition in Plymouth and if I need to stay out later than expected because of weather then that is OK too... but no deliberate night sorties anymore.

2) Only with 2 people and no idle chit-chat when around anything that could be a hazzard. You need to look out and concentrate to be sure of not hitting anything.

3) Don't assume charted obsticles are where they should be! Things move and tide/wind can move many things a considerable distance... i.e. mooring buoys can move perhaps as much as 50m on change of tide so give EVERYTHING a wide berth.

4) Ensure that things on decks (fenders etc) don't obscure your nav lights. Safety requires people to see you as much as you seeing them. Check that they work of course!!!!!

5) In all likelihood you will not see anything before you hit it and that includes lobster pots, so have a plan of what to do if the worst happens and consider discussing it with crew/passengers before going out (don't want to scare passengers but any crew should be briefed - I include SWMBO as crew /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif ).

6) At night everyone wears their lifejacket on our boat. Again, this is one for personal choice but I insist that LJs be worn at night, in bad or deteriorating weather and in low viz. I you don't have enough LJs to be worn by everyone on board at the same time then question whether you should be going out at all.

7) Question everything you see. It is easy to be led into a false sense of security because you think you understand the lights you have seen. Everything changes every second... look, assess, appraise and look again. It requires constant attention!

I have to say that I don't like being in a boat at night. Sometimes it is necessary to get where you are going and that is fair enough but I try to avoid it now. Also I don't run at planning speed. 5-10kts is my tops.

 

[dpb]

Some interesting points. We often come in at night after a day out, and we find that there is night and there is night.
On a good clear night with plenty of moon light and properly lit instruments and Nav lights in your own waters, vision can be as good as it needs to be to operate as normal.
But add in clouds rain and some wind and, hell, it can be a very slow trip home.
I think that as anyother time, it is a case of driving to suit the conditions.
One thing I do find usefull is using the near max zoom on my little gps 12 to check that I am following my previous tracks which are known safe routes.
We definately do not avoid the dark as some of our best trips have been at night

 

[Rich_S]

All excellent points! I wonder if they will ban idle chit chat while boating as this could have been very serious /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[blueglass]

interesting post -personally havent been out at night since training days. I would be paranoid about pot buoys. Having picked up unmarked ones in broad daylight I don't think you would stand a chance at night.

 

[oceanfroggie]

That's where shafts and rope cutters add a degree of safety. Good posts. If a regular local run a decent tracklog may help avoid common pot locations. I like to dim instruments, gps, radar etc as much as possible, in fact have almost zero light in the cockpit, and then eye's work much better. If somebody accidentally turns on a light (eg even a mobile phone), it blinds me for a few secs and restricts my vision for up to 5 mins while my pupils take time to readjust. A cardinal sin on our boat! Radar gives a great backup to GPS for night nav as major land features and buoys show up well, it's not just for collision avoidance. Agree also that a sensible speed helps a lot both in terms of comfort and enjoyment (ie de-stresses the passage). Keeping offshore helps avoid pots and light polution, but often unavoidable on approaches and departures. Personally I have always enjoyed night and late evening passages, but my favorite is early morning starting out in the dark and crusing into the dawn often enjoying a private sunrise while the world slumbers.

 

[GrowingLad]

A little tip if you want to save your night vision but need to put a light on for a few seconds, keep one of your eyes closed as you would in a wink, helps a lot.

Haggerstoner, interesting post, I'm a long way off even using my boat but it did cross my mind what it must be like at night.

 

[Richard10002]

I have a couple of headlamps with a red or white facility. I choose to have one on my head permanently during a watch. Also have a couple of red LED lamps for below. Considering some dual red/white fixed saloon lights aswell.

Ouzo report said it takes 15 minutes for night vision to return properly.

 

[emcm0025]

I also just done first night trip on Friday night, have to say what a difference to daytime boating found it so easy to lose track even doing 10 knots.

My adventure wasn’t without problems 3 miles to the marina the nav lights quit had to send someone up front to spot for lobster pots and any other objects, I second about turning down the GPS screen it lights you up but cant see past the helm.

But all in i'm glad that I done it more for the experience, given that we are getting slightly better weather now that I will want to stay out longer to makeup for being landlocked so long, that it maybe dark/night when getting back to port. Better to get some night time when its calm and flat just for reference so that when do get caught out at times you know what your to do list should be.


Ewan

 

[jonnybuoy]

Thank you all for you comments & tips.

RIN: Once I realised how difficult it was to see I decided to go the offshore route in order to avoid all the lobster pots. Had the weather been not as good we would have gone inshore but then again if the weather hadn't have ben so good we probably wouldn't have been doing it at all! Portable gps is a great idea hadn't thought of that -one to add to the SIBS shopping list. Poole harbour seemed one of the more difficult bits, maybe because I know it well and it looked so unfamiliar at night. Luckly my copilot spotted a buoy ahead of us which we avoided, I might have missed it if it hadjust been me looking.
Tillergirl: nice of you to suggest that but I'm not sure my prose skills are up to mag standard!
Arny - good points, we were all LJ'd. I wonder whether a searchlight would be helpful- they seem to be optional extras on most boats.
dpb: we had a clear night but it was a new moon so no moonlight, I guess that would have helped a lot.
Oceanfroggie: good point on tracklog I didn't think about that.

One other thing that did happen to us was as we were at the entrance to Poole harbour some idiot in a smaller boat than mine came hammering along & overtook us with no lights on. Then further up the inner channel he cut ahead of us at speed from port. Lunatic, I should have radio'd port control I guess but just didn't think about it at the time as I was so surprised that someone would do that.

 

[Richard10002]

If you are doing a strange passage I find it helps to do a written pilotage plan itemising all the things you will see, (details from chart), e.g. lights, buoys, leading lights, transits etc., and when you will see them e.g. white 3Fl10s approx 10miles brg. 285T, or similar. It may also help to draw your own sketch map with the objects highlighted.

It not only gives you something to refer to, it also means that everything is kind of in your mind, and you have a mental picture of the passage and what to expect.

At speed, a grid with brg and distance from a waypoint on a chart helps to pinpoint your position within a smallish box without having to make too much effort.

Draw the grid, set the waypoint on the GPS and a quick look at the GPS/Plotter will tell you where you are.

 

[Richard10002]

Sorry - a quick look at the GPS/Plotter and the grid will tell you where you are -

I guess with a plotter, you know, but it's not a bad double check and, again, having gone to the effort of deciding on the waypoint/s and drawing the grid, you have familiarised yourself with the passage.

 

[Mister_Smee]

I agree, I too watched the fireworks and headed back to Shamrock Quay as my first night passage.
Its amazing how long 10 seconds is when you are waiting for the Stb channel bouys to make them selves known again.
It was a great experience which as you say makes your speed seem so much faster.
I definately agree with making sure you can reduce the brightness on the GPS we were anchored for about an hour so powered down the non essentials but when you turn the gps on in the dark its very bright.
I would go out in the dark again through choice but hope not to find it quite so scarey next time.
I felt like the first day in charge of a boat /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif.

 

[damon]

I thought it was great fun, I'm keen to do it again!
We took a big maglite with fresh batteries and a spare set of batteries. I looked in Force4 earlier in the day for a 12v searchlight but they were out. The maglight was very handy for identifying the dozens of ribs that blasted past us at full chat.

I was looking for the Lymington starting platform but it wasn't marked on my Garmin bluechart very well, or I was looking in the wrong place.

I started out at 6kts but as confidence grew I moved just onto the plane at about 12-14 kts, just under the temporary speed limit, back to pottering speed where there were any unidentifiables.