Usable daylight after sunset ??

[pcatterall]

Still armchair planning!!
Our first leg down the UK coast is a long one and none of crew want to be searching for moorings or dropping the hook in the dark.
Sunset in early April is around 1930, how much reasonable working daylight might we expect after this, my guess ( from rapidly fading memory ) is around 40 minutes, any advance on this? And what about this 'false dawn' malarky? a similar period ?
I appreciate that weather conditions will play a part.
Can anyone shed light on this?

 

[boomerangben]

We pilots consider night to start 30mins after sunset and end 30 mins before sunrise. That's pretty close what's usable although it does depend a bit on the weather, latitude and thereby time of year

 

[Seajet]

Top Tip, it's usually easy to set off in the dark, not so good to arrive ( if short on actual daylight hours ).

It's also much better for morale to set off knowing it will get light, and of course dawn at sea is usually a bit special.

 

[LittleSister]

Don't forget the moon! On a new moon, it will be very dark at night, and be difficult to see buoys, etc., soon after sunset. By contrast, even when it's cloudy a full moon will provide a really significant amount of light all night. For week or so before the full moon you'll have extra light in the evening, whereas after the full moon it'll give you extra light in the morning before dawn.

So if you're looking to extend your working light days at the evening end pick the week or so running up to the full moon (if everything else is equal).