Night Boating

water rat

water rat

New Member
Jul 9, 2007
424
Tampa
So, I'm not a night boater. Never have been. However, every once in a while, I do get the urge to go out for a sunset cruise or want to anchor the boat, watch the fireworks on July 4th and then come back. But... I'm a chicken. I'll admit it.

For you who are night boaters - how did you get started and what do you recommend? We have a gps, charts, etc. We are safety nuts!

Thanks!
 
There is a whole thread on this at the beginning of the season. I can't remember what it was called but there is a ton of info in there.
 
Night boating is not a big deal if you do it where you do a lot of day time boating. Local knowlege is very important. Get to know your cruising ground and slow down at night. Get to know depths and headings to key waypoints. Lights on shore give you a different look that can make a location that you know during the day seem unfamiliar at night. Try not to rely on plotters and other electronic aids. Use them after you've figured out how to navigate with a compass and depth sounder. Make sure all your running lights are working too. Get used to night navigation at times when traffic is light. The 4th of July is not a good time to learn this stuff.
 
Trust me, I'd never make the 4th of July my first time to try it!

Thanks for the info. I guess I just have to get up the guts to do it...
 
funny you shuold say that you would never make the 4th you first night out. cause it was my first time. I went down to the St Pete pier for the 4th back in '05 as my first outing. grant it I had the track maked on my GPS and went out early to get a good spot (around 4 PM for the 9 PM show).

On the bay night boating is not bad at all and as long as it's not a holiday like the fourth you don't have to much to worry about as most idiots head in long before the sun goes down.

I would recommed going out by day and tracking your course the first time out to your destination. take a good +1,000,000 candel watt flood ( I have a cheap hand held that normally gets replaced every 2 - 3 years) and back up batteries for you GPS along with a VHF if things go wrong. on a 240SD I would recommend a fix mounted VHF with a good 8' to 9' antenna to give you some distance.

other than that take it slow until you get used to the water you boat in at night. things look very different at night on the bay and it's a big enough body of water that you can usually tell when their is an unlight maker or the one off dumb a$$ fishing from a jon boat with no lights.

but don't get me wrong as much as I like being on the water in the day there is nothing like being out their at night. it's absolutly beutiful....
 
I was the biggest wuss when it came to night boating. now i'm just a little wussy, more metro I guess. Read the thread that was linked, follow it, then go for it. I took it in steps, pulling in at sunset, pulling in with a little light in the sky, pulling in dark, cruising dark. After awhile you get used to seeing nothing, well kind of.
 
One of my first night boating adventures was on a local lake in a 19' ski boat about 18 years ago. My wife and I were idling along at a couple of knots in the moon light when I saw a couple of ducks get up and run away from our path. I tried to stop, but we coasted up onto a mud bar in the middle of the lake. It was easy to back out, but I learned a big lesson.

If ducks are walking/running out of your way, you are too shallow.
 
Hampton said:
One of my first night boating adventures was on a local lake in a 19' ski boat about 18 years ago. My wife and I were idling along at a couple of knots in the moon light when I saw a couple of ducks get up and run away from our path. I tried to stop, but we coasted up onto a mud bar in the middle of the lake. It was easy to back out, but I learned a big lesson.

If ducks are walking/running out of your way, you are too shallow.
Click to expand...

You know what they say, if it walks like a duck... your stuck
 
I will throw my 2c in. I travel a lot at night, usually from Long Island NY to CT. I do not have radar but 2 gps's. I can offer this for your first time - check the moonrise time and cycle. Go out when the moon is close to full and and rises prior to sunset. It is a great sight to cruise (slower than normal) at night with the moon lighting the way. It requires full attention so when people talk to me I do not take my eyes off the water. I have hit a lobster pot stake once, but it bounces right off the rub rail. It can be a little nerve racking when there is no moon and it is really dark, but normally it is quite nice. BTW the water is usually calmer at night also....
Mark
 
water rat said:
So, I'm not a night boater. Never have been. However, every once in a while, I do get the urge to go out for a sunset cruise or want to anchor the boat, watch the fireworks on July 4th and then come back. But... I'm a chicken. I'll admit it.

For you who are night boaters - how did you get started and what do you recommend? We have a gps, charts, etc. We are safety nuts!

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hey water rat,
I know how you feel and just like for everyone there was a first time. I'm not a "chicken" but, safety for my family is my primary concern. However, I'm comfortable with my navigation skills. First time I took the boat comming back in Lake George (not my local destination). I was in my 175BR with no chart plotter, but I had my IQ3600 GPS (portable car GPS) this boat didn't have chartplotter/GPS, although I wish it had. We started the trip in the day light and when coming back it got completelly dark. Having the regular GPS I knew exactly my direction. Using the depth finder I made sure I'm in the safe zone. I used handheld search light for flushing the object when I got close to shore. We did get off course a little, simply for the lack of local knowledge. But, with no worries got back on track within minutes thanks to the GPS.

Best practise is in familiar water where you have the local knowladge. Make sure all of your navigation lights work. Have GPS, chartplotter/GPS is best. Have search light. And the most important thing, GO SLOW. In complete darkness I go at idle speed or a touch faster. This way I'm giving myself room to react to object that just popup in the last moment. Usually, you'll be able to see things ok. If the full moon is out it'll help you a lot, if the skies are clear. Have your first mate help you looking out and navigating. When using a search light for a quick moment b/c it takes some time to adjust your vision. I do it to quickly move from left to right giving me a quick closer look of hidden objects. If you have chartplotter you'll know where to buyies are, but keep in mind that there are always small chaneles with non marked boyies. Again, if using GPS set your waypoints.

Few years later now, I love night boating. My family also like it and they trust me somply because I try to do it as safe as possible. Slow is safe.

Try it. Be safe and you'll love it. Be prepared that 30 min trip in the daylight will take 2-3 times longer at night when you're comming back.

Hope it helps.
Alex.
 
Normally, I'd love to go out at night, but in Maine costal waters, there's too many lobster trap buoys. They're hard enough to see during the day, but at night, just about impossible. I've had the misfortune to get tangled up in their lines a couple of times with my older boat--luckily, I was able to unwrap the lines around the propeller by leaning over the swim platform, but the 240 DA I have now, the platform covers too much of the outdrive, so the only means would be to cut the lines--not a good option.

I've confined my night cruising to the trap-free costal river, using the GPS. It's great for your passengers, but still kind of stressful for the captain because you're constantly scanning between the lighted GPS and outside the boat for other boats/obstructions.
 
If you ever do sailing, boating at night is a way of life if you want to get anywhere.

I'm not a big night boater meaning I don't say "Hey it's dark! let's go boating!" but I've been out at night many times. I surprised no one has mentioned the light issue. Constantly using big spot lights or any light for that matter will really work against you. It takes about 30 minutes for your eyes to produce a particular enzyme and adjust to darkness. If you can stay in the dark for 30 minutes or so, you'll be surprised how well you can see. Once you hit a light, boom! the enzyme goes away and it takes another 30 minutes to get back there. Your instruments should have a night setting and I know on the raymarine chartplotter, you would swear it is broke during the day it is so dim. After your eyes adjust, it is bright though. So... turn all the lights WAY DOWN OR OFF at the helm or in front of you and hang out for a few minutes and you'll be fine. If you are using a portable GPS, hopefully it has a night setting. Of course then you'll run across the dork who has mounted headlights on his boat or feels the need to shine a spot light every 30 seconds on you and he'll render you blind. And of course family members will always come up to the bridge and flick the lights on...

I only run at displacement hull speeds (10 mph) at night also. Radar and chart plotter is a must.

I know somewhat that left a restaurant/bar in a 28' boat and got up on plane heading home about midnight and hit a daymarker in the middle of the James River. It sunk the boat in less than 2 minutes and carved a 12' gash down the side... oh... tide going out and 7 mile wide river and one woman with a dislocated shoulder... no one could swim to shore. They were lucky to be rescued.
 
We do what we want to do and go where we need to and sometimes that means starting before sunrise and boating after the sun goes down. The suns position is not a limiting factor for us.

We do boat in a coastal tourist location frequented by lots of commercial traffic, rental boats and inland boaters who are not familiar with the rules of the road or boating in high traffic coastal situations, so other boaters pose a significant risk for us. Like Gary says.......radar, plotter and vhf are a must. I won't operate in dark conditions without both plotters, the radar and both vhf's on.

I never use the spotlight unless it is an emergency because it kills your night vision and renders you almost blind. All of our electronics have night settings and red panel lighting to avoid night blindness.

I run at about 10 kts at night. That is slow enough to be safe and fast enough to cast a wake that breaks on both bow and stern so others can see me.
 
I do agree and try to use what Garry and Frank are suggesting on minimum usage of search light. But, I have a question on how do you guys find those non marked buoys in small chanels leading to a marina or even lobster buoys? For example a chanel to my marina has a number of non marked buoys (floating cans). They're not showing up on my chart. So the only way I can see them is by giving a quick (few seconds) burst of light moving from one sode to another. Do you see such buoys on your radar (I don't have one)?

The way I helped resolve this for chanel going to our marina, during the day I came close to each buoy and marked it on my chartplotter. So, now I now where those buoys are and light in not needed so often. The small issue still remains since GPS in on delay with 12'+ error margine. Our chanel is only 20-30' wide. So, if I only go by GPS I could not guaranty 100% exact position and happen to be out of the chanel.

How do you handle this?

Thanks,
Alex.
 
fwebster said:
I never use the spotlight unless it is an emergency because it kills your night vision and renders you almost blind.
Click to expand...


For a long time I would have said “ditto” however I am no longer true to this.

Since I wrote the linked article a year ago I’ve logged an additional 40+ hours of boating at night, split heavier on rivers then open water. The main changes this year are I now have Radar and a larger boat.

Under most conditions I do not use the spotlight as I make way.

Here is one example of where and how I would use it.

Two weekends ago we were boating up the Wolf River during a heavy rainstorm at night. I had previously marked all buoys on the chartplotter. In our area, they do not put a light on no-wake buoys. Also, many no-wake zones are not in effect all the time.

Once I have a blip on the screen of the radar in the area where I expect a no-wake buoy is located per the chartplotter and my memory, I do a brief strobe type flash from the bow mounted light in the flood position. This causes the reflective tape on the no-wake buoy to reflect the light back at me, confirming the blip is a buoy and not small unlit craft using the buoy location as a spot to fish.

For the longest time I was amazed at how many small fishing boats are out fishing without navigation lights on the rivers at night. Why does the local law enforcement not do something? Well, another boater recently pointed out to me why. In Wisconsin you do not need to have the white all-round light on at night if you are drifting or anchored within 200’ of shore.

See page 13 “Every moored, anchored and drifting boat and other fixed and floating structures, outside of designated anchorages or beyond 200 feet from the shoreline shall be lighted from sunset to sunrise by a white light visible all around the horizon.”
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/es/enforcement/docs/BoatingRegs.pdf

We also have night spearing. This means as you come around a corner on the river you may suddenly come across a person on a boat with lights that look like they belong lighting up a NFL football stadium. Its legal even though once you pass the area your night vision is gone.
 
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Alex F said:
Do you see such buoys on your radar (I don't have one)?
Click to expand...

When properly tuned, yes. If a bird is floating on the water with only its butt sticking out as it’s grabbing a fish I can see it.

The issue is not ‘can you see it’ the issue becomes ‘what is it?’

You see a blip, a smudge on the screen. If it’s a big blip it’s a big object. If it’s a small blip it’s a small object. This holds true to a point. A blip from a navigational buoy looks exactly the same as the blip form a small craft.

At best, color radar will take what it thinks is ground and make it one color, what it thinks is a boat and make it another. The radar itself is not color.


Please read
http://presentationrentals.blogspot.com/2007/08/marine-radar-beginners-perspective.html
 
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Doug, I think the Wisconsin pamphlet is in error and you should check the actual statute. There is no way a state can contradict Federal Law, except to make it more restrictive. See Colregs Rule 30: there is no mention of 200' from shore. Also, a vessel that is drifting is under way and must display the required running lights.
 
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