Night Cruising

[captd]

Sometime, sooner or later a boater is going to be forced to travel at night. I am interested in what takes place in your head when darkness decends out in the blue or on the intercoastal.
I know my 1st expeirience was leaving an anchorage at West End, Bahamas. Instead of just using the compass and or plotters, ETC. I tried to see my way out and around a point. It was black and a little hazy. Using a spot light made it seem like I was looking at the sea wall. It totally screwed my mind up and by thinking I was avoiding a sea wall and the rocks I ended up in the worst heading. My wife could hear the water hitting the rocks and said I was off course. I quit looking out the window and put my trust in the instruments. Made the corrections and got out into the open sea.
After a few years and other situations, like once running back into a Mexican port ( Rincon ) We were 50 miles out in the Pacific, the Hunky Dory and a Tom Cat were headed for home as it was getting dark. Just before dark I seen the tom cat off to my starboard passing us up , I mentioned to my fishing partner, " He will be home hours before us". An hour or two later I could see a red port light off to my port side way off in the distance. The Boat was heading back out to sea. I hailed the boat on the VHF and it turned out to be the Tom Cat. He replied : where in the %^$#@ are you? I said look to your port you should see our green running lights. He still could not see us. We flashed the spot light at him. Finally he seen the light. He followed us in. He said all his brand new equipment quit on him, Radar,plotter,gps and he was totally lost. Compass and all. He had been cruising by the seat of his pants in a panic and would have run around out in the pacific untill he would run out of gas.

It happens quite often when lost anywhere, mountains, deep woods, or at sea, that a person won't believe their compass. Night or day. It can happen , a person does'nt know which end is up. I think it happened to Kennedy in his air plane.

When it is pitch black out there trust the technology.
I would be interested in other peoples learning exp.

Captd

 

[flagold]

I don't know if it will teach anything, but this is how I do night work on film:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gra0NJp2AH4



I have many many hours of night flying in tailwheel aircraft, and the main thing is to have your head ready, everything in the way of charts close at hand, and all equipment ready, before entering night operations, boat or airplane. I also have a set of those laminated lighting guides that goes on the dash anytime I'm operating at night.

 

[JamesTXSD]

Hi CaptD,

In IFR flight training, you are taught to trust your equipment... but, crosscheck. However, with flying there is an entire system designed to guide you through instrument conditions, including Air Traffic Control. We don't often boat at night with the C-Dory, but when we do I keep the speed down, drop the light level on the electronics, and use them. Two GPSs with chartplotters and radar certainly help. I also keep an eye on the compass and Joan follows along with the chart (unless we are in our home waters). It's really nice to have two sets of eyes looking out. Lighted nav aids can get lost in background lights and perspective can be confusing, so it's good to have some dialog ("The next marker should be ...").

Along the ICW in our part of the world, there is plenty of water to both sides, but it is shallow, with only the channel dredged; often there are only markers on one side (5 greens for every red), and most of them aren't lit. A hand-held spotlight helps, and it's important to maintain a correct track.

Fortunately with a boat (especially as compared to an airplane), you can slow down or stop to regain your bearings. 8)

Best wishes,
Jim B.

 

[commander bill]

30 years ago I drove Nuclear Submarines for a living. They weighed 8000 tons and drew over 30 feet of water. My eyes were 20-20 with good night vision. We had plenty of 1960's technology (no gps, etc) but we had several trained watchstanders but my pucker factor was always high when on surface at night (we always felt much better submerged). Bouys & Nav aids were better then. The reliability of radar & other technology on our boats today is better than we had then. That said with my current vision I think I will just stay tied up until next light.

 

[Sneaks]

Cruising at night isn't much different than fishing very early AM from the stern at anchor then suddenly finding/feeling yourself in a heavy fog that rolled in behind you. Happened once (only once) in a 23 ft. boat with only charts and a compass to find my way back to the harbor entrance. (Mission Bay, San Diego.) Thank god for Lindberg Field's flight path, the entrance bell bouy and the Ocean Beach pier or I'd have been making like a surfer.

No thankyew.

Today I have a complete set of nav gear with radar/GPS and a completely independent GPS just to keep from ever pinching buttonholes in my skivvies again...! And that includes compass/paper charts.

If we must travel at night (and we have), I now worry more about clueless (or drunk) dummies going full bore around the bay using shoreline lights for navigation. It's pretty easy to not "see" a C-22 under those conditions. We choose to displacement cruise at night or in a fog, with a hand on the throttle and every eye on the boat concentrating on where we will be and where we've been, plus where they might be....

Don

 

[journey on]

I love being out on the ocean at night. That's when the plankton well up and you see the big luminescent pool. Sailing through them is a thrill. When we were coming down the coast, we'd sail through flocks of ducks which had settled for the night; they'd fly off in all directions, squawking. And also, since one would stand several shifts at night, you could see the stars rotate around the North pole (I know, the earth turns.) And I've seen the Southern Cross rotate around Canopus, one of the thrills of my life. And coming down past Oregon, you'd see the nav light markers come up and disappear, the glow of the towns pass. Absolutely wonderful. And since the Pacific is cold and you're out in the cockpit, you'd freeze your ass off. But worth it. And following the kelp beds around Pt. Loma, and the channel markers into San Diego, just before daybreak was always a thrill.

Now, if you're takling about not being able to see, as in fog, well being caught out in that stuff sold me my first Loran, and really taught me to read the radar. Without some sort of instruments, you're lost.

Boris

 

[matt_unique]

I spend more time underway at night than I do during the day. If you're cruising into an unfamiliar area it's all about careful planning, trusting your instruments, and having backup gear/plans. If you're following your GPS, take a compass reading every few minutes in case your electronics go out for example. If you're cruising near your usual stomping grounds it's about getting familiar with night visible landmarks. Bridge lights, other unique lit buildings, the nav buoys with lights, etc. Plan a route back to your slip/mooring during the day. For example, say you need to keep to the right of the center bridge light until you reach a certain point before you can turn to port to stay in the channel and clear the ledge, etc.

Once I was crossing the Block Island Sound in unreal fog (during the day but the same concepts apply). My GPS indicated we had arrived at Old Harbor Block Island but we could see nothing but the fog. I knew we were there and had just a short bit to go following the same heading and we would be behind the break water. I was able to reassure my passenger that we were there because we could smell the restaurants at Old Harbor. Ha ha! So sense of smell is sometimes a navigation aid.

 

[tsturm]

In the Dark or Fog one has to trust the Insturments. No matter how far off I know the(in my mind)compass heading is I have learned to trust it! Radar has been a big help, being able to see that 2'dia log in the pitch black or fog is nice or the Island that is moving(Cruise ship) :beer

 

[Hunkydory]

Sometime, sooner or later a boater is going to be forced to travel at night. I am interested in what takes place in your head when darkness decends out in the blue or on the intercoastal.
[stuff clipped]

Captd

What goes through the head in pitch black-no moon or artificial light is the same thing as cruising anytime near shore in areas with multiple reefs with medium fog and that's I sure hope all these electronic instruments don't quit cause if they do we're in deep do do. Actually in either case if you don't panic, know how to use and have a compass and go slow with a little luck it should be ok.

The only enjoyable cruising we have done at night is with a full moon and that really doesn't count to me as dark. Same thing as leaving very early morning or making destination just before real dark.

On our last cruise we were in the real dark only once and that was coming up Lisianski Inlet to Pelican, Alaska. That was due to choice of staying in small cove or making it into Pelican with a storm coming. Was absolutely no problem with instruments and with going slow wasn't even to concerned about debris in the water.

Fog is to me much worse than night. You know when its going to be dark. Fog can really hit unexpected. Other than our experience in Fords Terror two of our most hazardous times came with the fog. In 2004 after losing our computer nobletec navigation at Fords Terror. we continued to cruise with only a small hand held e-map gps. Just as we started to come around Cape Fenshaw on Fredrick Sound thickfog settled around us. This area has reefs and is generally rough with the currents and a little wind. Charts and eyes to avoid these reefs really help too keep out of trouble. Fortunately we had the radar and with the gps to give us an accurate position on the paper charts we made it without anything more than a little raise in blood pressure. The worst was this year when the fog caught us entering Tracy Arm Inlet with current and ice. This is a link to a short video of that experience which I transferred from our travelogue of this years cruise and is written up in the Grand Adventure Forum as "2007 Alaska Northern Inland Passage Wilderness cruise". There are 30 other short videos included in that travelogue.

video Fog and Ice holkham Bay Tracy Arm Cove

Jay

 

[CW]

Night boating on the Columbia River is fun and necessary when the goal is to be the first fisherman to anchor within a certain spot timed to the tide, dawn and other competitive fishermen. Here it is the ships and the wing-dams to watch out for as there are few rocks (mostly sand). With a thick hulled aluminum jet sled, speed is your friend as it reduces your draft to a mere 4-6" and debris become less an issue. It is similar to travelling by foot down a steep, muddy slope -- sometimes it is safer to run than to try and walk slowly. Still, I believe in redundant systems (2 GPSs, 2 VHFs, 2 compasses, charts and chart books, back-up kicker engine already warmed up at the dock, 2 batteries).

Thrilling though it is, I look forward to getting my C-Dory and adjusting perspectives. Radar, no doubt, will be required as I shift to more ocean fishing & crabbing. Navigating in the fog in the Graveyard of the Pacific (the bar at the mouth of Columbia) is enough to pucker up anybody, especially when you can hear the breakers slamming into the jetties while in standing waves taller than your boat, shallow Clatsop Spit on the right and the crowded shipping lane on your left. I look forward to asking you all much more about these things soon.

Darkness really messes with people's minds though, especially in the wilderness mountains. I was amazed how many athletic, young men were scared of the dark when I was in the infantry, despite their maps, food, radios, adequate clothing and machine guns. Mainly city kids. Every few weeks, day-hikers in the Cascades get missoriented, it gets towards dark and they panic, using up valuable energy ineffectively and inevitably worsening their chances of survival. Darkness does not kill (nor wild animals or boogie men - often). It is Hypothermia and falls. These can be avoided by carrying a light daypack with a quality poncho, a down vest, matches, lighter, a little cedar, a can of Beanie Weenies, a stocking hat, some beef jerky, a contour map, canteen of water, charged cellphone, wool or polypropylene clothing next to the skin, & compass. Ignore the dark. Do not focus on home, how dangerous the situation is, the warm truck, the rain, how stupid you were to get into this situation, how upset your wife might be or how far you think you have to go. Go ahead and pause, sit, drink water and eat something. Your brain is your greatest tool -- use it and inventory your resources. Look at the map and get oriented. Then move slowly and methodically in the right direction maybe towards a road or trail that is easier to find than specifically your truck. It may be farther overall, but still preferable. When the terrain gets too steep or too deep (swamps or snow), recognize it and turn around and detour around the problem area before you get stuck or pinned to an exposed area only to weaken and have fewer options. Take comfort in knowing that, though moving slowly, you only need to do this for a few hours (not all night) and then you'll be out. If not up to night travel, shelter up and wait for light and then head out or get a fire going and wait for help. Avoid spraining an ankle, and it will carry you, avoid getting needlessly wet and your clothes will keep you warm. Consider each obstacle to get through with short term goals and you won't become overwhelmed. Take each portion as it comes and eventually, you'll break out onto that trail or road.

The wilderness of panic is much more dangerous than any mountains we have, and I believe the same approach applies to our waters. C.W.

 

[ccflyer]

I agree with everything in JamesTXSD's post but would note, when I'm flying at night, I don't have to worry about hitting any flotsam - jetsam - lobster buoys etc. So I'd add to take it slow and keep your insurance premiums up to date. :thup

 

[JamesTXSD]

I agree with everything in JamesTXSD's post but would note, when I'm flying at night, I don't have to worry about hitting any flotsam - jetsam - lobster buoys etc. So I'd add to take it slow and keep your insurance premiums up to date. :thup

No, it's those "big, dark, areas" :shock: ... IFR at night was disconcerting early on, because there was very little sense of movement. Joan wasn't too crazy about it when I'd flip on the "wing light" (a small light that would illuminate the leading edge of the wings so you could see if there was any ice build up). Most of our flying was high and fast. With VFR conditions at night, you could see city lights from 75 miles out. The most magical flying I ever did was at night, with a full moon, clear conditions, and a fresh snowfall. Still, unlike the boat, you can't just pull back the throttle to sort things out.

There are many things about flying and sailing/boating that are similar. Proper preparation for low visual conditions is important, as is maintaining your night vision. Still, I think flying at night was easier because airports are well defined by the rotating beacon, there are instrument procedures that lead you right to where you are going. At a controlled airport, you can ask the tower to bring up the lights and turn on the "rabbit" - no question about the right way in. At an uncontrolled airport, you can generally turn up the runway lights by clicking the mike. And there is almost always some separation between the runway environment lights and the surrounding city lights. You don't get all that "help" when on the water.

But, just try to toss out an anchor with an airplane!

 

[journey on]

HunkyDory/Jay, finally got your video to play. It was neat. We spent a night in that cove, and watched the bergs come in and out. Real fun, glad to see you left.

But that leaves the burning question: what made one of the engines quit?

Boris

 

[Hunkydory]

Boris

Didn't get the answer to what caused that engine to quit untill we arrived back home and called EQ to find out what caused the same moter to have the crankcase fill up with gas and overflow out the dip stick when checking the oil level in Auke Bay. They told us the problem was a stuck thermostat and they were right. I think with the stuck thermostat and the engine running cold when I throttled back to meet the rough water it died. Believe that its dieing their was our first indication of a stuck thermostat. Had problems with it at idle the remainder of trip back to Skagway. In fact ran the 85 miles from Auke Bay to Skagway going up the Lynn Canal on one moter due to not wanting to take a chance on doing it damage.

When that moter died where it did the pucker factor definitely rose dramatically. We were already nervous enough with the conditions as they were.

After changing the thermostat and quite a few hours running at 80% max rpm the moter is doing fine at speed and idle. EQ said they didn't think I had hurt it and they were right.

Jay

 

[captd]

On the beginning post, I neglected to say, Upon returning to Rincon, we found nothing wrong with any of his equipment. He had the best money could buy, he just had panic and could not concentrate and believe his instruments.

I think he sold his boat.

captd

 

[Pat Anderson]

We do not travel at night by choice - but for example, late arrivals and trips from a launch ramp to a CBGT have occurred, Joemma State Park to Jarrell Cove and John Wayne Marina to Sequim Bay State Park in 2003 were two trips in really dark conditions that stand out in memory - did not enjoy them, but it was early on in our boating experience. GPS shows you the way but does not show you a lot of obstacles! On the other hand, I also recall one or two nice moonlit nights on Lake Washington that were actually very pleasant. But if we are out after dark, it will be because we got caught out, not because we chose to be out - and we too have two GPSes and radar, so we don't fear being lost or not being able to find our way. Logs, debris, other boats, who knows, there are just too many perils in our waters to be particularly enjoyable when you can't see well.

 

[bongo]

Season greetings from 9° North of the Ecuator.
Interesting subject... low visibility navigation, be it night, fog, rain, smog, or whatever impairs visibility. I am a pilot, airline and flight instructor, have been out there in the air and on the water. First rule is AVOID IT. If you are going to do it or get in it... try to shuffle the cards in your favor, for you already have a big handicap against you: no vision.
Practice holding a compass heading... most of us drive a course by looking at some visual landmarks, clouds or something, but driving with your head down in the instruments takes practice and familiarity. Your worst enemy is fear and panic and being disoriented does that. I also used to be a flight accident investigator, trained with the NTSB; I had to go out and picked up the peaces.
If you do get disoriented or lost it doesn't make allot of sense to go just anywhere. Mabe consider anchoring until you figure out where you are.
Another valuable navigation instrument is the depth finder. You have the charts, you have the bottom contour, together with the compass it can help guide you in a general direction.
And yes, night flying is far out and wondrous. Recently I sat through a thunderstorm out in the Pearl Islands in Panama (Canal area) in my CC 23, and the cloud to cloud lightning was an extraordinary display of fireworks. The raindrops would light up the plankton, incredible! But I was snug up in a bay and calm. I really think Commander Bill is dead right. We are out there to have fun and no visibility is not fun.
John B

 

[thataway]

We have probably traveled about as many miles at nights as during the day, because of our extensive passagemaking. We tend to avoid this on the ICW or congested areas, but when necessary it is no big thing. We started long before Radar was practically available, and relied on mostly dead recogning. The Compass and an estimate of speed, plus the stars, the pattern of waves, and surface of the water are all clues as to what lies ahead and how the situation is developing.

In foreign areas the biggest hazard is the unlit panga. In the PNW, the debris. The more you voyage at night, the more you will like it. Today with radar, chart plotters and very accurate depth sounders it is much easier than in the past.

Situational awarness is perticularly necessary at night. Even when standing watch, if there is anything which is questionable and the other person is asleep, we awake them to have a second set of eyes. Far better to avoid a potential problem than to have one develope and get out of trouble.

The other rule, is to avoid comming into strange unlit harbors at night. We have routinely traveled in our known areas, and have both up to date charts, way points and the latest light lists. Unfortunately in un-familiar places, this becomes a problem. This last year there have been at least 3 over 1 million dollar boats lost on the rocks comming into Perdido Pass. It was due to confusion with the shoreline lights, and failure to go to the sea bouy, and then directly line up the lights on the channel. Taking shortcuts will lead to diseaster at night.

Enjoy the peacefulness of night passages!

 

[mikeporterinmd]

The depth finder can be a very useful tool if you have paper charts to
help orient you. Find the shipping channel, if it's deeper than the
surrounding water, follow it until you find a marker, check the
charts, make sure you are in the channel you think you are in (that's
an easy mistake to make in the upper Chesapeake), and you can
figure out where you are.

Mike

 

[dogon dory]

Sorry, Folks - Post Deleted By Author