Night moves

[Dave Cusick]

sharp senses

Sailing at night can be a great experience, although prepare yourself and do it safely. check all your safety gear before ever leaving the dock, lights, flares, radio, engine, etc..once you do it a few times it will really sharpen your senses and open a new door to sailing.

 

[Rick]

Thats' why "Moondance"

Five years ago when we docked in Huron, my wife and I had a habit of going out about an hour before sunset. We would motor out two miles and drift while having dinner. One eve in August after dinner and a swim, the wind picked up and we set our sails. When the moon came up it was one of those huge beautiful full moons - we were one of the only boats out and the breeze was warm and sweet. We sailed arround most of the nite. After that nite we decided to name our boat "Moondance". We enjoy sailing west (away from the island traffic) at nite in fair weather and lite (10 Knots or so) wind, my wife will go down below and read and I just enjoy.

 

[Jeff Smithwick]

The most peaceful of all sailing

We have sailed and motored at night. We usually like to get up very early in the morning before sunrise and be on the water sailing as the winds increase and the sun is rising. The mornings are the best. If we are trying to make an extra port we set sail right after dinner and sail thru the night and arrive before the powerboaters at port the next morning.

 

[archie christian]

A Must, learn by doing

Night moves should be experienced by all sailors if not for the pure pleasure then certainly for the safety lessons learned. As a recreational sailor I thoroughly enjoy the Chesepeake Bay but as a merchant marine I have been petrified by the sight of a sailboat at night negotiating commercial channels. I have seen the same mistakes and errant maneuvers from Fla to Maine. It aint the same at night especially if you sail in the vicinity of any commercial traffic. Practice makes perfect so if you don't sail at night you should given that sooner or later the wind and the motor will lay down at the same time and you'll get to negotiate every problem mentioned heretofore, crab pots, trot lines, tug boats, fishermen, debris, ships, grounding, etc etc etc. Have fun and learn.

 

[Alan]

Anchor lights, go fast boats and night sailing.

I love sailing at night in the Great South Bay of Long Island for all the reasons already mentioned. I agree that greater caution is needed even in a protected bay like mine. The only real commercial traffic here are the ferries party boats and fishing charters. It is not hard to stay out of their way. The main problem is the go fast boaters with improper nav. lighting. Some of these "yachtsman" use search and spot lights as head lamps blinding the rest of us. One "knowlegable" guy called me a jerk for not sailing with a (white) masthead light (illegal). If you use a white light anyway be prepared to follow the rules as if you were under power including sound signals and manuvering. Some racers also improperly use the mast head/anchor lights to illuminate the windex (special legal lamps are made for that purpose).To legally increase visability you may (depending on size and under sail only); 1. use all around red over green lights on the mast head in addition to standard nav lights, or, 2. use only a tricolor light at the mast head (saves power as it uses only one 25 watt lamp) 3. illuminate the sail with a lamp that would not be confused with a nav. light such as spreader or deck lights or by using a flashlight to temporarily light it.I will probably get a tricolor with anchor light as it both increases visability and saves power under sail and at anchor (one 10 watt bulb). alan

 

[henkmeuzelaar]

Thanks, Alan! What about strobe lights ?

To draw attention to a slow moving objetc in a city harbor environment with lots of white as well as colored lights, nothing works as well as a strobe light. A few years ago I thought they were still legal ("not illegal" is probably a better expression), with the exception of orange/yellow strobes which are used by surfacing submarines, if my memory serves me well. Anyone have the scoop on strobes?Flying Dutchman

 

[Alan]

Stobes

Legal on U.S. inland waters as a distress signal but not as an anti-collision light (legal on authorized vessels). They are considered illegal in international waters except on authorized vessels. Somewhere in the rules there is a passage about avoiding imminant collision using any resonable means. So......if I got the tricolor-anchor/masthead-stobe combination light ($250 and a permanant spot in the dog house) and a frieghter was about to run me down, you bet I would turn it on. Of note there are different colors and flashing rates/sequences for authorized strobe lights. alan

 

[Carl Reitz]

Enter in daylight

Sailing south for the winter we wanted to go from Charleston to the Savannah River. The passage had the potential to take more than the 10 hours of daylight we had in November and we did not want to go through a new inlet in the dark.Departed Charleston in the afternoon and had a delightful sail down the coast and got to the mouth of the Savannah right at daybreak.Wonderful experience.

 

[Thomas Scardino]

Night sail

I n the Late 70's I use to night sail at least once a month. It started out by sailing from Jamaca Beach to the South Jetty where we were to meet friends at day break. After that I was hooked. This is when you realy test your seamanship skills. No motors, Just the wind, water, stars, clouds and of corse the UNKNOWEN. I have found the more technoligy used the less the challange. But be prepared to pay the price.

 

[Paul Lange]

Ft Worth Tx Night Sailing

Night Sailing is the best! Summer months can reach triple digits, but nice and cool at night. It is also much quieter at night. Another thing I appreciate are the lites of other boats at night, including our mast light on the sail. During full moon it's amazing how much you can see on the water to the oint of castng shadows. Also on Lake Grapevine the lights from the incomming jets of DFW can come just about overhead and for long periods of time thier lights blast accross the lake too. Most of all I like sailing at night because 99% of the time only sailboats are out in the big water, and you can see each light from long away. At times the entire lake is lit up with lights of sailboats silently cruising. It's very nice.

 

[SailboatOwners.com]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending 12/16/2001:Have you sailed at night?55% I like the adventure24% To reach a port I can't make in 1 day15% Never have11% Couldn't avoid it due to conditions

 

[Mark]

They say I'm wacked out

I prefer to sail without lights all together. I think anyone can move about with lights leading the way but try to do this in the complete darkness. I like creeping up on unsuspect sail boats and buzz them blacked out. No real damger since we are only going 5 kts. They call me crazy...but it does take skill and guts.

 

[Roger Jackson]

Good, bad, and wonderful.

I learned to sail on a jury-rigged 14'with only a mainsail on Cayuga Lake. I found the off-shore night winds to be delightful. However, it's a bugger to get to shore with the high banks giving turbulence within 100yds of shore.This year we moved our "new" '73 Oday 27 from Deale MD to Buzzard Point VA. The second day we went from a following wind the first day to an increasing wind all day and it was straight into our nose. I had the 150% Genoa out and didn't dare to get up there to take it down. We must have tacked a hundred miles, ending up just short of the Potomac River and what looked like shelter. With very heavy seas and at least a 15kt wind (I think it was more) we lost the ability to track well. It was after dark, cold spray and nasty. I dropped the sails- a very exciting event and tried to motor (9.9 outboard), but couldn't control that either. The boat was new to us, so I thought it was the wind on the sails which were down, but not stowed... After the Coast Guard pulled us in, the petty officer said "I think I see your problem.." A crab pot bouy had found it's way between the rudder and the skeg in front of it. I was dragging about a 30 pound anchor. Advice.. you can't steer in this condition. I now know to take the boat hook and sweep the water behind the motor if I lose steerage.Following this my wife was still game to go out on Labor Day weekend, leaving at sundown to sail directly into a rising full moon (the best direction to sail in the dark) toward Tangier Island. The air temperature stayed at 74 deg because the water was warm. It was terrific! We dropped anchor off the island for the balance of the night and went in during daylight.

 

[John]

Long winter races

In our area (south Puget Sound) we had 4 to 6 races each winter that had finish times at 8 or 9 p.m., some even at noon the next day. So sailing at night was unavoidable. It certainly put a different perspective on things; night and trying to go fast. We definitely learned a lot about navigation lights (is that tugboat towing something?).

 

[David]

HEY MARK

You're an idiot. Sailing Blacked out? Buzzing people intentionally? "Only going about 5knots?" You say in you title "people say I'm whacked out" I say you just stupid. If everyone tells you that, maybe you should listen. Pal, if you try to mate a pair of sailboats at 5kts, you don't get a litter, you get a mess! Would you drive about and 6 miles an hour and bump into people? Same thing except that the average car weighs 3000lbs, The average 30ft sailboat is over 3 times that much. Did you ever stop to think that your thrill might be endangering the lives of others? Please tell us where

 

[Steve Dion]

HEY MARK II

This is not to even mention the safety of others. How long do you think it would take a speeding boat doing 25-40 mph to react once they finally see you? It really does not matter because they are probably going to cut your boat in half and kill everyone aboard.

 

[Duane nadeau]

Maine lobster pots

Do not own a Catalina but am considering a 25 with swing keel.Have sailed my 18 ft. Laguna Windrose (nice boat)at night on Penobscot Bay, Maine. I do it mostly to develop my navigation skills, but I also just enjoy the Maine summer evenings (when it's not foggy).There are two major hazzards in my area at night. Number one is the lobster pots! They are everywhere and it is very easy to get hung up on one. Not fun when alone in the dark. No one to hold the search light. Carry a pole to clear the pot line and please try not to cut them. The lobsterman's life is difficult enough.Number two is the lack of shore lights around most public landings (I trailer the boat). Public launch sites are not generally lighted at night. It can be a challenge to find them.I stick to the easy routes in the dark. Suggest never trying to enter a difficult or strange harbor after dark unless there is good moonlight. I always sail the area in daylight first and prepare a list of observations on an index card I can keep in my pocket. The index card also has the bearings, distances and markers, recorded for quick reference (I am usually singlehanded).Night sailing can be great fun if you are properly equipped and careful. Always have an anchorage in mind in case you have trouble or feel uncomfortable. Even during the day I keep track of anchorages where I might find shelter.