Night sailing

[Tim]

Galveston Bay

I've been sailing on Galveston bay at night for 20 years, and have had only one incidence of touching the very soft mud bottom. It was caused by stupidity on my part, and we jumped overboard and manhandled it off. My 1971 Irwin 28 draws 3 feet with the board up. Of course, during those 20 years there was a lot of daylight sailing also, and the spatial relationship of places isn't that hard to put into memory. I've never used a GPS, and my old flasher depth sounder gave up the ghost years ago. Prudence and a watchful eye make the best summer sailing in these latitudes worry free.

 

[Peter]

Crew compatability in watchstanding

Took a boat from Morro Bay to San Diego last Fall. Two overnight passages (Morro Bay-Santa Barbara, 28 hours and Oxnard-San Diego 26 hours). I'm an early bird, normally (work time) up 0400-0500,and beddy-bye by 2000-2200. Other crew was normally up at 1000-1100, to bed at 0100-0300. We were perfect crewmates for the overnights! Not a lot of fun in harbor though. I'm off looking for Starbucks at 0500, he's off looking for action at 2400!But I'll have that combination anytime for an overnight offshore passage!Nighttime sailing is when you really feel at one with the natural world!

 

[sailing Sue]

*yks I've done two motorsailing night trips. First was from Ensenada, Mexico, leaving at 11:00AM and arriving a San Diego CA at 7:00PM finally arriving at Dana Point, CA at about 5:00AM. This trip was over New Year's holidays so we lost our guest slip in San Diego and had to press on. We also had a small weather window as the California coast was being pelted with storm after storm after storm that winter. Long trip, unfamiliar waters, and really cold. The second trip was from Marina del Rey, CA to Catalina Island. It got dark about 13 of the way to Cat Harbor on the back of the west end. For a newbie like me still honing my skills I was pretty nervous! We use our charts, radar, GPS, and monitor the VHF constantly. I make log entries every hour. We have jack lines set and on deck wear a PFD with whistle/strobe light and are tethered in to the cockpit. There are just too many freighters coming and going around here both day and night. It takes all my efforts to just learn sailing no less trying to recover a MOB. We do three hour watches. But when all is said and done I was proud of myself for doing these. It sure is pretty and makes you glad to experience so much that others never get to see. I'm sure I'll become more comfortable as time goes on.

 

[Dennis Brooks]

Summer Time Sail

As many of you know here in Florida the Summers are very hot. Sailing at night is a lot cooler. We avoid many of the strong Thunder Storms we have in Florida by sailing at night.We live in the Tampa/St.Pete area. This area is very beautiful at night. There are many lights and the cities are lite up beautifully. The last sailing trip we were on it was a full moon. The moon shining off the water was breath taking. We also have another very cool condition. In our area we have phosphorus in the water. When the conditions (waves/wind/speed) are right the water around our boat glows. This is very neat to see and experience. My wife is new to sailing. Night sailing is her favorite. Like the old saying goes, If Mamma is happy everyone is happy.If you decide to sail at night the safety issue is a very critical area.

 

[Dale Wilkins]

Night Sailing on the Lake

During the Summer it is almost too hot to be out on the lake during the middle of the day, so we tend to go out in the later evening. By the time we turn around to come back it is normally dark, and we have come back in as late as 10:30 pm.The great thing about night sailing, especially on a lake, is that most of the power boats go in as the sun goes down, so the lake is quite and all you hear is the water rushing past the boat!I went out one night last early last Fall, and was alone on the lake - no other boats at all! As I was sailing along, I noticed a large white object up against the shore a ways down from where I was. I decided to check it out and it was a 30+ foot power boat beached up against the hard mud shore. When I got back in I talked to the guy that watches the Marina at night and he told me the guy was going along at top speed and decided to go up front to check on something. The boat hit a wake and he went overboard. He survived, but was in the hospital. Ever since, my wife worries about me going out single handed at night, especially during the Fall/Winter months (living in Texas is great!). Unfortunately, she is going to have to worry...having the lake all to myself is awsome!

 

[Walt M.]

Night Sailing on the...

... Chesapeake Bay is impossible due to the proliferation of crab traps and pound nets. I can't see how the famous Chesapeake Blue Crab can survive the attack. It used to be that crabbers dropped their pots near shore and in the shallows. Not any more. They are everywhere, with no rhyme or reason -- or way to avoid them. In some areas, you can't even navigate through them under power, no less sail. And try this at night? You are asking for trouble, a fouled rudder, or a bent shaft. I remember the good old days....*yks

 

[Al Carlson]

Night passages are required

We are on the Gulf Coast near Pensacola. It is possible to day-sail from port to port along the coast -- unless you want to get to Southern Florida and points South. We generally work our way to Apalachicola daysailing. But the crossing from Apalachicola SE to Tarpon Springs is 150 nautical miles: about 25 hours of sailing. So we leave about noon so we can arrive about noon at Tarpon springs.There's not much freighter traffic in thatpart of the Gulf, so we mainly see fishing boats that stay out all night. They are generally well lit. No crab or shrimp pots.Sue and I stand two-hour watches, with the off-watch crew snoozing in the cockpit. We are both full-time clipped onto hardpoints with Sospenders harnesses and tethers.We keep a paper track updated every hour in case the GPS chartplotter goes down. We flip on the radar every 10 minutes to watch the progress of existing targets, or to correlate lights on the horizon with targets on the radar. Only had to take evasive action once: a fishing boat cut across our bow.Sailing friends make a passage from Mobile Bay SE to Venice Florida in one hop: usually four days of sailing. But they always have four or more adults to make up their watches! We will probably try this route, but are worried about fatigue with a crew of only two.The visibility is better with no moon: you can see fainter lights on the horizon. But when the moon is up on a clear night: wow! What a sight.Night sailing is just a part of passage-making!Fair winds!Al and Sue CarlsonCatalina 36 "Wings of Dawn"Orange Beach: home of Ivan and Dennis

 

[SailboatOwners.com]

Final results

Final results for the Quick Quiz ending July 31, 2005:My experience sailing at night has been:63% Great, let's do it again!21% OK, I'll do it if I have to14% I don't sail at night02% Pretty scary, once was enough

 

[gene phares]

nite sailing

I am inexperienced and was day sailing on Cayuga Lake ny. winds died and I could not sail close enuff to shore to anchor and didn't want to start engine cause houses nearby(didn't want to disturb). finally after 2 hours of trying I quit and gave in to sailing all nite. in am I anchored and napped.

 

[Bill]

Night passages are required

Hey Al and Sue! We're practically neighbors.I've sailed the Gulf Coast since the sixties, first in the 45' Yawl White Star that was built 1935. Made the voyage from Panama City across to Tampa Bay and twice on to Key West. Now I'm beginning again in my O'day 23. Depending upon the type of vessel and the crew numbers, the voyage across the Florida big bend can be either relaxing or very fatigueing. A Single mast rig requires almost constant attention to the wheel or tiller, while a Ketch or Yawl can be hands off for hours at the time. If one often sails a Sloop overnight, an auto steering rig surely helps, though it represents quite a costly investment. Most guest crews like the security of seeing land as they bed down for the night, so day sailing between anchor ports is a good idea when it is practical, but can be a very bad decision at times. The option of ducking into ports along the way to anchor up overnight East/Southeast of Mobile is probably the best until passing Saint Joseph Peninsula. The longest haul without an anchorage refuge is Destin to Panama City (50 miles and abt 10 hours). But, from Port St Joe to Tampa Bay requires night blue water sailing. (Don't trust the shore line chart depths from Port St Joe around the Big Bend all the way to the Clearwater Inlet.) I've bumpped bottom with the Yawl's keel quite a few times in that wide area where the chart showed 12 feet or more, enough times to cross the Big Bend off as a place for sailing, especially after dark. And there are no more ports of choice (after St Joe) with safe depth approaches until you reach the Clearwater inlet.Depending upon the wind, the voyage of some 250 miles between Panama City and St Petersburg can take from 40 to 100 hours. (Count on the latter.) Weather will be an important factor for the last hour go-no-go decision. Wind off shore 30 plus miles is more steady in direction and velocity than closer to shore allowing less sail and rudder changes. An exact heading is less important than a heading where roll and pitch is the most comfortable. Mark your position on a chart every two hours. Call the US Coast Guard at that time and give your Lat/Long position. Report the weather and sea height. CG will return the latest area weather situation.Thunderstorms in-route must be expected, and not just one but several during the voyage. A thunderstorm is seen 50 miles ahead on a clearnight by its lightning display. Note it's direction of drift over an hour and stear up wind from its drift to give it wide berth. The lightning display indicates the storm center not its breadth which can be ten to twenty miles. Change course as much as 90 degrees to avoid. I usually put the storm at 45 degrees at long range heading to its up-drift side and expect it to drift abeam. You may not be able to avoid getting into the squall fringes of a thunder storm. So prepare early by reefing sails, clearing the deck, getting out rain gear, and fastening life lines. The cockpit crew should be tethered to a life line before entering a squall. Start and engage the engine at slow RPM before entering a squall. Keep calm and brief the crew on what to expect. Then as the squall hits, steer the most comfortable heading until the squall is past. Day Sailing: The Intercoastal waterway between Mobile Bay and Carrabelle offers great inland day sailing in vessels large and small with ten to 30 mile stretches of wide bays between short stretches of ditches. A great six days sail with excellent ports for overnight docking is from Mobile Bay to Pensacola, to Destin, to Panama City, and return. The bays are wide and deep enough to allow some tacking. As you enter West Bay at the town of West Bay there is 50 miles of sailing in wide bays with Panama City at the center. Then a return route via the Gulf touching the same ports would be the coup de grace. Good sailing to all. Bill

 

[Night Sailor]

stargazing and other night time blunders...

One of my favorite night time stories is a night sail on Lake Lewisville, TX with my son and his girlfriend at the time. It was about 11pm when we started a 7 mile return trip to our dock. Full moon. No clouds. No boats, and with every passing minute almost no wind. Running wing and wing at about 1 knot I was at the helm and with every one else naming constellations, etc. while keeping the boat pointed at what I knew to be two permanent white bridge lights I'd always used as a range. About 2am. the boat comes to a stop, and gently swings around broad side to the wind. I find I'm sitting about six feet from shore in a mud bank. Some yahoo had run his semi truck into the bridge railing taking down both lights the day before, and as luck would have it, two lovers in a pickup had come out to spoon at lakeside and left the parking lights on, so that is what I had been ranging on. I cranked the engine, raised the keel and rudder, then my son poled us off with the boat hook. His girl freind thought he was a hero. I learned to get cross bearings and check them often. All in all a great sail: beauty, companionship, education and a gentle reminder that the helm's job is to not get distracted!

 

[Herb Parsons]

Well, it happened at night

This isn't really a uniquely "night sail" story, but it did happen at night while we were sailing. The story below about Lake Lewisville made me remember it.First, a little background. I have four daughters, between 20 and and 25. From time to time, they like to bring their boyfriends/husbands (two are single, two are married), along for a sail, and my wife and I enjoy taking them out on the boat.This trip was at night on Lake Grapevine, but the connection to Lake Lewisville (down the road from us) was that a few days before a body had been found in Lake Lewisville, wrapped in heavy chains. Obviously, not a typical "man overboard situation".At one point, that topic came up. Kristie, one of the middle girls, had a fella with her that she had been dating a coule of weeks. He asked if that had happend on this lake (Lake Grapevine). I told him no, it was Lake Lewisville.Then, I said "that's a pretty wild situation. You know, if you wrap those bodies up right, the guy messing with your daughter NEVER floats back up to the surface."Kristie explained to him that her dad had a really weird sense of humor, but he was pretty quiet the rest of the trip.

 

[dwilson540]

Love the nights

Sure, night time requires a little extra vigilance. But it also gives one a little time for contemplation of one's place in the universe. It can be so beautiful out there, and so humbling. I was introduced to sailing on a night sail in NY. Since then have sailed on my home lake in KS and across the Gulf of Mexico. Awesome.Fair Winds.

 

[Franklin]

Two experiences

First one was the first time out in my new boat alone too...stupid. I sailed down the Galveston Bay during the day, got to the mouth of the bay and motored out, turned around and came back. It got dark on the way back and I didn't know how to turn the lights on of my instruments. I ran aground and found out the hard way it's very hard to get a wing keel unstuck, especially when the wind and waves are pushing you farther ashore.Second experience was when I was sailing down the bay again. I got off to a late start and was about half way when it got dark. I've made that trip a couple times before so I knew it a little. I had the radar and GPS going and the depth meter. I was watching all three closely because it was really dark out (no moon). For some reason I looked over my port shoulder for a second and as I looked back, I caught a glimps of a wooden sign on a big thick telliphone type poll go zipping by my starboard....I could have reached out and slapped it.First thought was...what did it say...seemed like some kind of warning. Then I starting wondering why it didn't show up on radar like everything else. From that point on, I sailed with me on the bow trying to spot anything in hopes I would see it in time to run back to the cockpit and change course. I made it to my desitination (anchorage). All that adreniline rush helped me sleep good that night.More night sailing to come I suspect.

 

[Steve]

There's nothing like . . .

. . . pulling into an anchorage after a long day of sailing! Proper use of a chartplotter (backed up by a paper chart), autopilot and VHF takes away any stress. The stars and moon seem to be much more visible on the water away from light pollution. The picture is of Cutty Hunk Island on Buzzard's Bay, MA.

 

[Steve]

Here is the picture

that should have been attached to my post. Sorry.

 

[Ross Boyd]

Puget Sound obstacles

Considering the driftwood/logs, fishing nets and crab traps around here it is nice to be safely somewhere rather than enroute when the sun sets. We hit one log that we didn't see because of the rough conditions during the day in a power boat. Luckily there was no damage, but we had to have a diver check it out. Anymore the crew is more comfortable enjoying the sunsets from a secure stationery position. All of those things are a lot harder to see at night and worrying about what you might run into takes the fun out of what our boating is intended to be.