Sailing at night

[NautiMoments]

ALX357 brought up a good point in another thread and I was wondering how many people have sailed at night? A few of our club members have and I have motored to an anchorage arriving at night. It was dark but the moon showed us the way and it was actually really nice. We new the anchorage so there was no problem but I have thought that a night time cruise, with full moon and clear skies, might be great. How many have gone out sailing at night and how was it?

[Scott]

We have, a number of times. The problem around here is the wind generally goes to bed at sunset. On the rare occasion we've had wind after dark we've gone sailing and if the moon is out we backlight the sails with a flashlight. (It'll blind you in moonless nights) Ive been told we look like a ghost boat when we do.

On moonless nights you cant see well enough to sail without knowing your grounds well. Even with our gozillion candle power flashlight we can barely see to get into the cove without grounding.

[Lease]

It's one of those things that people either love, or hate.

We have an annual race here that is comming up in early March called the Marlay Point Overnight Race. This will be my twelth, or thirteenth, or something.

There used to be be around 800 trailer yachts in several divisions, but this has dwindled to less than 150 these days. The start is just on dusk and the signal is a white flare. Makes things very surreal as everyone sails off into the gathering dark. The race is around 50nm so in remarkable years, we will finnish in the early hours, but most often sometime early morning, and somethimes in the afternoon.

I absolutely love it. As most of my night sailing has been in a racing context, I have a preference for maintaining night vision rather than having light playing everywhere. On my old boat we had two sets of nav lights. One was at deck level, but the other was a masthead tri-light that is legal here for boats under a certain length. This keeps deck level lighting to a minimum, and provides illumination from below to the wind indicator. Even if you take your wind cues completely by the sails and tell-tales, you will struggle at night to intuitively know the exact angle of the breeze unless you have some sort of visual clue.

Of course there are many extra hazards when sailing at night and these need to be understood and planned for, but it really is the most special feeling.



Basic map of the Gippsland Lakes. The race starts at the beginning of the lake that is almost out of picture and proceeds across it, throught the straits, up the long lake (Victoria), through another strait at Paynesville, around the island (Raymond), and back to the finish off Paynesville.

[Idle Time]

When we had the boat on Grand Lake, OK and Lake Stockton MO we sailed every night until midnight. Then the wind would let up and we'd head for the anchorage.

Much rather sail at night . It is so quiet and very few boats.

[Frank C]

Sounds like great fun, Lease ...
Fair winds 'n Good luck!

[Bill at BOATS 4 SAIL]

I like to sail the night of, or the night before, a full moon.
Catch the sunset to the west and the full moon rise to the east.

[James V]

Sailing west from the west coast of Florida, about 8 miles from land (little or no lights from the land) With the Moon seting infront of me in 1 to 2 foot seas. Light winds,Only a reefed main. No jib. Yes, a night I will not forget.

[Night Sailor]

After half a life time sailing in West coast Florida sun, which set my skin up for all the precancerous cells I now have, I do little day sailing now. There was no such thing as sun block in those days. But the main reasons I have mainly sailed after six pm and into the wee hours of the morning for the last 24 years are: 1. Texas heat is no fun in mid summer during the day, when metal and fiberglas can blister you; 2. No skiers or jetski boats competing for the quiet anchorage water; 3. Most of the crazy, drunk, 90 mph penis boat owners go home when it gets dark; 4. In the moonlight and starlight it is much more romantic to sail with your partner; 5. when you are deprived of your day time vision, your other senses become more acute, so you hear and feel more about how your boat acts with the wind and water, so you feel more in tune with your boat, more a part of it; 6. less traffic means more relaxation possible at the helm; 7. if the wind dies late, it's a good chance to practice slow sailing.

[Hinesy]

I am addicted to the Boston Skyline Sunset...we sail into the outer harbor in the evening, watch the sun go down over the city. We then watch the lights of the city come on and sail back in the dark using GPS. When the wind dies we motor. God I love our MacGregor!!!

[Jack O'Brien]

We Conch Cruisers left anchorage south of Miami at 2 am to cross the Gulfstream to Bimini, Bahamas. The thunderstorm had gone away, the moon was 91% having risen the previous afternoon and set at 4:41 am behind us. Too much light pollution from Miami to be dark. Arrived Bimini mid-morning. Nice.

[delevi]

I have only done it when arriving back to the marina after dark. I was tempted to actually go sailing at night intentionally, but haven't gathered the courage to do it yet. Something about not being able to see where I'm going with huge buoys and ships in the vicinity as well as other unseen hazards makes me hesitate

[jackie m]

I have not yet sailed at night but have spent a lot of time in the water swimming as well as on the water in kayaks at night. What I love most about the water at night is bioluminescence. It's magical.

The most prolific display I have ever experienced was in the Sea of Cortez. Flying fish jumping out of the water in a spray of sparkles and landing with a sparkling splash. Large glowing images glided through the water beneath our boats (most likely manta ray as we had seen them during the day). Every dip of the paddle in the water creates sparkling swirls. I've paddled at night in mild surf on the Gulf Of Mexico through sparkling waves washing over my boat. Saw it a lot in the Gulf of Mexico. Just never as abundant as one Christmas trip down on the Sea of Cortez.

jackie m

[ken smith]

sailing out on Lake Erie one evening a few years ago with the sun setting in the west and a full moon raising on the east sky with a steady breeze blowing, it set the night as we watched the moon raise in the sky. There is a heightned awareness of the sound of water rushing by the back end and the flapping of an out of tune sail. We were sailing out into the lake with nothing in our way so it was a very confortable sail in that respect.
Another time we sailed on the Niagara River which called for many tacks and had to keep a very close eye on land while the American side was lit up the Canadian side was dark and hard to see when to tack. As it was getting dark the clouds were closing in on us and just at dark the lighting began first off in the distance and we figured that it was out over the lake and we had plenty of time. Then the lighting began behind us and soon was surrounding us, as much as we were enjoying the light show we knew we had better get off the water. We quickly broke down and headed in which was not very far being on the river. When I got the boat pulled up on the ramp and was going to take down the mast we got hit by a micro burst of wind and I couldn;t even pull the mast down I had to wait it out. Had it been daylight I would not have put myself in that position.
ken

[Tony D-26X_SusieQ]

On a cruise last summer we spent four nights sailing the Chesapeake Bay, C&D Canal, the Atlantic Ocean. The biggest problem is the loss of depth perspective. I was at the helm when we entered Norfolk from the Atlantic about 2AM. Thank God for a fantastic navigator. We were following charts and compas. We did have a GPS aboard just in case but were not using it. (The screen distroyes your night vision.) I had never entered that part of the Bay before so I had no daylight images to relate to just a lot of red and white lights about 10 very big ships and barges in several shipping channels and nothing where I expected it to be. We arrived in Little Creek right on target. The best part is I no longer fear getting caught out on the water after dark. It is quite an experiance. You enter another world completely. Don't forget the binocs. You will need them to count the flashes clearly. It is almost impossible to keep them straight with the naked eye.

[John McDonough]

I prefer sailing at night,. Sailing on lake Erie at night very few boats and when crossing to canada Its easier to sail North using the North star and the big dipper. I prefer the stars over the compass unless it cloudy. I only use my GPS as a speedometer or if a storm is approaching and visibility is limited. As the night passes by the winds & waves subside, I drop sails check out the beautiful universe for awhile and crank up the 50hp to planing speed and find a good place to drop anchor. You don`t have to worry about getting sun-burned....