otnmbrd wrote:

Getting disoriented from lights can happen even to those of us who do a
lot of night "sailing".
Sometimes it's from a clear night where you can see lights you normally
don't see, or just a slightly new angle of approach to a familiar landfall.
Good reason to use more than one method of navigation, whenever possible.

Last winter we went offshore more than usual, so I usually found
myself standing the watch in the wee hours in the morning as Bob can't
sleep early in the night and I can.

We were going south off Georgia and I was keeping a lookout for ships
on the horizon. I dodged some freighters, saw some more dolphins and
saw a meteor. We were hearing radio traffic from Charleston, and
Savannah both. That gives me some warning when the big ships say they
are going out the channel.

The stars are very bright except on the west near shore where I can
see the glow in the sky from the various cities we pass - first
Charleston and then I guess Beaufort (dimmer) and then Savannah.

There are big rollers coming from the east, but the surface of the
water is pretty smooth There's also some kind of strobe thing east of
us.

Later on, after we got past Savannah I kept seeing these lights to
the east of us, and they seemed to be on a collision course or at
least they were stationary in relation to our boat and I didn't think
there were any ATON out there.. They were white.

Eventually, when some of the lights got higher above the horizon, I
figured out that it was the stars rising.

Then the following spring, we were going north from Charleston to the
Cape Fear River and I saw a bright light in the western sky. A ship?
Where would a ship be coming from? It's all marshland over there.

No - it's too big and too high up for a ship - plus I can't see any
red or green lights.

A lighthouse? Can't find any lighthouses on the charts over on that
shore, and again it's too high up.

There's no moon tonight, and I know stars don't rise in the west, so
it can't be a star this time and it's too bright.

A plane taking off? But it doesn't seem to get higher. Eventually the
light goes away, so I guessed it was a plane that landed. After a bit
I saw another one.

There is not much traffic on the radio except the CG - I hear from
stations all the way from Mayport to Cape Hatteras. Did hear an Army
ship saying that it has hazardous cargo.

Later in the night, I heard the CG asking people if they'd seen
flares. Then the light dawned.

Those lights I saw were FLARES!!!


grandma Rosalie