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.

I am glad to hear that I am not the only one that has had that happen. For
me I saw a white light astern coming over the horizon. No problem. A little
bit later I saw a lower white light that appeared to be a ship coming
straight at us. I change course about 30 degrees and kept watching it as it
go brighter. The lights were still coming straight on so I changed course 60
degrees in the opposite direction. I got thinking about this situation and
was about to wake the off watch, but I wanted to make one more check and
there was the moon coming up. I had been looking at a star straight up over
the tip of the moon. It took me a while before I ever admitted that I was
being run down by the moon. Funny story now, but not on the late watch after
ten days of looking at nothing but an occasional ship and lots of ocean.

Leanne