P/S It doesn't sound like you to be sailing in the dark, so I truly
don't believe it happened to you as you described


Thom, the post was a test for certain folks here. Most failed. The
"whole proper watch" thing is a joke!!! Roughly 1/3rd of our sailing is
at night (perhaps less this year with Thomas). We keep a careful watch.
But even with some shore-light, sailing alone, most folks who ACTUALLY
DO sail at night know a collision is something that can happen to
anyone. A careful watch won't help you if something, like a damaged
boat, lies partially submerged in choppy waters at night. You'd have to
be damn lucky to spot it and not many folks are standing on their bows
with high powered spot lights at night. We sail most of the time (the
"we" being people who actually use their boats) knowing the such
dangers exist, but it's probability that really protects us. The troll
simply exposed another level of dopey inexperience and mindless
response from the so called sailors here. You can't avoid what you
can't see...and you can't see everything especially at night. The
wisest suggestion would be to never operate a boat at night...or a car
or plane for that matter.


RB
35s5
NY