AS my cruise is coming up, I decided to go out night sailing to see
how everything worked in the dark. Havent been night sailing in
several years. Had very little wind, sailed about 12 miles due south
till I was near "O" tower (an AIR Force navigational structure for
drones out in the Gulf) and then back in. Everything went well even
with no moon and nearly total dark till I got back near shore and got
disoriented suddenly. Didnt trust the lights I was seeing so checked
the GPS which confirmed my position. I still do almost all of my
navigation by coastal piloting methods and dead reckoning so the GPS
just confirmed I was right. Still, the sudden disorientation was
freaky. Carabelle does not show up very well from the water and the
plethora of cell towers and radio towers makes finding the correct
flashing red difficult. I was surprised there were NO other boats out
on a Saturday night except a lone shrimper who disappeared to the
south. All in all, a good experience confirming my boat seems ready.