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#1
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You might consider laying off shore till morning or trying to time your
arrival for daylight. I won't go in at night unless I've been there during the day and am familiar with the harbor. "Parallax" wrote in message om... 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. |
#2
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On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 09:57:17 -0500, "Bryan" wrote:
You might consider laying off shore till morning or trying to time your arrival for daylight. I won't go in at night unless I've been there during the day and am familiar with the harbor. ===================================== That's good advice for a tricky entrance or a poorly equipped boat. With good electronic charting and/or radar it's usually not that difficult however. One of the problems in many inlets however is that the buoys are not charted because of constant change to the channel. That's definitely a reason to wait for daylight in my opinion. |
#3
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Wayne.B wrote in message . ..
On Mon, 8 Nov 2004 09:57:17 -0500, "Bryan" wrote: You might consider laying off shore till morning or trying to time your arrival for daylight. I won't go in at night unless I've been there during the day and am familiar with the harbor. ===================================== That's good advice for a tricky entrance or a poorly equipped boat. With good electronic charting and/or radar it's usually not that difficult however. One of the problems in many inlets however is that the buoys are not charted because of constant change to the channel. That's definitely a reason to wait for daylight in my opinion. The biggest problem I saw on this little night sailing excercise was the unlighted buoys. Two of them, I only saw when I was abeam of them and two I never did see. Running into these markers is the biggest hazard on a night like that. The reflective coating must be faded from the sun so they just do not show up until fairly close. Furhtermore, there is some discrepancy between what the charts say and some markers. There is also a recent uncharted shrimpboat wreck at the west end of the island that is partway into the channel thazt I was never able to spotlight on the way in. The excercise was good in exposing a couple of small problems and bringing back some old skills. For example, I did not have a small flashlight for taking a quick peak at the chart so I was blinded for about 30 secs after every time I looked at it. In the day, I obsessively rely on my handbearing compass to take bearings which enables me to go on a course till a bearing is presented to something which will clear all obstacles. My hand compass is not lighted and it would have blinded me to take such a bearing so I used the GPS. I completely forgot about simply pointing the boat at the object in question and using the dimly lighted boat compass. |
#4
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#6
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rhys wrote in message . ..
On 10 Nov 2004 11:55:08 -0800, (Parallax) wrote: My hand compass is not lighted and it would have blinded me to take such a bearing so I used the GPS. I completely forgot about simply pointing the boat at the object in question and using the dimly lighted boat compass. You know, it strikes me that you could very easily wire an AAA battery to a pair of glasses frames, attached to a single red LED of the appropriate voltage. This would make a great "night light" for pelorus bearings and brief looks at charts. Would look dorky, of course, but I am looking for a functional five-dollar solution here, not the next $59 special at West Marine: "NightSailor Vision Goggles!" R. Lol, Dorky minds all think alike. Such a thing actually exists and is sold at Wal Mart for about $9.00. I thought of this and remembered that when I was looking for suitable low cost lights for caving I had seen it. Having always been sort of a dorkish geek, the looks won't bother me. |
#7
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They have 'head lights' , strap on or hat style. I've seen them with
red lenses. Sporting goods stores have them. -- Scott Vernon Plowville Pa _/)__/)_/)_ "Parallax" wrote in message om... rhys wrote in message . .. On 10 Nov 2004 11:55:08 -0800, (Parallax) wrote: My hand compass is not lighted and it would have blinded me to take such a bearing so I used the GPS. I completely forgot about simply pointing the boat at the object in question and using the dimly lighted boat compass. You know, it strikes me that you could very easily wire an AAA battery to a pair of glasses frames, attached to a single red LED of the appropriate voltage. This would make a great "night light" for pelorus bearings and brief looks at charts. Would look dorky, of course, but I am looking for a functional five-dollar solution here, not the next $59 special at West Marine: "NightSailor Vision Goggles!" R. Lol, Dorky minds all think alike. Such a thing actually exists and is sold at Wal Mart for about $9.00. I thought of this and remembered that when I was looking for suitable low cost lights for caving I had seen it. Having always been sort of a dorkish geek, the looks won't bother me. |
#8
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Comments interspersed:
Parallax wrote: The biggest problem I saw on this little night sailing excercise was the unlighted buoys. Two of them, I only saw when I was abeam of them and two I never did see. Running into these markers is the biggest hazard on a night like that. Always has and probably always will be a problem. Two thoughts: Have a narrow beam flashlight handy (one which doesn't throw a large diffused light) to pick these out. Normally, this type light won't totally destroy your night vision .... normally. When coming up on this type buoy, check your charts for other, more visible landmarks, which you might be able to use for back-up positioning .... course, there's always electronic methods potentially available, but if you are cruising and piloting, the visual back-ups may give you a more secure feeling. The reflective coating must be faded from the sun so they just do not show up until fairly close. Furhtermore, there is some discrepancy between what the charts say and some markers. Again, an ongoing problem ..... always consider the chart info to be where the marker "should" be, not where it "is".... give yourself a built-in amount of safety room, around any marker and whenever possible, "danger bearings" when approaching any you might think suspect, though all would be better. There is also a recent uncharted shrimpboat wreck at the west end of the island that is partway into the channel thazt I was never able to spotlight on the way in. Local Notice to Mariners on the net, is all I can suggest here for possible latest info on these items. Note: I've had numerous queries on a wreck in my area. My surprise at the queries.... the wreck is a small fishing boat in 300' of water that is marked as a "wreck", not a "dangerous wreck" .... point being, some necessary info may not always get out or be understood, in the LNM. The excercise was good in exposing a couple of small problems and bringing back some old skills. For example, I did not have a small flashlight for taking a quick peak at the chart so I was blinded for about 30 secs after every time I looked at it. In the day, I obsessively rely on my handbearing compass to take bearings which enables me to go on a course till a bearing is presented to something which will clear all obstacles. My hand compass is not lighted and it would have blinded me to take such a bearing so I used the GPS. I completely forgot about simply pointing the boat at the object in question and using the dimly lighted boat compass. I had a portable azimuth circle which mounted on the cabin hatch for taking relative bearings ( could easily be mounted over a binnacle) when there were two people available. I would use this, compared to a "mark" heading on the steering compass (which I knew the error to -deviation tables). This type of rig would need to be boat and/or operator specific, but coupled with the ole red flashlight, I found it the least cumbersome .... to each his/her own. otn |
#9
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otnmbrd wrote:
Comments interspersed: Parallax wrote: The biggest problem I saw on this little night sailing excercise was the unlighted buoys. Two of them, I only saw when I was abeam of them and two I never did see. Running into these markers is the biggest hazard on a night like that. Always has and probably always will be a problem. Two thoughts: Have a narrow beam flashlight handy (one which doesn't throw a large diffused light) to pick these out. Normally, this type light won't totally destroy your night vision .... normally. When coming up on this type buoy, check your charts for other, more visible landmarks, which you might be able to use for back-up positioning .... course, there's always electronic methods potentially available, but if you are cruising and piloting, the visual back-ups may give you a more secure feeling. What we do might not work for you, but usually I'm at the wheel and watching the computer chart and Bob is up with the big spotlight looking for markers. At least that's they way we come in to Miami at night. We do it that way because while Miami is really well lit up at night, one of the first times we came in (from the Bahamas), Bob was out on deck getting stuff ready to pick up a mooring and taking care of the sails etc, and I ran on the wrong side of some floaters south of Dodge Island just where the ICW comes by. Fortunately it was high tide and the depth sounder didn't even go off. Then Bob told me that I should just head for the Rickenbacker Causeway (our mooring was down there just on the port side of it) because there were no more markers, and that was not true (and he denies absolutely that he said any such thing). Suddenly I saw a square green reflection right in front of my port running light - oops. did manage to swerve in time to miss the daymark, but not by much. Since then, he's always been out on deck with the light so I will be sure to see stuff like that.g The reflective coating must be faded from the sun so they just do not show up until fairly close. Furhtermore, there is some discrepancy between what the charts say and some markers. Again, an ongoing problem ..... always consider the chart info to be where the marker "should" be, not where it "is".... give yourself a built-in amount of safety room, around any marker and whenever possible, "danger bearings" when approaching any you might think suspect, though all would be better. There is also a recent uncharted shrimpboat wreck at the west end of the island that is partway into the channel thazt I was never able to spotlight on the way in. Local Notice to Mariners on the net, is all I can suggest here for possible latest info on these items. Note: I've had numerous queries on a wreck in my area. My surprise at the queries.... the wreck is a small fishing boat in 300' of water that is marked as a "wreck", not a "dangerous wreck" .... point being, some necessary info may not always get out or be understood, in the LNM. The excercise was good in exposing a couple of small problems and bringing back some old skills. For example, I did not have a small flashlight for taking a quick peak at the chart so I was blinded for about 30 secs after every time I looked at it. In the day, I We have a light in our compass and the GPS lighted (on low), and the computer chart can be put on "night" which makes everything red. I actually like it better just dimmed down because when everything is red all the colors disappear. We also have the engine panel lighted (not very bright). obsessively rely on my handbearing compass to take bearings which enables me to go on a course till a bearing is presented to something which will clear all obstacles. My hand compass is not lighted and it would have blinded me to take such a bearing so I used the GPS. I completely forgot about simply pointing the boat at the object in question and using the dimly lighted boat compass. I had a portable azimuth circle which mounted on the cabin hatch for taking relative bearings ( could easily be mounted over a binnacle) when there were two people available. I would use this, compared to a "mark" heading on the steering compass (which I knew the error to -deviation tables). This type of rig would need to be boat and/or operator specific, but coupled with the ole red flashlight, I found it the least cumbersome .... to each his/her own. We do go into some inlets after dark and don't go into others. Miami is pretty well lit and well marked. Lucaya is not and has some uncharted and unlit buoys. So even though we have a previous track on the computer, I would not go in at night. grandma Rosalie |
#10
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Always good advice. If you are not familiar with a particular landfall,
never be afraid to hold off or at least do a few "round turns" until you can feel comfortable with your position and route of approach .... even with those you are normally familiar with. Even with GPS, radar, your visual/ mental sense of what is around you and where you are, is extremely important to your "comfort factor" when navigating in any restricted or close quarters. otn Rosalie B. wrote: snip We do go into some inlets after dark and don't go into others. Miami is pretty well lit and well marked. Lucaya is not and has some uncharted and unlit buoys. So even though we have a previous track on the computer, I would not go in at night. grandma Rosalie |
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