How hard is night boating

AZQCBoater

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
46
How hard is night boating? Want to do some evening runs to beat the heat and crowds in AZ if possible. So I will go out late afternoon maybe a couple of hours before sunset and most likely get to the ramp after dark. Am I asking for trouble?
 

harringtondav

Commander
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May 26, 2018
Messages
2,438
We boat on the upper Mississippi. Well marked with nuns and cans and illuminated day marks. I will not get caught on the river after dark. I've got a multimillion candle power spot light that helps if a passenger is scanning for the channel markers. But I'm always at a 1300 rpm troll. Can't believe the number of people running on a plane in the dark.

I know our pool like the back of my hand - in daylight. When it's pitch black it's vertigo. If you have radar or a GPS route home plotted, maybe.
 

briangcc

Commander
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Jul 10, 2012
Messages
2,090
Let's put it this way....many years ago I watched fireworks over Boldt Castle with my uncle (1000 Islands, St. Lawrence River). At the conclusion of the event, it was drizzling, completely overcast and the only lights you could see were the channel markers. I had onboard GPS and was following my uncle on one side of the channel heading back. Got buzzed by several go-fast cigarette style boats that made me feel very uncomfortable. Couldn't see a thing and that included rocky shoals.

I won't do it again under those conditions....and it'd probably take a lot of convincing to do it on a moonlit night too.
 

gm280

Supreme Mariner
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Jun 26, 2011
Messages
14,585
The number of times I was lucky to not get run over told me to never do it again. But that is just me. Some people love night boating and fishing. I'm just not one of them for my own reasons...
 

racerone

Supreme Mariner
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Dec 28, 2013
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36,034
Agreed.--------I spent many nights moving sailboats for owners.---Many nights racing sailboats too.------But sailboats give both boats time to react to a collision situation !-----Powerboats are a total different set-up.----Often times the wee boat that is fishing is not seen by the " go fast " monsters.------Also the channel markers / boat lights / navigation rules were made up a 150 years ago when nothing on the water was capable of more than 20 knots..-----Today it is different.--------At one time our local harbor had a flashing red light on the light house., the only flashing red light.-----Easy to pickout at night and I did it many times.-----Today the shoreline has about 200 windmills and they have flashing red lights on them.-----Detroit and Sinclair rivers have many flashing red lights in bar windows.-------Nobody seems to realize the possible confusion that has developed over the years.-----Monster freighters have tiny red and green light on the bow.---------Bottom line.-----Don't go out at night on crowded waterways in a little boat.------Maybe , just maybe the folks in charge will realize what happened..
 

cptbill

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Oct 6, 2012
Messages
732
It will take a lot of getting use to but very doable, I'm not a lake boater so I'm not sure what the nav. markers are like but in the gulf most channel entrances can be found pretty easily, just remember to use your night settings on your GPS, Radio etc the worst thing is to be night blind by your own stuff. Once you get us to it you'd be surprised how well you can make out different shapes and lights but always beware there are some fellow boaters out there that don't quite get the light thing so well and most importantly slow down
 

MTboatguy

Fleet Admiral
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Jul 8, 2010
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8,988
I don't know, I know I don't do it.

Heck the Titanic was in the middle of the ocean at night and still managed to hit something!

:eek:
 

ziggy

Admiral
Joined
Jun 30, 2004
Messages
7,473
i've boated many times at night in past years.
lets just say boating at night is just plain night and day.
you can't see anything at night. except what's right in front of you. i mean like a few feet in front of you. everything will look different at night. light on the shore line may look like boat lights, boat lights may look like lights on the shore line. it can be very deceiving and disturbing even if you used to it or know that's what's getting ready to occur as it gets dark.

i'm a local lake boater and know the lake i go to well. prior to going night boating i run the perimeter of my lake and any coves i may want to go into with my gps on. this lays down a boundary for me. if i stay within the boundary i can't run aground. however it don't keep me from hitting someone else out night boating. for this a sharp lookout is essential. preferably two people. in my case, me and the ol lady. i'm driving.
slow is the key word imho. i never go more that 1200 rpm on my boat. usually around 1k. i idle at 650-700. that's pretty darn slow.

night boating with a full moon helps a lot. but still. i abide by everything i've stated. (looks like others have the same statement).

keep you spot light right at hand. only use it when you suspect somethings up. you want your night vision to develop. this takes 15 or 20 min. you still can't see, but you can see shadows and that's what you boat by. when you use you spot light you'll lose your night vision for a bit. so use it sparingly. mostly i use mine when coming back into the harbor to dock. looking at bouy's and shoreline and docks and other boats. at that point i don't care if i'm losing my night vision as i'm coming in the the eve.

imho. night boating is likely very dangerous. it is not day boating in any sense of the word. two different activities.

never go fast at night imho. there's always someone else willing to do this and to this day it astounds me that there's not more accidents at night for high speed. fwiw. i think my local lake has just recently post a no wake law for night boating. imho. this is a justified rule. and i don't like rules.
 

AZQCBoater

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
46
I don't know! This is making me nervous to even enjoy boating at night. Maybe I will just get back to the ramp before it gets too dark.
 

tpenfield

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Jul 18, 2011
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17,621
Only boated at night once . . . everything looks different. Your head will need to be on a swivel to watch out for things and to try to pick up some landmarks. Don't count on all of the bouts being lighted as indicated on charts. Some may not be working, so you'll need to have back-up methods

You will need your GPS and re-trace your track back to the ramp. Allow lots of time, because you will need to go much slower.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
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Jul 23, 2011
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I night boat often.

and each time is a different scenario.

for example, Boating on a small lake in Door County WI, we often came back from fishing at 1 or 2 AM. however my bud knows the lake inside and out, and even on a pitch black night, can get you around and back to the dock

I boat down here on the ICW on the Florida Suncoast. plenty of light, markers, etc. however the channels move. if the night is clear, I am often on-plane following my GPS and watching the channel markers. on an over-cast night in the rain, I am moving no faster than I want to hit something

River boating requires going slow, especially if the river bottom changes, there are floaters or you are un-familiar with the area. Boated often on the Menominee river about a mile away from camp going after walleye and bass. often going out after dark.

Boating on the great lakes, it was not uncommon to be zipping along 5 miles off-shore at WOT in the dark. Granted we had both GPS and radar. (BTW - Kayaks dont show up on radar) on a poker run, we almost took out a group of kayakers that were 4 miles off shore in the fog, and had to go back to get them and point them toward shore

Navigation lights are a must.
a good high-powered light is nice to have. in addition to my high power spot light, I have a few tactical LED flashlights's that will shine about 3 miles.

having red dash lights is a must. any other color messes with your night vision. if your dash lights are blue, that is the worst color to have.
 

AZQCBoater

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Apr 25, 2019
Messages
46
The lake I will be going on has no channel markers and such. Nothing as complex as what you all are talking about :)
 

25thmustang

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Mar 20, 2008
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1,849
Used to night boat quite a bit with my past two boats. Only on a familiar river, and only at slow speeds (1500 RPM or so). I had quite a lot of people pass me running at cruise and it shocked me. Boating at night is peaceful to me, and I actually found docking easier due to less wind most of the time.
 

JimS123

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Jul 27, 2007
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Lighted channel markers, others that have reflectors that shine if you use a spotlight, and even a clear night with a full moon may lead you to believe that you can navigate at night. But every once in awhile you see a big log floating down the river. In daylight you can see it and go around. At night, that will be the thing you hit.
 

ziggy

Admiral
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Jun 30, 2004
Messages
7,473
I don't know! This is making me nervous to even enjoy boating at night. Maybe I will just get back to the ramp before it gets too dark
don't let our comments slow you down. night boating is very fun. it's just different than day boating. your doing well to get some comments on folks that been there done that. good start.

a couple more thoughts.
-wear your pfd. mine sits right next to me while day boating. at night. i put it on.
-ya might brush up on the various nav light configurations. there are several depending on the vessel involved. knowing this info can be most useful when encountering other vessels. sailboats, speedboats, canoes, someone anchored and fishing. just a few example of boats that will have different nav light configurations.
-on the down side. be prepared for bugs. on my lake anyways. they love nav lights. specially the white one. good thing is they usually stay by the lights.
-boating at night is a lot of fun. just be as prepared as you can. be as safe as you can. go slow. you'll likely have a great time. don't let us scare you off. it'll be a new experience. a new skill, exciting. imho, you'll be a better skipper for having the experience.
 

MRS

Commander
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Jul 10, 2005
Messages
2,555
We boat on Havasu a lot at night but never on holidays! Slow is the speed plus when running out in the morning to fish is dark as night good to know your lake in the day time first. I do not think I would run at night in a river thou. slow is the speed at night time try it once close to your ramp and you will see ever thing looks totally different at dark time would be good if you have a friend with you on your first trip.
My avatar is at Havasu right before sunset.
 
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sillyhilley

Cadet
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
19
I do love a nice booze cruise. (I’m not drinking🤥). Going slow and checking out land from water is a fun time. Most of my time is split between chain of lakes and little travers bay. I have boated in Colorado river before. It’s a nice deep wide river and even with a phone gps app ( navionics) will keep you on corse. You just have to try it and see for your self. Have a check list gas,food,water, etc. only thing I would do is give a buddy a float plan and let him know a time you’ll be back. Other then that enjoy!
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,417
Surprised at the number of people who think using lights is the answer. Shining lights not only destroys your night vision, but everyone around you as well.

I ran night fishing trips for a number of years. Almost 18 miles each way from the dock. A compass and good night vision was all that was required. Could pick out crab pot buoys on all but the darkest of nights.

A single flood light pointing to the sky marked the entrance to the marina on the return trip.

Nowadays, I hit the waypoint on the chart plotter and press go. In heavy traffic or reduced visibility situations I may supplement visuals with radar
 

fishrdan

Admiral
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
6,989
Go out on a full moon, you will be surprised how well you can see once your eyes adjust to the low light conditions. New moon and pitch black is completely different story.

I boat on Mead, Mohave and the Colorado River and don't have issues running at night, but I'm familiar with the areas I'm boating and know what to avoid. If in doubt or if something doesn't feel right - cut the throttle! You never know what you'll find floating around out there: 10' long doug fir 4x4, tent, canoe, huge tree branch, boat no nav lights, are things I've found floating around at night.

I don't 100% trust my electronics at night, especially on fluctuating reservoirs, I use them as a reference to run the main channel. Mead is about 100' low and my charts are for near full pool, so a high spot 75' deep on the chart is now an island. I have also seen many unmarked reefs with no buoy, or channel marker/navigation lights burned out. Even if idling along, keep your wits about you as your vision is highly diminished and the water will look black, I've been startled a couple of times when I wasn't paying attention close to shore....

Have more than one light source on the boat. More than once my Qbeam has gone bad and I've had to use a flashlight... The trick to using a light while night boating is to not "light up" the boat hull with it's reflection, hold it high and shine it upwards towards what you want to look at, so your eyes are not catching the reflected light off the hull. Your night vision will still be ruined to some degree, but not nearly as bad as if you're looking at a lit up hull. When coming into a harbor, I do the opposite, shine the light into the water at an angle to bounce the light beam, so I'm not blinding everyone on shore.
 
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