Night driving

[lucky7t]

Who here boats at night?? It seems creepy and I'm a bit worried of hitting something.

Any tips or advice??

I would like to try it next weekend

[gome123]

Night boating is creepy and you could hit it something. I try and avoid as much as possible. Advice: Use a spot light, Tower lights don't work well. They just create glare. Drive slower than normal. Full moon night driving is a bit better. Last tip... wait till the sun is out.

[Swoks]

Drove at night 3 weeks ago. Spotlight is good advice. Having a nav system is something I wished I had had then. I know the lake pretty well during the day but at night its completely different. I have now downloaded the app Navionics to my iphone and paid the $15 for maps on all the lakes in North America.

[sstexan]

As long as you are familiar with the lake your on, I have to disagree with you guys. Cruising at night is fun. Some of our best times are coming back from dinner on the lake listening to music with the underwater platform lights on. Yes, take it easy, I never drive on plane and use a spot light every few minutes to make sure your in the middle of the channel.

If I was unfamiliar with the lake, I would not drive at night. There is no doubt, a lake is much much different at night!

Hope this helps!

[wawasee]

I'm with sstexan. Our lake is 3,100 acres and has three bars/restaurants to boat to, so we are out at night all the time. Indiana law limits night boating to 10 MPH and most people follow the rule. I just sit so I can see over the top of the wind shield, cruise just over idle and look for other navigation lights of other boaters. As far as navigation, it is easy on Lake Wawasee. If I was on a very large lake with lots of coves then that is another story. Enjoy your night boat ride this weekend.

[nauty220]

I agree with SSTexan. I used to do it quite often coming back to the marina from dinner.

- I would always go much slower
- I would always have one of my buddies looking out with me with 100% attention visually skimming the surface of the water ahead.

One thing to keep in mind, and i learned this from experience unfortunately. When lights are in the background from shore don't confuse those lights from boat lights. I was anchored on a 40'+ sea ray and a catamaran with 50 or so guest literally t boned us. The driver said our anchor lights blended in with the lights behind us on shore. He was an idiot!

[nyryan2001]

I drive at night a lot. You really need to know the water and the route well. If its really dark... its easy to miss your turns etc.

Go slower.

you need to be up on the bolster or standing looking over the windhsield. use your cruise and set to 22mph.

Turn all the interior boat convienience lighting off. Inside of the boat should be dark. Turn down your dash display to 0% or 10% brightness. you need everything very dim to allow your eyes to adjust and maintain maximum night vision. only lights should be your Nav and anchor lights.

as you go along... you are looking ahead, and scanning left and right. Focus 100-150ft in front of the boat on the water surface and pick up the reflection of other lights, most of the time there is a relfection from the moon or something... try to find it. That reflection will allow you to ensure there are no boats with their lights off, debris or whatever in your path. Sometimes you can pay attention to that reflection by NOT looking directly at it... but perhaps the darker areas right above it. Peripheral vision takes over for the area righ under the dark spot you are focused on. A known Navy trick.

[MLA]

Ive been boating at night since I got my first, so about 16 years now. 1) know the lake real well. This way, you can automatically avoid the normal hazards and concentrate on boats and other floating hazards. 2) i disagree with using any type of spot or docking lights while underway. Lights, even the glow of the helm lights or radio remote is enough to cause the pupils to contract, making it harder to see at night. You want it as dark as possible in and around the boat. This make it much easier to see what out on the water. Just my $.02

[JamesHawk101]

I ride in the intercoastal on the west coast of Florida so you just have to look for the channel markers to stay in the channel. I also always have my lights off so it's easier to see. Sometimes I will turn on the docking lights because the leds reflect really well off the signs. I also have 3 broken handheld spot lights too...

[4th ski-doo]

Interior lights off, tower lights off and LINC brightness down then enjoy tour ride

[Paxdad]

No matter what we always wear life jackets at night. If you get hit by an idiot at least they will find you! We are out fairly frequently and we made this change in our boating after a multi fatality on our lake. Took almost two weeks to find the two young boys. I was going to be one of the recovery divers as there were not enough in our area for the number and depth of water.

[CHassmann]

I love to boat at night! Our lake is small and I've been on it for 44 years, so I know it like the back of my hand. We were at Norris Lake in July and were close to not making it back to our friends house from the marina before dark. That made me nervous!

[SilentSeven]

We do it but it can be spooky. In particular, you *really* have to scan for other boats. Alertness factor has go up by about 1000% as moving objects are so much harder to pickup. You can't assume they see you, you can't assume they have their running lights on or that they are even working. I usually assign a buddy to also scan for boats so we have two sets of eyes looking.

Every summer here in the Seattle area there is a night boat collision or two. This year, there was a fatality when a speed boat hit a sail boat on Lake Washington. Have fun but be careful!

[HS]

We've cruised at night on our friends' boat and he basically treats the whole lake like a no-wake zone and we just take it easy.

[scott resick]

Night cruise is the best way to end a good ski day. My only concern with a night drive is how anchor lights can appear to be either just another star in a clear sky or a light on shore far in the distance. I like to keep an eye in my mirror for nav lights approaching.