out in the dark

[Poly]

if you are susceptible to sea sickness you will find that the motion with no real horizon etc is exaggerated and you may want to take preventative steps. I've never felt sick on a RIB in daylight (even in lively seas) but with even a tiny swell at night it screws with my head.

[tonymac]

Originally Posted by willk

Which in fairness, was a blessing

Soooo true!!!

[Searider]

Plan, plan, plan!

I would recommend planning your route using a paper chart well in advance.
Set your route to be easy to find, not necessarily the shortest route - but something you can be confident of following.
Obviously a chart plotter helps (actually makes the Nav easy) but if you have a simple route that's easy to memorise then whilst you are looking for the buoys of other marks you are also keeping a lookout. A second pair of eyes in invaluable.

As an example, before we had a chart plotter, we used to make numerous trips to Cowes on our SR5.4. The route back from Cowes was something like this:

Leave Cowes and point at the Fawley chimney. If its not visible then steer approximately north until you can see it. (It almost always is visible though).

When you see the westerly cardinal buoy flashing, steer for that.

Once you reach that turn right until you are pointing at the first green buoy ( you will have seen that already in any case).

Follow the green buoys up to Southampton water, noting that there is a cardinal a the end of the North Channel and that Calshot light float will be off to port somewhere.

After getting to Calshot area look for the southerly cardinal of Hamble spit. Difficult against the shore lights and the pier behind.

Once you've found that you're home - assuming you wanted to go to Hamble.

Have a look at your chart and plot something similar for Lymington.

[mick]

Went from Ty-Calch up to puffin & out into the bay a few years ago with some RYA chaps that were keeping there skills up awesome night would love to have a go sometime
They used glow sticks to look at charts

[Mollers]

Originally Posted by Poly

tiny swell at night it screws with my head.

What, back towards the rest of us, or further off into Polymania?

[Poly]

Originally Posted by Mollers

What, back towards the rest of us, or further off into Polymania?

It's like normal poly but grumpy and pukey!

[cptsideways]

We are Poole area regulars, especially this time of year as the night draws in.

My Tips
No1 : Pick a night with good moonlight eg full moon springs
No2: Have a decent light up front that does not light up the boat!! as you'll see bugger all
No3: Know the area & what lights from the land relate to during the day (it gets confusing)

We pick clear nights, with flat water & its simply a brilliant experience, it can get chilly so wrap up warm, just dont loose your lights on the way back from the pub down the wareham channel !!!

[Chris Lewington]

Poole usually has fireworks on the quay on 5th November and usually pulls a decent boat crowd. Just wonder subject to weather and conditions to time it for then in going out. Safety in numbers and all that should you require any assistance. One of My first boat sessions was at night was a fireworks event a few summers back and found it useful knowing you were not alone.

Lewey

[C-NUMB]

If doing night navigation, it has to be in good weather, otherwise won't be doing it.
I am picky with the crew also, only with crew i know well and know will stay calm also in slightly challenging circumstances. If there a problem will occur at night, the challenge factor is usually much higher than in daylight.

At nighttime it is even more important to " be on the chart", if the plotter dies and you are not following other navigational equipment, You will be screwed...

As other has mentioned, careful preparation is the key.