Night time estuary boating

[NArmstrong]

Anyone fish estuarys at night? How do u navigate as a lot of beacon are not lit up? Do u use a spotlight or rely on gps? I currently use a old spotty, was thinking of upgrading it as it's not very bright. Just throwing out for some suggestions.

[shaungonemad]

It is a bit daunting at night the few times I have gone out it has been early morning not long before sun up I use the gps mainly but even a dolphin torch will pick up the reflectors on the markers from a far distance I have found trying to judge distance the hardest at night, slow and steady works for me.

[Swanie1975]

It's not just the beacons that aren't lit - half the bloody boats out there aren't either!
I use my chartplotter and night vision as best I can going nice and slow, usually time it on a night with a bit of moon to help.

cheers Ryan

[Agrav8_and_Lulu]

We use a spot light and have the beacon to beacon on our Lapps. It get us to where we need to be, but it can be slow going at night and in unfamiliar waterways.

A couple of weeks ago we went out in the arvo and had the hand held gps on.
It work really well on the way home at midnight. At every marker I put a waypoint in, it saved a lot of time and wil be utilizing it more often.

Darren

[scottar]

GPS + spotty + local knowledge + good vessel layout with respect to lighting ie - keeping the "in your face" type lighting to an absolute minimum so as to not rob you of your night vision. Moonlit nights definately make life easier. I have done away with my 12 volt spotty and now carry one of the new generation LED torches. Had to come home in the dark too many times after popping spotty globes. Just make sure you carry a spare set of batteries if you adopt this approach.

[chocolatemoose]

fished gippsland for 20 years using just spotlights. its handy having a fair few mounted around the boat now "flood that is. not spot" it should hit any decent object to reflect. gps helps a lot but arnt 100%. local knowlege is great

4g broadband radar will help most.....but understandable if you dont want to go that direction :P

[scottar]

Combine the 4G with a decent Flir system and you go anywhere in total darkness but my guess is a slight overkill for most estuary fishos.

[Nslfishing]

What can you expect to pay for a decent flir system

[chocolatemoose]

cheapest hand held. about 2200... cheapest mountable. about 10k

[scottar]

Like I said. Overkill. That said though, the guys that I did fit them for now wouldn't be without them

[Nslfishing]

What about cheapest but effective radar setup. How much do you reckon

[ozscott]

This type of thread has come up before. Night vision can take a long walk off a short jetty when there is no moon and you are in a place like the Pin...its a big arsed remote controlled spotty for me so I can wreck the night vision for those guys with excellent night vision - you know the ones...tinny with no lights on. Its my pet hate. Its bloody dangerous. So now I wreck my own night vision for safety - I try my best not to shine the spotty on boats that are lit - the ones that are not lit get a fair bit of glare though.

In a perfect world a spotty would not be warranted, and lets face it, once its on your vision without it is stuffed for a long time.

Cheers

[scottar]

Yup, there's some not too bright Lad's out there. I nearly cleaned up one many moons ago in his tender - using his lighter as a signalling device while rowing across the main body of the Pin. Not to mention the goons who sit in the channel at the top of Peel and in the Rainbow. One night we nearly cleaned one up in the middle of the channel in the Rainbow I would have gone straight through the middle of him.His reply to my verbal barage was "It's alright, we had seen you". Unfortunately you can't fix stupid.

[Apollo]

Deliverying a yacht back from Mooloolaba to Sydney, we (2) were off Port Stephens in the wee hours moving along under sail at about 7-8 knots. I was on the bow with the boat on autopilot. My mate was off watch, so in a bunk. Saw a faint orange glow int he distance and then it stopped. Bit later, same. It was getting clearer and closer, then it dawned on me what it was - cigarette! Up and took off towards the helm but forgot to unleash the safety harness so was pulled off my feet. Quick unhook, run to the back, disengage the autohelm and spun the wheel hard, just as we run the dickheads boat down the side of us. If I didn't see him, I would have run straight over the top of him with about 10 tonne of yacht. I was running nav lights, but he had none on fishing 4-5nm out. Nearly killed the silly prick and gave him the serve of serves. Guess in this case, smoking SAVED his life.

[Back In Black]

What can you expect to pay for a decent flir system

I paid about 7K by memory & was the best money I have ever spent. No way would I cross Noosa bar of a night without it.

Tony

[scottar]

They are a good bit of kit. The guy's I used to work for were doing a demo at a customers one evening at Raby Bay when old mate down the end of the canal decided that it was safe to take a leak in his backyard a couple of hundred metres away. Not that they wanted to look but a very clear indication of just how good this stuff is. the best part of it is that it will see objects in the water(not under the surface but breaking the surface) that radar can miss - crab pot floats, logs etc. They won't necessarily stand out like the proverbial but they will be there. Just a pity it's so exy. As for the spotty - good for the estuary but they still have their limitations. I spent a very cold, miserable, rough winters night on anchor somewhere near Shag Rock courtesy of a GPS malfunction in the early days. I knew I was close - local knowledge - lights on Straddie. Motored around for about half an hour looking for the rock to hide behind but it was that black the light just didn't seem to penetrate. Eventually decided it was more dangerous to keep looking than just anchor. When the sun arrived the following day the rock was only about 100 metres away. The spotty was a good 100 watt handheld, not a toy.


I guess the best thing to do is not put all your eggs in one basket. People have navigated the globe with little more than a compass and candles - doesn't mean it's the best or only way to do it.

[the gecko]

GPS all the way for me. I go out and navigate in daytime at low tide, and put the waypoints in. Then when I go at night, I can navigate any tide back home. I deal with a lot of sandbars and uncharted waters with no markers.

Ive added floodlights to the boat, but when its up on the plane, you cant get the right angle to show boats and hazards. I really only use them to see overhanging trees in estuaries.

Ive used every type of handheld spotlight. The ones with a windup handle that acts as a dynamo are good for emergency use with no need for batteries. Im currently using a $30 led hand held type that I got at bunnings. It opens like a bat wing for panel style lights, or acts as a spotlight as well. Its better that all the pro 3mil cpwr types ive ever got at bcf. Hardly ever needs charging, about once every 3 mths.
http://www.behance.net/gallery/Bunnings-Bat-Light/5935669


and put your waypoints in the middle of the channel, not the exact spot where the marker is. I cant tell you how many markers Ive almost hit.

On new moon nights, I find the best trick is to stand up to see better while under way. Lots of near misses from sitting down while steering a side console. Standing up tall improves vis by 50% for unlit bastrd boats, grrrr. I have a safety lanyard connected to the throttle and me in case of collision. I also wear a lifejacket with a PLB in the pocket in case of collision. An eprib is no good in the boat, if I get thrown out of the boat.

cheers
Andrew

[Nicko_Cairns]

Spotlight, good deckie, local knowledge and chart plotter.

[Tangles]

You can do this with a GPS as well if its an area you navigate a fair bit;

In daylight lay one track close to one side of the channel or markers on the way out, on the return lay another track close to the opposite markers, make them both a route.. so now you have two tracks and all you need to do at night is go between those