Night time estuary boating

[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/Bunni...-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