Night time sailing

[ruairidh]

My missus and i are currently daft enough to be considering a wee play out at night.
im concerned about lobster pots and the like

any advice from more experienced hands?

[mm5aho]

Location is important. (not just to avoid the location of the buoys and lines)
Some areas are far more cluttered than others, and you get a good view of this in daylight.

But night time isn't as dark as it seems. Start with moonlit nights and work up to those overcast moonless starless nights when visibility truly is zero.
On these nights where there's a little light, your eyes get accustomed, and you can attain surprising visibility.
There are things you can do to destroy that though, and white light is the main thing to avoid. Use red light at night, doesn't have the effect of reducing your ability to see in the dark as white does. So red light torch (not expensive) to start with. Later you might decide to fit red/white lights in cabin etc.

The buoys best avoided of course, and being unlit, you have to see them to avoid them. But Scottish fishermen don't generally seem to follow the untidy habits of some areas where they leave many metres of floating line off a buoy. So the chances of tangling a buoy are small. If you actually hit one, the line normally descends vertically, so you have to drag it along to get the line snagged. And that's unlikely too. So the chances of snarling up a line on rudder, prop etc? relatively small.

I enjoy night sailing. The views of far off towns and villages, of lighthouses and beacons etc are all fascinating. And on clear nights the stars are amazing (if you get far enough away from the big smoke).
My tuppence..

[sahona]

Where? In what? Sailing and staying awake/alert in a Scottish Summer where it doesn't get totally dark, is totally different to boring through the southern darkness at 20+ knots after an evening on the sauce...
Equipment? Radar and AIS are good if there's fishing or ferries in the vicinity. Even some pot markers will show in radar if the guy leaves a coke can on top. A plotter will allow you to avoid obvious hazards.
I assume you're looking at a passage rather than nocturnal rock-hopping, so ships are probably of more interest than pots - and if you're actually sailing rather than motoring you shouldn't seriously snag a line anyway.
I would thoroughly recommend it. A clear night, more stars than you can imagine, peace and quiet. Wrap up warm, make a flask of something hot to dip your Mars bar in, then revel in the sense of achievement as dawn breaks and the smell of bacon wafts up from the galley.
You're lucky the skipper is enthusiastic - make sure you don't spoil anything to put her off.

[ruairidh]

Where? out from Badachro near gairloch
In what? a 20 ft bilge keeler

no radar no ais
good plotter + charts vhf and lights yes
even fitted red in main cabin.

As we are only wee
we feel probably round to diabeg would be plenty for a first effort 12miles
mouth of loch torridon can get well spicey but we will choose our evening carefully

hadnt thought about the lines not really catching if not motoring though ... many thanks for the advice

Yes im lucky the skipper is loco enthusiastic

so hell i think well have a go eh
i may report back with a tale


cheers folks

[Booby Trapper]

Even Mid summer can get very cold at 5 in the morn, at this time of year it can be positively Baltic. A hot water bottle stuffed inside your clothes feels fantastic. I would also recommend hats and gloves. It also gets very damp and everything on deck gets wet including you. As said if you can get away from light pollution the night sky is amazing if it's a clear night. This weekend is looking like a good time for it.

[Orla]

I think your spoilt for choice, where you are.
You could head North for the Summer Isle's or Ullapool, or across the Minch (if you have a good forecast for the time you have) and into Rodel on the SE corner of Harris, great wee place for a wonder... or like you say Diabaig..

Pots are always a worry when sailing coastal waters, the more you sail the local waters the more you will get used to where peeps put the pots..

I guess if you do get caught on one, have a good strong boat hook and a sharp knife, you never know you may get a lobster.

The best night passages I've had have been crossing away from coastlines,(lot less to worry about) pick a cloudless night, it will blow your mind half way out in the Minch with the stars above and a dram in your paw......

Enjoy

[Nick]

.
You are a very lucky man ruairidh.

Only a few of us are/have been blessed with a mate who loves sailing as much as us.

If she is as keen as you say she will love night sailing.

Enjoy - and report back here please.

[Telo]

Location is important. (not just to avoid the location of the buoys and lines)
Some areas are far more cluttered than others, and you get a good view of this in daylight.

But night time isn't as dark as it seems. Start with moonlit nights and work up to those overcast moonless starless nights when visibility truly is zero.
On these nights where there's a little light, your eyes get accustomed, and you can attain surprising visibility.
There are things you can do to destroy that though, and white light is the main thing to avoid. Use red light at night, doesn't have the effect of reducing your ability to see in the dark as white does. So red light torch (not expensive) to start with. Later you might decide to fit red/white lights in cabin etc.

The buoys best avoided of course, and being unlit, you have to see them to avoid them. But Scottish fishermen don't generally seem to follow the untidy habits of some areas where they leave many metres of floating line off a buoy. So the chances of tangling a buoy are small. If you actually hit one, the line normally descends vertically, so you have to drag it along to get the line snagged. And that's unlikely too. So the chances of snarling up a line on rudder, prop etc? relatively small.

I enjoy night sailing. The views of far off towns and villages, of lighthouses and beacons etc are all fascinating. And on clear nights the stars are amazing (if you get far enough away from the big smoke).
My tuppence..

Like what he said.... Only thing I would add is the phosphorescence which can be spectacular especially if the dolphins strut their stuff.

[ruairidh]

motored over to gairloch in the dark last weekend -- we had intended going to the bar and then headin out for few hours
however way too many stiff ones and not far of frosty meant we went to bed
man it was squaly gusty on sun

defo havin a go this fri nicht

will keep yas informed

[ParaHandy]

Great stuff! The advanced night navigation from the pub at Clachan Sound, Tigh nae Troosers, to the anchorage at Puilladobhrain would be a feather in your cap. Some have never made it.

[claymore]

Para - thon wiz a trainin exercise - it wisnae meant tae be straightforward.

[ruairidh]

hats off to yas gents that was a little scary

We set off 9pm with a F6 forecast for the minch
was alright in gairloch bay - but wind right on the nose so we motored for a while
got out to the end of the bay and out a wee bit to get the angle on the wind
and my brave missus said
im not sure im happy about putting sails up
thank feck i thought to myself
seas were 1m at least proper dark
We turned north towards Longa and eased out a slither of headsail
Wind and seas now behind us
in the gloom i thought id give longa a wide berth round the shore to avoid pots
bit shocked when i looked at the plotter find us way further out than really necessary
and we had a good 5kt run round to the anchorage at longa with just head sail up


Bit spicy and slightly intimidating but all good experience eh.

Mrs and i have for many years been in proper arse winking situations rock climbing.
but we both found that quite spooky

but will go again when calmer
Many thanks for the encouragement

[lady_stormrider]

Aquaplane and I have just completed a night passage as part of our Day Skipper/Comp Crew in Falmouth. We were educated in creating a passage plan, testing it and then noting it down in shorthand for a white board.

We were rather spoiled by having a myriad of bouys, floodlit castles and sectored lights to work with. Our thoughts immediately turned to how we could navigate out of Loch Sween at night - suddenly not easy! Always consider back bearings and a good moon will help.

[Orla]

Another good source is, tracking a depth contour, used a lot in fog, but also very useful at night.
We use them in the hills, we can use them at sea