first solo night entry

[bastonjock]

Well after shredding my jib i decided to head back to my home port,problem is that its tidal so i had to wait untill 01.15am BST to get entry.I was sitting at anchor and was woken by the waves,the tide had changed direction and the sea gets a bit choppy close to the entrance,the cups and stuff crashing aound inside gave me a rude awakening.

Trying to orientate yourself in the pitch black night with light drizzle just as you have woken up left me a bit confused,i was feeling groggy from having just woken up,but a drink of juice got my head working,i checked the time and it looked good to go.I had my pfd on but i decided to stuff some flares and my VHF into the pockets of my jacket,if i when over the world was going to know.So i started the engine,gave it a few mins to warm up before slipping it into gear,as the boat crept forward i grabbed hand fulls of rode and chain,just as i got the anchor on board,a dark shape loomed out of the misty black,it was a marker bouy a big one,it was passing me on the starboard side,i could have reached out and touched it.I quickly scrambled into the cockpit and took the helm.

Entry in the dark on your own is a learning curve,trying to judge distance and speed is difficult,looking at flashing bouys trying to figure out which one is what,even with a torch it is not easy,i followed the buoys as i have done the entry in day light on many occasions, but trying to judge which buoy is next in the channel takes concentration,i may sound logical but i found that looking for the light with the strongest flash solved the problem.

trying to find your mooring at night amongst other boats is a laugh

things that were usefull is the GPS chartplotter,worth it weight in gold and a head torch,items to buy,a powerfull searchlight type torch.

[Oskar 26M]

Sounds like a fun and challenging night bastonjack.
With my previous 23ft fixed keel yacht, I regularly returned from single handed ocean sailing after dark and not always in the best of weather. My mooring was about 10 km inland along the Swan river through the busy industrial port of Fremantle. Our tides are not great, but the estuary created a strong tidal flow and my tiny 6hp outboard often made progress either scarily slow or equally scarily fast when navigating the few metres wide gap in one of the three bridges I had to traverse. Lowering the mast after dark in the middle of the port was especially exhilarating:)
Navigation was exclusively by charts and marker lights (no GPS), which, (despite the theory), are very confusing at first, and not helped if there is a lot of other boating traffic. And I agree, finding your mooring in a crowded mooring area is a bit of a challenge at first. A good waterproof torch is essential, but used sparingly to preserve your night vision.
After a while you get used to it, and it becomes second nature.
I'd recommend that you follow up on your recent experience with a lot more nocturnal sorties under more favourable weather conditions. There is nothing that compares to gliding along on a dark night with the sound of dolphins blowing nearby.
Like everything with sailing, lots of practice is the key.

[bastonjock]

thanks oscar,i would imagine that your first encounter a night with a school of dolphins breaking water beside you as you glided in the quiet darkness would scare the bejeeses out of you,then upon realising that it was dolphins and not some sea monster out to get you then it would be tranquility itself

[tangentair]

Bastonjock
We done a few night entries to Chicago marinas but none with tides and fortunately the city lights make orientation fairly easily once you know what builldings to line up on. I agree GPS is good but can fail so a strong water proof lantern is a must. I run with red or subdued lighting but am considering adding some sort of automotive driving lights (they are pretty cheap) up on the bow for finding out what all those little dark things are - fishing boats or no wake bouys. Wish I could justify radar.

[bastonjock]

i was thinking of headlights on the bow myself,the one thing that anoyed me was the masthead running light,it reflected off of the furled jib and hampered my night vision

[Boblee]

Look on the bright side BJ, from now on it should be easier and at least you made it without any physical scars.
Would it help to have an optimum track or route set into your chartplotter to guide you for this situation?
We have done quite a few trips along our rivers here on pitch black nights and there are lots of immovable objects (rocks, sandbars, logs) just using the gps in powerboats and at speeds that make the mac look like a turtle.
My biggest fear was having a floating log or a five metre croc under us in shallow water as then we would all be in there together.
I realise that the GPS doesn't take the place of exact physical navigation and I still try to use the light even though at times it makes it worse as you lose all night vision and at my age it stays lost for longer.
As Oskar said do a few more nocturnal sorties to get used to night work both with the chartplotter and any other means, being a long time hunter and fisherman I feel quite comfortable working in the dark but in strange waters it can be scary and on the couple of occasions where I have had to rely on GPS alone with no prior local knowledge was surprised how easy it was.
Bob