Advice for seeing more clearly at night

[sgharford]

Hope everyone had a terrific 4th of July! It was my son’s 3rd B-day on the 4th and we had both sides of the family on board for a pleasant anchorage and fireworks. Maybe the 40 days of rain is finally over.

I have pretty bad night vision, think worse than most. I know all external lights should be off to keep pupils big and saucer like. I have radar but so much traffic on Long Island sound on a night like the 4th was too much to keep up with. At night I pilot from fly bridge usually at trawler speed as I found inside reflection from glass below really makes viewing difficult, plus extra height always a bonus. Any advice on how to more safely make way at night appreciated.

[JLR]

I generally do not boat on the Sound at night for the reasons you describe and because of the lobster pots. However, I have used night vision binoculars which do help a bit. Frankly, unless I am in waters known to be free from most debris and lobster pots, I do not run at night.

[Boatsb]

I would be looking for someone to watch the waters who is not night blind. Even at 8 Kts bad things can happen

[Pascal]

-kill all unnecessary lights,
-dont' use a spotlight unless necessary to pick up a marker, since no matter what you do the light off the foredeck will affect your night vision
-dont' drink alcohol :)
-most importantly, DIM THOSE ELECTRONICS!

I am always amazed to see how many people run at night with their electronics un dimmed, these guys are blind as bats and many run on plane.

if your night vision isnt' too good, get a girlfriend with good night vision and have her on watch while you drive :)

[sgharford]

Thanks Guys for advice on spotter. Pascal - I saw 3 boats as you described on the 4th - helms lit up with white light and cruising at 20 knots+ in narrow congested waterways. Usually these "captain's" are heading back to City Island or some other marina in the Bronx. These are the guys that really scare the crap out of me and keep me on my toes.

[ThirdHatt]

The best way I know of to see clearly in the dark while boating is with a FLIR marine thermal imaging camera. As far as I know there is nothing better to see what is ahead than with a heat signature of what you are looking at. This is much better than conventional night vision as night vision needs ambient light to magnify whereas thermal imaging works perfectly in pitch black. Check them out, they are simply incredible.

[Sparky1]

Hell, forget about all that hi-tech stuff and just follow the guy with the bigger boat who's going to the same place you are. He'll clear out all the idiots and the trash. :)

[sgharford]

Problem with that Sparky is I am now the bigger boat

[labrador]

I can remember my dad following a bigger boat one night after the fireworks display. After about ten minutes the bigger bost stopped dead in the water. As we drifted up close we heard the captain say " don't follow me Charlie, I'm lost" my dads name was not Charlie!

[MarioG]

change white instument bulbs to red including map lights. turn gps lighting to low settings. it's an idea anyways...

[TopHattandTails]

I usually take the sunglasses off...

[Brian Degulis]

Some nights you have visibility some nights you don't. The trick is to understand when you don't and trust your instruments. Cut a track with your GPS on the way there use it to get home. Knock your radar down to low range tune it in and trust it. Stop looking out and wishing you could see something turn that job over to someone else so you can run the boat. If you can operate without having to see thru glass. Keep everything nice and dark and keep people on your boat that are un familiar with boats away from you.

Brian

[Bob Bradley]

Avoid going out on the 4th, when every idiot with a spotlight is trying to see their way in by lighting up the Sound.

I've got a real problem heading in to my club on the New Haven / West Haven line. As I head in a very narrow, winding channel, there is a security light about 2 blocks inland that shines directly in your face in the worst section of the channel. I've bitched to the CG and to the local zoning officials to no avail. I literally run with one hand on the wheel, and the other blocking out the light.

[Sparky1]

Hey, at least you probably don't have to contend with all those pontoon boats with headlights as is the case around here. They can't see where they're going with them, and neither can you.

One thing that works well for me at night is making better use of my peripheral vision. Assuming your's is decent, give it a shot sometime. You may be surprised at how much more you can see as opposed to looking straight ahead.

[Trojan]

Eat more carrots. Carotene is required for improving YOUR night vision. Any pilot or hunter should know that.

BILL

[saltshaker]

Hell, forget about all that hi-tech stuff and just follow the guy with the bigger boat who's going to the same place you are. He'll clear out all the idiots and the trash. :) That only works until the big boat runs aground. That happened several years ago when our Governor chartered a boat for July 4 fireworks. The gov's boat ran aground and a few others followed along. More proof that we should never blindly follow the lead of our government.

[Robby]

And as all airplane pilots are taught;Dont stare straight ahead,Scan side to side and up and down!!Robby

[Sparky1]

And as all airplane pilots are taught;Dont stare straight ahead,Scan side to side and up and down!!RobbyIsn't that where peripheral vision comes into play?

[stormchaser]

If the light is not red, it should be OFF. Period. The first thing I did was change all the helm/gauge lighting to red. WTF was Hatteras thinking with picking a color other than red?

[garyd]

Night vision can be improved with practice. First of all your basically blind looking dead straight ahead at night. The eye does not contain an image at night straight ahead.

Therefore you need to scan. It is like everything else the more you do it the better you get.

In order to determine how large your blind spot and how much scan you need lay down look up a star and find your blind spot now slowly start to scan until the star reappears. Do this excerise in all four directions.

Most people at night see or hear something and stare at it. Wrong reaction. You need to develope the correct reaction by practicing. And your night vision will improve.

garyd

[mobilemn1]

Practically all airplanes have red lights for night time flying for the purpose of reducing night blindness, as well as looking around and not fixating straight ahead on one spot.

Or at least the Army planes and helios did!

[sgharford]

That sounds like very good advice about looking around and not focusing straight ahead or any one spot for extended period. Pretty neat exercise on determining your night blind spot GaryD. Red instrument lights would also be a great way to quickly and inexpensively help the cause too (Dave - Congratulations on new job by the way!). I'm still getting comfortable with Radar. My radar has decent size blind spot - probably a 60' minimum radius to pick up small run-about.

Have you guys seen the new Broadband Radar from Simrad ? (http://www.simrad-yachting.com/en/Products/Broadband-Radar/Broadband-Radar-Technology/). Looks like great supplement for reduced visibility cruising and apparently you can stand right in front of it when it's operating with no adverse bodily effects. The FLIR camera looks fantastic too, but that's big money - sure mine would grow legs if I put one on at my marina.

[SereneWarrior]

After 31 years spent standing night watches at sea, I can vouch for those who have advised the following:
1. Unless the light is absolutely necessary, it should be off.
2. If the light is absolutely necessary, it should be as dim as possible and red. That especially includes electronics and other things we tend to look at directly.
3. Constantly scanning is a good idea as it avoids the eye's blind spot, but it's also just part of standing a good watch.
4. Only proceed at a speed at which you can stop in half the distance you can reliably see. This is true in any visibility, not just at night.