Tips For Boating At Night
Sailing or cruising, saltwater or fresh, boating is an excellent way to relieve stress and have a good time. Boating at night is no exception, with the added thrill and mystery of the night enhancing the experience. Whether you’re night fishing, going on romantic rides, or just getting from A to B after sunset, night boating presents some unique challenges.
We here at Roger’s Performance Marine want to make sure you stay safe and make the most of these trips, so we’ve put together some tips for night boating. If you want more information, or if you’re looking for the right boat to try this with, contact our stores in Centerville and Hurricane, Utah. Our friendly staff will make sure you find what you need at the prices you want!
Checklist Before Leaving
Before you launch your vessel, you’ll want to make and run down a checklist of all safety gear and supplies on your boat. Make sure you check and replace all batteries in flashlights and headlamps, have binoculars in a secure place near the helm, and have plenty of floatation devices in places you’re familiar with. Ideally, you’ll want life vests with a strobe light or glow stick attached in case someone goes overboard so you can find them in the dark. Make sure all navigation lights are functioning before leaving.
Slow Going
Night visibility is always lower than in the day. Judging where you are and what’s nearby can be difficult, and temperatures and moisture distort that further. Boats, debris, and fishing gear can come seemingly out of nowhere on water that isn’t reflecting full daylight. If you aren’t in a perfectly-lit area, keep your boat in a lower gear.
Share The Load
Any passengers on the boat with you should be as responsible as you are for checking surroundings. The driver has enough to handle without trying to see in all directions at once. Extra pairs of eyes should be scanning the horizon as often as the operator to make sure nothing is coming up on you from the sides or from behind, since other night boaters have the same visibility restrictions as you.
Preserve Night Vision
Boats are built with a lot of onboard lights designed for a lot of good reasons, from courtesy lights to display backlighting to cabin lights and more. We recommend dimming these while boating at night to keep your eyes as well-adjusted to the dark as possible. Using flashlights with a red filter can help prevent overloading your vision, and you should only check your plotter and other instrumentation when necessary.
Boat Headlights Are Different From Cars
Driving on dark roads at night is made safer with headlights, but night boating is a different story. The water is highly reflective and can neutralize the benefits your headlights would otherwise provide. Use docking lights only when you arrive at your destination—so long as lights are pointed at something other than the water, they can be helpful.
Running/Marker Lights
Keep an eye out for these on your ride. Running and marker lights tend to be red and green. In any harbor in North America, follow the rule: Red, Right, Returning. That means that red lights should be kept to your starboard (right) side to keep you in a safe channel. Boats also have different lights on different sides to make it easier to determine where everyone is going.
Red lights are affixed to the starboard side of the bow while green lights are on the port, or left, side. If you see both of these lights, that means a boat is heading directly towards you. White lights are on the stern, so if you see these it means a boat is heading away from you. If you’re not absolutely sure what you’re looking at but you see red lights, stop. That means a boat is crossing your boat with their starboard side facing you, and they have the right of way.
Listen Up
Humans are very visual beings, but eyes are limited on the water at night. Turn off unnecessary sounds when navigating to make sure you can listen as well. Fog horns, bells, or other giveaways can warn you about proximity before your eyes can.
Trust Instrumentation
Even your hearing isn’t flawless, so if your instruments are trustworthy, make sure to pay attention to them. Update your instruments regularly to make sure they have the right information.
Bring Towels
Never underestimate a towel! Whether you’re using it as an extra layer on chilly nights or you need to dry off after a splash or fall, a towel is useful. It can even help defog a windshield, dampen ambient onboard lighting, and more. Always know where your towel is!
Dock With Care
Lower visibility and other distortions make docking trickier than normal. Take it slower than you otherwise would, moving only as fast as you’re willing to collide. Have passengers carefully step to the dock rather than jump, and double-check all knots and hitches.
Whatever your reason for boating at night, we hope these tips help you do it safely! If you want more advice, or you want to browse through our selection of boats for sale, contact us at Roger’s Performance Marine. We proudly serve the people of Salt Lake City and St. George, Utah—let us serve you today!