Operation at Night

[Seevee]

And here's something I've been thinking about for ICW night operations.....

How does one make themselves more visible without obnoxious lights that blind other boaters?

I sure like those under water lights... the ones that illuminate the whole underside of the boat. Cool looking, and easy to see and do not glare at other boats.

Occasionally I'll turn on a few cabin lights.

Hard to use a spot light, but when I see a boat in the distance, I'll blink mine, but not pointed at him a few times, so I'm a bit more visible.

Thoughts?

 

[Panacea123]

Regarding running into crab traps....

Has anyone put rope cutters on their prop?

I have not as I've only got lines tangled in the prop about once every ten years... so not a big issue. And I'm sure there's an element of danger when cleaning the props.

I did actually pick up a wire crab trap once. Was in fairly shallow water and it wrapped around my prop, but got it off by working it and pulling on it. No damage.

I installed line cutters last year.
While cruising along my wife and I both noticed a sudden hesitation was only for an instant and then gone.
When pulling into the anchorage i noticed a long trail of black poly line behind the boat. Cut off what i could and reversed engines. All seemed to be well.
Next day noticed some vibration and had a friend dive down, found a rats nest of line around the prop.
Im assuming the cutters prevented a total lock up (based on the shudder we felt). Did not work as advertised but I think it did prevent a bigger problem, glad I have them.

 

[cappy208]

thoughts.

I cringe at drilling 'extra' holes via through hull underwater LEDs.

Downward facing/pointing low voltage lights work wonders. Occasionally illuminating a forward facing light helps. I do use a spot light to warn someone. But only lit pointing up or sideways. Never directly at someone.....( unless 5 whistles, imminent danger, or someone's life/boat is at risk.).
I bought a 15' strip of 4 color LEDs installed around the flybridge to house overlap. They only shine down. They are dimmable, low voltage, cheap and easily replaceable. They are long enough to wrap from 5' on the side, across the cockpit, and 5' up the other side. Makes a great ambiance at night. Grand kids are mesmerized. Wife thinks we're reliving our Disco Daze.

 

[psneeld]

That size pot line......would be rare to stop a diesel trawler using 40 or more hp to cruise in my experience.

Hesitation, yes, maybe some vibration.....but stop and back down for 15 seconds or so, then throttle back up smartly and you will probably think its gone till you haul or dive.

My guess is the cutters didn't cut...as you had a length trailing behind you ....and I think the cutters actually helped it wind all that line up into the nest.

I see dozens of boats hauled every day at my marina, and many with pot line on yhe props thd owners never knew they had. Few if any boats I see hauled have cutters.

 

[Steve]

I have a Shark cutter installed on the prop shaft. It has been on for several years I believe once or twice it may have cut a line, but it is hard to say for sure.
If you do have cutters be sure to forewarn any diver working on your boat they are sharp!

 

[BandB]

Wow, Judging from the posts, it certainly seems like there is a fairly high risk of hitting debris in North American coastal waters.

I've never seen a log in the water in South Australia, I've never seen a pallet, nor a sea container, or any debris which I've had to avoid. All lobster pots are within 50 metres of the shoreline so its easy to avoid them. Operating at night seems a lot more stressful over there. No wonder you try to avoid it.

Cruising at night does have certain aspects that make it worth the extra stress. There is nothing better than cruising on a calm summer night when the phosphorescence is causing any water disturbance to glow.

Well, we don't have phosphorescence either except in very unique areas. Beautiful in Puerto Rico, nice in a couple of Florida spots.

In North America the risk of hitting pots and other things is very much based on location. Logging in the PNW but even then finding logs in the waterway is just bad at certain times. It's like inland rivers and lakes that have a tremendous amount of debris after a lot of rain and water released picking up objects that were sitting on the bank. A flood in Illinois will give you high water and debris well down the Mississippi.

The other factor is how close to shore one runs. We don't run close to shore at night. While one must be more than your 50 meters, running several miles off shore reduces problems dramatically. ICW also pretty much not a problem, although we don't run it at night, but very little debris except after flooding or hurricanes. Most of our night running is well offshore. It's things like crossing the Gulf of Alaska or the Gulf of Mexico. No issues in either case. Or crossing to Cancun from Key West or to the Dominican Republic or Puerto Rico or crossing the western Caribbean to the Cayman Islands. The more fishing in an area, the further offshore one needs to be. However, we try to run wider even during the day in those areas to avoid entanglements. Working so far.