From my experience it is hard to see anything from inside a
cabin while traveling at night. Sometimes it is difficult to even see other
boat lights. And it is not always practical to navigate outside of an enclosure. On my last trip I used a SiOnyx Aurora
camera clamped to a bow rail. This
camera connects to a tablet or
laptop via
wifi so the camera view is displayed on the
remote device allowing you to see what is outside while remaining inside. The camera is not infrared but uses available light to illuminate objects. That means when it was a moonless night the image, which is like watching a video, would be very grainy/static. I could still see the horizon but barely. However, even then any light would clearly be visible - I was seeing
boat lights showing up on the horizon (see still image). But when there was some moonlight the image was very clear. I had to change the
battery every 1.5 hours and the one spare
battery would recharge within that amount of time.
The other
images posted are in Portsmouth,
Dominica at midnight taken with a
cell phone and then with the Aurora camera. The sailboat was about 40 yards away. The boat on the left in the last image did not have a light and was not visible with the naked eye at about 120 yards away.
For me the camera was well worth the
price just by reducing the discomfort level with traveling at night. If you plan to buy wait until holidays, etc. and they will usually have discounts.