What's it Really Like at Sea at Night?

[CharlieCobra]

I had to dodge a tree trunk complete with roots once in a storm. It had to be 15' in diameter and maybe 20' long. I barely saw it in time to change course. I also watched what looked to be a brand new basketball go by the same day.

[jackdale]

John

I have hit a few logs in my days and nights. I hit two on one trip; one just off Merry island, and another off the cement plant on Texada.

That is why I used the term "might". I have been really lucky and suffered just gel coat scratches. I friend hit a log under power off Friday Harbor. After it hit the spinning prop and bent the shaft, he ended up re-powering the boat.

[Bash]

I once hit a monster deadhead square on at seven knots. Pulled all the floorboards immediately to determine whether we were taking on water, then headed for the nearest port. Tied the boat up, ripped off my foulies and donned my dive gear.

No damage. Not even a gelcoat chip. I could barely tell where it scraped the bottom paint.

I've been hearing about deadheads sinking boats all my life. Maybe it's happened, but I have to wonder what was wrong with the boat at the point when it hit the log. Bad fasteners on a wood boat? Dry rot?

Next time I hit a deadhead I'll check the bilges, but that will be about it.

[jackdale]

Bash - hence the name?

[Bash]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Bash - hence the name?

...that a bash is a party.

But yes, the boat has done its share of bashing.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Bash - hence the name?

...if "bash" is a noun, then it's a fairly intense party;
yet, if "bash" is a verb, it's how some people sail.

You decide.

[MichaelC]

Thank you, Dwightsusan, for the only rational post so far. I love night sailing. I absolutely love it. If you don't trust your boat, don't sail it, and get one you can trust. I always felt secure and 'held' when sailing my schooner at night off shore. Oh, there was one night, with dark clouds mast head high and phosphorescence that looked like a billion eyes looking at me hungrily, about a thousand miles north of Hawaii, that was unnerving, but not really scary. In ten thousand miles of sailing, I have never seen anything at sea that I would fear to hit. If it isn't there in daylight, it isn't there at night. And oh, the stars!!! Bring a sympatico woman and make love under those stars while your boat carries you over the waves. It is awesome. Anyone who is not at least respectful, if not downright fearful, of the sea is a fool. But you decide to go on it, so just do it. It is like backpacking in grizzly country. You know they are there, but you chose to go. But there is nothing more to fear at night than at noon, and it is a lot prettier with stars and phosphoresence, and the apparent awesome speed, and the comfort of your strong, sleek woman ... uhhh ... schooner ....

[Pelagic]

Think of it as floating in an isolation tank.. Isolation tank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
where your mind takes over from the loss of visual.

What direction it takes…is up to you.

[jackdale]

MichaelC

I love the romanticism of sailing.

BUT, while 1200 miles out of Honolulu, under power in the Pacific High, we hit a small piece of fishing net which destroyed our transmission. A few nights later ,while wallowing and listening to slacking sails, I went below - absolutely despondent. I sat with my head in my hands and asked myself, "What the f**k are you doing here?" I then had a a great insight; it does not matter why you are here - you are here. Get the f**k out of here. At that point I took control of my life.

BTW - we hit it in daylight.

[senormechanico]

One of my most fun sails was when we got blown out of what had been an idyllic anchorage in settled conditions.
It was the middle of the night when big wind came up.
I fired up the radar, we upped anchor and sailed about 5 miles to a protected spot.
It was pitch black, raining and blowing pretty good.
We averaged about ten knots for the jaunt, but it required a high degree of concentration the whole way to keep the boat reasonably under control.

It was not what I would call fun at the time, but after the fact, it was quite entertaining to recall.

[dwightsusan]

The worst night offshore in a sailboat is better than the best day anywhere else.

[feelsgood]

Faaaaannnnntistic I love to lay on the deck and watch the stars with no light polution there are so many. Excuse me the what? containers,logs wales. Never seen them too dark.

[Joli]

We enjoy sailing at night. When the kids were younger we would arrive at the boat on Friday and put them below would either head out for a destination or just go sailing.

It's generally easier to see weather and there is less traffic. Last years trip home from our winter storage we had the lake to ourselves. It was cold and blowing 45 with ~12 footers. What a great sail.

[jrd22]

There's no reason to be paranoid about hitting logs, but they can, and do, sink boats around here (the PNW/BC/Alaska). One large, beautiful, very heavily built power boat sank after hitting a log last year in Georgia St. IIRC, and there are several others every year. I enjoy sailing at night, we reduce sail per conditions to keep the speed around 4 knots. I like the challenge of determining wind direction by how it feels on your face, ears, etc. I think it makes you a better sailor because you have to "feel" how the boat is responding to the wind rather than seeing it.

[unbusted67]

Yes it is totally scary, I am with you there.