Driving at Night in pilot house

[camron]

How do you guys like driving at night in the pilot house do you find seeing through the glass is difficult with the livhts from the electronics?

My last boat i had an enclosure made and found the glare to reflect off all the rollup glass to be horrible.

Thanks
Camron

 

[Megabyte]

Two things you can do.

1.) Turn the intensity down on your electronic devices.
2.) Place a towel over your electronics to reduce the intensity.

 

[camron]

Thats what i was doing with the last boat as well

 

[Bob D]

Yes I have the same problem. The light from my Garmin GPS makes it hard for me to see. I had to face it down towards the ground but I needed to see it for navigation. Maybe I will try the intensity idea next time.

 

[Megabyte]

Press the on-off button briefly.
That should bring up the scale for intensity.
Use the up or down arrow as needed.

 

[Lucky John]

I usually bring the screen brightness down to about 25-30% to reduce the glare but to be honest I run the boat with the window open as I want any possible chance of seeing something in my path. I usually do 6-8 canyon runs which requires me to leave the dock somewhere between 12-3 am. I really hate doing it but you have to if you want to put fish on the deck.

 

[Bob D]

Luck John,

I also run with the window open at night I agree you can see much better. Do you have radar on your boat? Bob

 

[Lucky John]

Yes I have a garmin 1040xvs with a 18 hd dome. My prize possesion is the auto pilot. I would never own another boat without it

 

[Bob D]

I am currently looking to upgrade to a Garmin GPSMAP 1242xsv or a 1042xsv with a Garmin GMR Fantom 18 Radar. I currently do not have radar just a Garmin EchoMap 74sv which is not radar compatible. I am doing the research currently and looking for someone to install it. I normally do all the install stuff but I never did radar plus I want the 1242xsv to be connected to my motor so I get all the motor data on the Garmin.

 

[Brent]

We travel slow and everyone is on watch and listening, too. Talking is limited. Windows may or may not be open depending on the pilot, wind, moon, lightning, rain, fog, etc. Fixed and handheld VHF radios on. I worry about collisions and have PLB , handheld electronic SOS flare, and ditch bag. Try to turn off anything we can or cover with some thing. Towels or paper towels ready for cleaning. Dont have a hailer just handheld honker. Topside horn is shot and need to be replaced. Handheld flashlights or spot light ready. We dont travel much at night but running lights are on and seen many idiots traveling without lights or anchored without lights, some are have fun and no problem to me or water is full of gazillion crab traps. We dont have radar. AIS and special lights in cockpit. Sad.

We need a total update. chart plotter, radio, high end 8' antenna, AIS, radar, autopliot, another PLB and a a billion candlepower spot light! LOL

Alas it is always something with an old boat

 

[shawnee83]

I don't run much at night these days but years ago in Wilmington did a lot. You can very easily get disoriented out on the water at night. The key is speed. Inside waters around congested areas are where you really need to focus on markers, crab traps etc.. I usually go at plowing speed @8 to 12 MPH. Having a remote spotlight is a must IMO, or at least a good handheld one. As others mention, I turn down my backlights on chart plotter and dash all the way. Typically, I will run with my drivers side window open weather permitting. The captain needs to be left alone and able to focus completely. I'll only run on plane if I have some good moonlight or offshore. Even then, I'll keep down to my minimum planing speeds 16 to 20 mph unless I have a really good full moon or something. Radar would be great and if I had that I might loosen up some on speeds?

 

[johnkn]

The newer Garmins have a selectable auto-dim feature as do the Yamaha controls. They work very well on my boat.

 

[Lucky John]

Shawnee reminded me of the remote searchlight. Another investment that has paid off well. That thing is the cat's meow as it reflects all the channel markers ect which there are many. I also suggest using your radar on every trip to become very familiar using it. You will get a good idea what your targets look like on the screen. By doing this you won't get freaked out when a bird enters your zone and you will know exactly what it is :mrgreen:

 

[Brent]

We sometimes see illegal bait (mostly greenies) catching ops at night. Some boat have no numbers, some have 2 different hull numbers (different one on each side). We steer clear of the them

 

[Bob D]

Lucky John,

I never had radar and as I stated I am looking into it currently and I am 99% sure I am moving forward.

I know you can see buoy's, land, boats, birds, etc. Can you spot crab pots as others have mentioned above?

Bob

 

[Lucky John]

If you put the gain up real high and it is super flat (like a mirror) you can but if they are using smaller size floats probab not

 

[rwp48]

I don't have radar on my Parker...yet. But I have it on my trawler. In a dozen or so trips up and down the ICW we have found many days when we have needed it. First rule is to slow down. Best accessory for radar running is an autopilot. It's very disorienting to steer by hand with no external clues. Pretty easy to go in circles. Set the a-pilot to steer your course and keep your eyes looking outside the wheelhouse and try to not stare in one direction.
Probably can't use the a-pilot in Maine because of all the lobster pots.

 

[B-Faithful]

By pressing the power button on my Furuno TZT2 I can select a night mode. It changes the background colors to much darker colors and also dims the brightness. The darker you can get it in the boat, the better visibility you will have through the glass.

At night I rely heavily on my radar. I use features like true trails to see the direction of other vessels (I usually set trail duration for 1 minute). I will also us occasionally use ARPA to pick up and track other vessels too if speed and direction are difficult to determine based on trails.

I usually keep my speeds slower at night. I will typically run at ~18kn to give more time to make adjustments.

 

[HOTPURSUIT]

For what its worth... I take a look at the weather, moon cycles and moon rise and set times if I am thinking about staying out after dark. A clear night plus a full moon makes a world of difference. If I see that I am going to have no moon, or cloudy sky's that will add to reduced visibility on the way home I may decide to head home early. And on the other extreme if its a clear night and have a full moon that will have risen by dusk I might just not be in a hurry to get home. and as all the other guys mentioned keeping the instrument lighting as low as possible and nighttime mode if equipped, adding radar and not being to proud to as all on board to help keep a look out. just my two cents. Thanks Mike

 

[A-K]

Even with the GPS turned down as low as it goes. I still like my window open when running in the dark. Leaving in the early morning isn't as bad because soon enough you'll have some sunlight. Leaving at night kind of sucks because it'll be dark the whole trip. Best to keep a guy on the deck as an extra pair of eyes if possible.

I ran down the Straits of Juan De Fuca one summer night in the pitch black no moon. Had the radar on the whole time. And was picking up a boat on the radar. Didn't think much about it because I was pretty much in the clear from it. Then the other boat hit me up on the VHF. Turns out he had a long net out. After some radio conversations and GPS cords were given I was in the clear. But had me a little on edge. I'm sure that would have been a cluster trying to get out of a commercial fishing net. I've heard stories of other boaters getting tangled in them at night.