Night time driving lights?

[panga]

Anyone have any luck with any lights for boating after dark. I have the Garmin 740s for navigation, with the radar overlay, which is very helpful. But it would be nice to have somesort of lighting to see obstructions in the darkness. I hit a floating 4x4 a while back, and while it didn't do any damage it scared the heck out of me. I added a "Go Light" spot light on the top of my tuna tower, but it just reflects off the white bow and fog and ruins my night vision and doesn't allow me to see anything. I am thinking of moving it to the bow, but not sure yet.

Has anyone tried any of those flush mount bow lights that are cut into the hull below the rub rail?

What about FLIR cameras, I have read some posts about them, are people liking them?

Any other tips for running at night?

 

[DaleH]

GO LIGHT - Move it out to the fat end of the pulpit like many of us do.

FLUSH MOUNT LIGHTS - You will find they are for docking only, you won't pick up any object in their light until you are on it, if/when running over headway speeds.

 

[panga]

Thanks, yeah I was planning on making a change with the go light, anyone else have any ideas for making two hour runs in the dark a little safer?

 

[Parker23]

Its illegal and dangerous to other boaters to run with any type of lights beside your navigation lights. Not wanting to sound nasty, but if you feel unsafe boating at night don't do it for your safety and others.

 

[panga]

Thanks for that... But if the the weather turns or for what ever other reason we get stuck off shore fishing for longer than expected and have to navigate through areas we know are covered in crab pots what do you suggest to avoid bouys?

 

[Phil]

The prudent thing to do is to go at displacement speeds at night. If you trim your outboard up and go straight at high displacement speed, the bow wake will push the bouys out of the way before it gets to the prop. You are more likely to swerve into a bouy when you turn to try to avoid it. If you are way offshore and have to come in, you just have to take your chances at planing speeds. A spotlight or Flir camera won't help avoid a submerged deadhead when you are bouncing around at 30 knots in a small boat.

 

[panga]

Yeah slow is the best way, just looking for some help when thats not feasible, thought someone may have thought of something I was missing. When running in from way off shore, most of the journey is in way to deep of water for crab gear, but the last 8 miles or so can have a good amount of gear early in the year. You can only do so much, but attempting to avoid the visable pots at night seems like a good idea. Thanks for the advice, I think I will move the GOLIGHT and try to catch a ride on someones boat with a FLIR camera to see if it is worth the money.

 

[POGE]

I hear about the lobster pot bouys. I mounted a 30,000 10amp fog light for quick checks on bouys or other obstructions/markers. It wont replace a spot, but the true fog beam(narrow angle horizontal beam) does not bounce off the night sky or fog and reaches just far enough out front to spot bouys, ATNs. It is black rubber with sealed beam. I brought it at a truck store and it's worked well for a few seasons. Two of these would really do it well for higher speeds(you can see it mounted on the front of the t-top).

 

[Bryan 2530]

Since when is it illegal to run any lights besides nav lights?? :?: :?: :?:

 

[Parkerman]

A recent article in Boating mag stated the same thing about running nav lights only. Spots or any type of lighting has a huge negative impact on night vision, both yours and those in other boats

 

[pelagic2530]

Since when is it illegal to run any lights besides nav lights?? :?: :?: :?:

Its not. It is only illegal to run lights that could be mistaken for navigation lights, or obscure your navigation lights. depending on how you mount any forward looking lights, you may fall in the latter category, if they make it so that your sidelights are indistinguishable.

Now, on the charge of being a first class di@k and blinding everyone coming the other direction... I know it'd piss ME off. Im not sure whether it's illegal based on a hazard to navigation, or something like that. that would be something you'd need to check with the Coast Guard or marine police agency.

 

[Bryan 2530]

Since when is it illegal to run any lights besides nav lights?? :?: :?: :?:

Its not. It is only illegal to run lights that could be mistaken for navigation lights, or obscure your navigation lights.
Now, on the charge of being a first class di@k and blinding everyone coming the other direction... I know it'd piss ME off.

I know, I was being the dick. :mrgreen:

I make it a point when I'm out at night to avoid shining anything directly at another operator to preserve night vision, on the other hand others feel the need to hit me whith the spotlight while on drifting the reef, presumably to pilfer my fishing spots, I hit them right back with some serious candle power. 8) 8) 8)

 

[grouperjim]

I have been thinking about installing one of these. My 3010c would make a great display for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neSI5vurCi8

 

[HOTPURSUIT]

keeping the lighting on all of your electronics as low as possible at night is a big help.

 

[pelagic2530]

I have been thinking about installing one of these. My 3010c would make a great display for it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neSI5vurCi8

pretty overrated, actually. there's no depth perception to the image, so its very difficult to navigate with, and its a light-amplification camera rather than a thermal camera, so the object has to be emitting or reflecting light. pretty much worthless when it comes to spotting debris and the like on a dark night or in restricted visibility. FLIR handheld camera is a much better choice.