It’s a common misconception that when cruising on a sailboat you make many long passages. In reality, the majority of cruisers aren’t constantly sailing across vast stretches of open ocean. Mostly, they’re making hops up and down coastlines from anchorage to anchorage or port to port, then exploring one area for a length of time before moving on. Depending on where we’re cruising, these hops vary in overall length and distance offshore.
 |
| Karen talking to camera with the work light on. |
Sailing to different countries may also take on different looks. For example when we sailed the Mediterranean we basically day hopped along the coastline, with only a couple of night passages here or there. But sailing from Australia to anywhere takes multiple days, days and nights where you can’t stop.
The question we get the most from non-sailors about passages is, “Do you stop at night?” And the quick answer is, “No, we keep going.” By far one of our favourite parts of passagemaking is sailing at night. Don’t get me wrong there are certainly moments during night watches that are a little hectic, that with sunlight, it would be a whole lot easier. In reality though night watches are beautiful and we have had the most amazing experience during these watches.
The heavens above are full of stars with no light pollution they can be so intense they are reflected in the black inky sea. Dolphins often come and play and they shimmer with the efflorescence flowing off their sleek bodies as they dance in the waves. The moon seems larger at sea and when your are fortunate to have a full moon crossing, the light cast across the open sea is magical.
We trade off watches in three hour watches (shifts) depending on the passage and weather. At night we always wear automatic inflatable life vests and clip into attachment points in the cockpit. No one leaves the cockpit to go on deck unless there is another set of eyes watching them. This of course means waking the off watch person to do tasks on deck. There is no excuse not too, safety comes first.
Visibility is reduced at night. Distances are harder to judge, obstacles are difficult to see, and moisture and temperature changes create distortion. Boats can come out of nowhere and debris and fishing nets are nearly invisible on inky black water. Unless there’s a full moon, it is really really dark out there.
 |
| This is the view from the cockpit with the working lights on. Without them it is pitch black. |
The person on watch has much to do including keeping an eye on gages, checking the chart plotter, AIS, sail trim and keeping on course. Our watches are solo, so that means we have no one else, to keep that second set of eyes on the horizon with a periodic 360-dgree scan to ensure no one is coming up from behind or at an angle. It is up to that one person to keep an active watch for their 3 hours, at all times.
 |
| The shipping that was registered on AIS. Not all fishing boats are so a close watch needs to be maintained at all times. |
We preserve our night vision by dimming all the courtesy lights, instrument and chartplotter backlighting. Cabin lights are turned off and if required they are turned on with a vision-preserving red filter. Our night vision can take 20 minutes to adapt back to darkness after a flash of light. We use flashlights sparingly and usually only for emergencies. Even when dimmed the chart plotter, will impact your ability to see out of the boat.
We now have extra navigational aids such as AIS (automatic identification system) that enables us to see ships long before the naked eye can see them even in daylight. It is a brilliant system however it is just a tool, what if the ships system is down? Even at sea where you think nobody else will be there are always dangers to watch for. Things like fishing nets, debris and logs can do an extreme amount of damage to a vessel even traveling at 5 knots.
The passage to Indonesia we were fortunate to have Karen’s brother Russell and his wife Tania onboard. Russell stood an extra third watch, this gave us an awesome extra three hours to hit the bunk and try to sleep. Whoever isn’t on watch is sleeping, or trying too.
How would you feel about a night passage?
Our latest Episode has us sailing for just under 5 days straight, we try to portray in this episode what it’s like to be at sea for that amount of time. So if you have ever wondered, what it would be like on a 12 meter boat, bobbing around in one of the worlds ocean masses, this is for you. Cheers R&K
Australia to Indonesia on a 42 foot ketch | 5 Days Sailing 700nm across the Arafura Sea - S4 Ep 84
You may also be interested in the following Vlog
In Episode 83 we talk about how we go about planning our 700 nautical mile passage (1,300 kilometres) passage across the Gulf of Carpentaria and Arafura Sea to Indonesia, what we need to take into account and our sail plan choices. We really hope it gives you an understanding of our process driven planning.
We also show you a bit more of Torres Strait including what services etc are available for cruisers on Horn Island. So set aside 20 minutes or so, settle back and enjoy the show. We love having you all riding along with us on this journey. Thanks so much everybody. Cheers R & K
#dreamtimesail #sailing #sailingatnight #nightvision #SailingIndonesia #sailingcouple #sailinglifestyle #nomads #sailinglife
No comments:
Post a Comment
We love to read your comments regarding our blog, what you enjoyed and what you might like to see more of. Please leave us your thoughts.