Nighttime Navigation - Allowed? Opinions?

[JohnK]

I think the rules are that hire boats may not navigate on the Broads at night. Private boats with the right lights can. Is that correct?

 

Has anyone done much night navigation on the Broads?

 

I was thinking it could be very interesting to see some of the nocturnal animals and birds.

 

 

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[marshman]

Don't think you will see many of those on those on move - better to moor up I would guess.

[dnks34]

In all the times I have night nav’d (I even once ended up in very thick fog) im not sure I would have noticed much of the wildlife for concentrating on not going up the bank!

You are correct about hireboats, as far as Im aware they should be moored or on a mudweight by dark.

[Chelsea14Ian]

That' correct hire boats are not allowed to be on the move after dark.

[ExMemberBobdog]

18 minutes ago, Chelsea14Ian said:

That' correct hire boats are not allowed to be on the move after dark.

For a number of reasons.

1.  Because they are (deliberately) not equipped with navigation lights and therefore it would be illegal, in contravention of Navigation byelaws.

2.  Because the hire contract with the boatyard stipulates that you must not navigate after dark.

3. Linked to 2 above, your insurance would be invalid in the event of an accident.

[LizG]

The best time to see/hear wildlife at night is to sail or be a guard ship on the Three River's race!!!

[Guest]

I love evening/dusk cruising, but there was one occasion years ago on my previous boat when myself and a friend had an unintentional night cruise due to misjudging the time it would take to reach stokesby . Luckily there was some moonlight and it was ok but not something I would particularly choose to repeat. My insurance policy forbids solo night navigation and I can understand why, you do need an extra pair of eyes

[NeilB]

As long as you as you have your own boat , the correct lighting, insurance etc then I would recommend giving it a go.  Try and pick a route you know well, with a clear night visibility can be quite good.

I've never cruised at night on the Broads as I've always been on hire boats, done a fair few night trips on the Thames though and really enjoyed it.

[JohnK]

Thanks for all the feedback folks.
Very useful.


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[JennyMorgan]

To those of you who do cruise at night, PLEASE don't turn on the bloody headlights/searchlights. Darn things should only be used as a very last resort. Dazzling other users is both unsafe and unpleasant. 

[JawsOrca]

We do a lot of night cruising and have done most of the northern broads at night.  Just before dusk is amazing and we've seen most of the wildlife we've ever seen on that broads at this time. At home here night navigation is common as mud berths make it a necessarily if you want to use your boat.

We also have two huge spot lights on Orca as on the River Ant again it's a must as the river is far to narrow not to use them. They are positioned low and pointed downwards as to not affect my night vision and they are not used if there are other boats on the move (which their hardly isn't) and turned off when passing close to other boats as to not be a jerk and shine in their windows, personally I see no difference in using spotlights on boats than on the road, it's far more dangerous to use on road if you ask me.

[smellyloo]

14 hours ago, JawsOrca said:

We also have two huge spot lights on Orca as on the River Ant again it's a must as the river is far to narrow not to use them. They are positioned low and pointed downwards as to not affect my night vision and they are not used if there are other boats on the move (which their hardly isn't) and turned off when passing close to other boats as to not be a jerk and shine in their windows, personally I see no difference in using spotlights on boats than on the road, it's far more dangerous to use on road if you ask me.

Night vision is a complex topic. It takes a minimum of 10 minutes for your eyes to adjust to night vision and it continues to improve after this,

One  unwanted bright light can set the clock back to zero causing great inconveniance.

[JohnK]

Night vision is a complex topic. It takes a minimum of 10 minutes for your eyes to adjust to night vision and it continues to improve after this,

One  unwanted bright light can set the clock back to zero causing great inconveniance.

 

I’ve got an (none road legal) LED lightbar on my Land Rover. If I turn it on it’s like daylight. When I turn it off I can see very little for a few seconds. It almost completely destroys my night vision.

There’s something about red light preserving your night vision isn’t there?

 

 

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[JanetAnne]

Night nav is a favourite with us and we find it a far nicer way to charge batteries than sitting on a mooring! Most trips we will have an hour or two out in the dark and pick our night with lots of moonlight. 

You will be amazed at just what and how much you do see

[MauriceMynah]

We seem to manage this ok in cars!

[Vaughan]

9 minutes ago, MauriceMynah said:

We seem to manage this ok in cars!

That would be fine if we had cats' eyes down the middle of the river.

[neilp1962]

A pirate's eye patch is what's needed, when you turn the lights off lift up the patch and this eye has good night vision. The hat and plastic cutlass are optional, rum is mandatory.

[grendel]

red light is used by astronomers to preserve night vision, but it can be difficult to see anything in red light, as its not that bright. its generally good enough to stop you tripping over the telescope, but its your night adapted vision that gets you from A to B safely.

[smellyloo]

1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:

We seem to manage this ok in cars!

It's basically down to speed.

You don't need/want strong bright lights to safely progress at walking pace.

If we were to increase speed limits on the Broads in-line with country lanes then increased illumination would be necessary along with ear defenders to aid ignoring the indignant shouts from moored crew.

[JawsOrca]

I still don't understand this, it's easy to navigate on a large river because you can steer following the reflection of the sky on the river.  But even this is harder when you have a windscreen infront of you as this reflection is weakened dramatically by the general reflections inside.  So if there is no reflection of the sky (i.e the tree line closes in) then you need more lighting to light up the river.  Even steering at waking pace the banks on narrow rivers quickly get closer. ?! Yes I guess I guess if you have an open boat then it's easier but again with a windscreen it's hard work.. Perhaps I do need to eat more carrots...

[BroadAmbition]

I've done plenty of night navving - the priority key to this is local knowledge, if you know the river really well then it makes it so much easier.  Confidence lowers stress levels.  I've done the Ant at night plenty of times, it's very enjoyable, but when there is no reflection on the water, no moonlight or even fog then it's proper hard work even knowing every bend in the river as I do.  Night naving the Bure is a lot easier. We once night navved from Stalham slipped at around 2359  then out to sea at GYA, it was foggy and somewhat challenging to say the least, miraculously the fog cleared at GYA and off to Ipswich we went to see the sunrise somewhere off the coast of Southwold - Magical.  Also night navved back from the Thames, night navving out at sea is so much easier than doing it on the rivers

Night navving for me personally is best done in the summer months on a still balmy evening with plenty of moonlight it really is a great experience, closely followed by a night Nav around December 25th through P.H / Horning / Wroxham - very pretty with all the festive lights / decorations on display.  I have not as of yet Night Navved 'B.A' over Breydon, no doubt one day it will happen.  We did once night Nav a Brooms Admiral over Breydon to Stokesby Ferry.  My dad was the skipper, we had torches with red/green crepe paper to act as nav lights, I remember being perched on top of the wheelhouse roof with a large chrome spotlamp to pick out the posts over Breydon, had to hold the return cable against the body of the lamp with my thumb to make it work.  I was freezing my cajones off, the amps running through the cable burnt my thumb and I didn't know as I was that cold my hands were numb!

BTW, if you want some evening entertainment whilst night navving, cruise slowly through Potter Heigham with your nav lights off    They really should draw their curtains

Griff

[JohnK]

m BTW, if you want some evening entertainment whilst night navving, cruise slowly through Potter Heigham with your nav lights off    They really should draw their curtains
Griff

As we’re about to become Potter Heigham residents (subject to our “marvellous” legal profession doing their jobs) I’ll try and remember that thank you



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[JennyMorgan]

1 hour ago, BroadAmbition said:

BTW, if you want some evening entertainment whilst night navving, cruise slowly through Potter Heigham with your nav lights off    They really should draw their curtains

Griff

I'll vouch for that! As previously stated we drifted past one bungalow, the two occupants, both quite plump and dressed in yellow baby-doll pajamas, were clearly enjoying a spot of mutual chastisement !! 

[Guest]

9 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

I'll vouch for that! As previously stated we drifted past one bungalow, the two occupants, both quite plump and dressed in yellow baby-doll pajamas, were clearly enjoying a spot of mutual chastisement !! 

Too much information JM , all i have to do now is try and erase that image from my mind

[JohnK]

Too much information JM , all i have to do now is try and erase that image from my mind

You think you have a mental image problem?
Guess what I’ll be imagining when I meet my new neighbours??!!


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