I make it a rule now, but I have chanced it once.... at Bangor in Northern Ireland and I nearly finished up a reef in flat calm and in a pale haze. The entire Irish Sea was like a mirror. You do not see shoal water in flat calm; reefs don't shoal in flat calm.
The other time, at Gardenstown in Morayshire, Scotland, we waited until morning, and were content to see the harbour in daylight. It is an awkward approach.
I was far happier in the second case, despite the three hour wait. The crew slept, and I paced slowly up and down on the wee
jib alone. It was cold, but very bearable after the Northern Ireland heart-stopper.
It is not worth it there guys. It really isn't. Not for a strange harbour, at night. How different it all looks in daylight.
Rockter.