Travelling down the ICW

[Cruisingdad]

Ok, is it just me, or do the cans/nuns grow darker and darker as your age wears on? At nightime, that is. We end up having my 6 year old point them out for us half the time.

As long as we have been boating, we have travelled down the ditch like every other sailor at night: Watching the radar, keep shinning the handheld light ahead, etc. But every time I pull the trigger on that light it inevitably hits some part of the bimini, blinding us for a moment, then we lose our night vision and end up having to use the light more, etc, etc.... one of cruisings little frustrations, I guess.

Now, at the risk of making my boat look like a freighter, what about:

Mounting a spot light forward like many of the motoryachts use? Not one of the huge ones, one about the same size/draw as a handheld? What about some kind of fixed-mount spot light on the stanchion in front of the jib? You could switch it on/off at the cockpit.

Now, why wouldn't that work and has anyone else thought of this/done it?

[hellosailor]

If we have to do that we usually send a crew up to the bow, and run the power cord for the spotlight in through a forward port. But you could do it powerboat style, they make spotlights designed to be installed in the hull itself on either forward quarter. Not traditional sailing rig, but...they work.

More elegant and costly is generation three night vision equipment. Real sailors don't need lights, they can see in the dark.

[Cruisingdad]

Hello,

Yeah, but who wants to sit up on the bow for hours on end, or all night?

I think the whole powerboat thing is just the way to go. Since I cannot afford my Nordhavn, (well, and go cruising too), I will just make my cheap little sailboat look like one. Bloody mast is kinda screwing up the Nordhavn lines though. You think if I took down my mast and painted N46 on my deck, I could fool anyone?

[sailingdog]

Your night vision degrades as you get older... vitamin A does help though... What you really need is a set of light-amplification or night vision goggles.

[Giulietta]

What the hell is the ICW??

[labatt]

Originally Posted by Giulietta

What the hell is the ICW??

It's the Intracoastal Waterway. a 3,000 mile long route made up of both natural and manmade protected waterways along the Atlantic coast of the US around to the Gulf of Mexico. It was originally very well maintained, but now many of the northern portions of it are only navigable by shallow draft vessels due to lack of funding.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intracoastal_Waterway

[nelsonsmoody]

The USA East Coast / IntraCoastal Waterway (ICW). Check out the nice link below.
http://www.waterwayguide.com/cruising_p.html

I know nothing like this in Portugal I was born and raised there.

[Giulietta]

Nelson, onde??? Portuga??ahaha a serio??

[Giulietta]

Cooooool, obrigado Nelson,
In fact we do not have any of that there, not even close. We're slightly smaller than Indiana!! If you sail 1000 miles south you're in mid Africa, and the only water way I know there is any way to get up North ASAP!!!

But remeber, no matter how many waterways you have, we were the first ones to make water ways!!!

And a Portuguese was the first around the world by boat!!

[nelsonsmoody]

I was born no Covas do Douro (where the best Port wine comes from) between 7 km from N. PINHAO, between VILA REAL and REGUA but I lived in ALCANTRA LISBOA by the (docas).