Preparations for a Manhattan to Nantucket straight through passage on the south side

[Minnewaska]

As for night sailing, the difference between a full moon on a cloudless night and no moon on an overcast night is, well, night and day. This can be timed well and you don't need a totally full moon, as much as the clear sky.

[smurphny]

+1 on the above good advice about night sailing. It can be vertigo time on a pitch black night with a ground fog. You can run right up on a beach in a place you know like the back of your hand and never know it (don't ask how I know:-) Depth perception and moving lights are extremely difficult to decipher. Make sure you know your light patterns if at all thinking about night running. You want to know when a tug, towing a barge is approaching!