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While I'm certain that night vision gear would be handy to have in reality it has limited application imo when it comes to general navigation. Unless you happen to be sailing through a known fish trap area one can hardly sit on deck scanning for those damned buoys all night.
Once sailing of the coast of Portugal I was astounded by the number of buoys. They were of course unlit and keeping an eye on them in daylight was hard enough, at night it would have been unwise to even think about sailing through that bunfight without some form of night vision aid.
Otoh, the NSW coast e.g. has in season lobster pots up and down its length but they are quite spread out. Realistically no small boat crew could hope to spot them all no matter how good your equipment.
Of course in some areas of the world and I'm thinking of SE Asia with its hoards of small, often unlit fishing boats you proceed at your own peril.
Once sailing of the coast of Portugal I was astounded by the number of buoys. They were of course unlit and keeping an eye on them in daylight was hard enough, at night it would have been unwise to even think about sailing through that bunfight without some form of night vision aid.
Otoh, the NSW coast e.g. has in season lobster pots up and down its length but they are quite spread out. Realistically no small boat crew could hope to spot them all no matter how good your equipment.
Of course in some areas of the world and I'm thinking of SE Asia with its hoards of small, often unlit fishing boats you proceed at your own peril.
