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Trust Me
1st Mate

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USA
71 Posts

Initially Posted - 09/29/2007 : 03:26:27

Last Wednesday I decided to test myself at near geezer age (59 even though I feel 40)by sailing on Lake Michigan solo during a full moon. I was surprised at the hesitancy I felt about doing something a bit foolish for an old guy.
It was spectacular and my confidence reestablished itself and a few more maintenance list items got identified. Durning the evening I made a few mistakes that were irritating but not fatal to the trip.
I almost ran aground coming out of the lake that connects to Lake Michgan but the depth sounder alarm saved me from getting stuck so I could quickly turned into deeper water.
I used my binoculars to help my 20/10 bifocals see better in the dark.
I set up the cockpit with snacks, water and mini flashlight to avoid going down below as much as possible.
Dressed appropiately with fleece and gloves to ward off the cool night.
Used the 1 million candle power hand held search light to identify things that I was not sure of.
Turned off the GPS and used lighted compass and constantly looking around for shore line lighted objects until I was in Lake Michigan.
Once on Lake Michigan I literally used the wind and stars to set my course. Could have sailed for hours but once I felt the challenge had been met I simply turned around and made for home. It was knowing that I could still do it, that's what counted.
I know many people talk about sailing to the south pacific and around the world in their 38 foot Island Packet but that night under the stars in a Catalina 25 with me as captain of my ship was fine for me.
Lats and Atts talks about "living the dream" .... sometimes a simple sail at midnight under a full moon is just fine ....it's still messing around in boats... and a fine one at that!
Capt. Ron

5044 TR FK

Edited by - on

Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2007 : 08:32:02

Wondrous! But what's this "near-geezer" stuff?? What am I at 62

(I could never turn the GPS off around here--staying clear of rocks in the sound and getting back up the river to home without hitting a buoy in the dark is wicked, although I haven't done it under a full moon--only in dead-darkness.)

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 09/29/2007 : 10:42:02

Nice write up, and I understand your concern. Until recently I'd only sailed on lakes, with the occasional race out on Puget Sound. When racing, there would be at least 3-4 other guys on the boat who knew how to sail at least as well as I do and I always felt our combined knowledge would carry us through any problems we might encounter. Now, it's almost always just the two of us and Rita is both a reluctant and a novice, sailor. I feel hesitant every time we head out onto the Sound. I think about what could go wrong, I worry about the fact that she doesn't swim all that well, I worry about the temperature of the water & how quickly it would incapacitate anyone who goes over the side, I worry about fog when crossing the major traffic lanes, it seems like an endless list of things to worry about. However, each time we go, our confidence builds, she learns new things, I find myself amazed at some of the things she's done when things turned ugly (going forward to wrestle down the jib in 20kts in 4-5' seas, cranking the boat onto the trailer in 2-3' breakers with the nose of the boat bouncing right in front of her on the same trip, etc.).

The upshot is, if you don't go, the fear wins. As long as we continue to go out and learn, it exercises our sailing muscle, and we stay in shape and learn new things.

Kudos to you for "doing something a bit foolish for an old guy".

Edited by - on

Todd Frye
Navigator

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USA
222 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2007 : 21:04:02

Our Utah Lake sailors had a moonlight regatta a few weeks ago:

http://groups.google.com/group/utah-lake-sailing/web/moonlight-regatta---sep-27-28-2007

Fair Winds,

Todd Frye

Edited by - on

johnsonp
Admiral

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USA
606 Posts

Response Posted - 09/30/2007 : 22:16:14

See Admiralty Forum

paulj

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ChrisandCheri
1st Mate

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USA
30 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2007 : 06:02:58

Nice post Ron. It is a great feeling coming back confident after first leaving hesitant. Happy sailing...

Edited by - on

Arlyn Stewart
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2980 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2007 : 08:15:39

I've done a fair amount of night sailing and would add that there is a beauty and nature component as well as the other challenges that have been mentioned.

I've made about a half dozen ninety mile crossings of Lake Huron between Harrisville, Mi and the Georgian Bay, which of course means night sailing.

During one of these, I saw my first and only exploding meteorite on a starry moonless night sail. It looked much like fireworks, a streak of light and then suddenly the light exploded into into a 360 degree shower of smaller light streaks bursting from a center point and expanding to two thirds of the night sky. I reflected upon the distances and speed at which the fragments must have traveled to cover such a huge area of the sky and wondered about the power of the explosion to cause such a phenomena.

The reflective shimmering moon light off the water has differing characters depending upon the wave action. One particular condition seemed to almost come alive with intensity. The course was dead into a full moonlight with a good breeze that had the boat moving well into a white capping sea. The shimmering was conditioned by both the wave and white caps to produce a memory that lingers yet in the mind, the likes of which is so rare that nothing like it had been or has since been seen.

It lasted a couple of hours and some video was taken to preserve such a beautiful view only to discover that the camera could not record what the naked eye could behold.

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 10/01/2007 : 17:01:08

Ron, great story. I have been sailing my 250 for about a year and at age 55 havent taken her out solo yet but building up confidence to. I have thought about similar stuff you mentioned. My goal is to sail to Catalina Island from Newport Beach, CA one day. But will do trip in daylight! Thanks for sharing story.

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Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2007 : 12:01:07

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">My goal is to sail to Catalina Island from Newport Beach, CA one day. But will do trip in daylight!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Steve,
I make the crossing from Oceanside to Avalon each year and we always begin this trip at night (between midnight and 3AM) to assure a morning arrival at Avalon, enhancing our chances of getting a mooring inside the harbor. There is rarely more then a hint of breeze in these early morning hours so we motor and other boat traffic is practically non-existent. I have done it when the moon was full and when the coastal clouds made it so dark you could not see the horizon. It adds a certain mystique to the trip.

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2007 : 13:37:28

Joe, Not sure I am ready for nite sailing to Avalon yet. Its a mind set I know. I couldn't see Catalina last time I sailed over in daylight. I am gonna have to do some local evening sailing first.
Do you remember what day of the week you left? I went on an early Thursday and still couldn't get a mooring upon a 2pm arrival. I ended up on string line at the Isthmus.

Edited by - on

Sloop Smitten
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1181 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2007 : 14:36:58

We went in August, on a Thursday, got there at noon and the moorings were full. Spent the night in Descanso Bay before heading to the Isthmus. 9-10 AM arrival is a lot better. May not matter much in peak periods.

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piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2007 : 18:14:13

Joe, I went on a Thurdsay in Sept and Avalon was full. Called Isthmus and there were lots of moorings. So we sailed north. Took couple of hours. Love to know trick in getting mooring in Avalon, however, besides going during the Santa Anas!

Edited by - on

Jmurfy
Navigator

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USA
176 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2007 : 22:52:29

I love to sail at night on Lake Michigan. Even pulling back into the harbor at night is special. I encourage everyone to try it.

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 10/02/2007 : 23:40:10

You have all talked me into in. Gonna give it a whirl this weedend.

Edited by - on

DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2007 : 08:49:58

I wish I had a wide open area to night sail. When I go out after dark I have to be careful to stay between the channel markers in the ICW here in Daytona. Kinda takes some of the fun out of it, but still pretty cool. Last time my spot light went dead and I didn't have a plug in, luckily we didn't hit anything or go aground

Edited by - on

ilnadi
Captain

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452 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2007 : 11:43:39

The best part of the debacle from New bern home (see cruising forum) was the night sail. I really appreciated the extra hands, though; not quite ready for solo (come to think of it, I do not like doing anything solo so maybe I am not meant to be a solo sailor).

As far as the GPS, the best feature was telling us where the unlit markers were. We had to sail right by a number of unlit markers in the Neuse channels and frankly they made me more nervous than anything else. They are not easy to find in unknown waters, even with a 2-million Cl beam.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 10/03/2007 : 12:40:27

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Ilnadi: As far as the GPS, the best feature was telling us where the unlit markers were. <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I recently bought the chart pack for the Seattle area for my new Garmin 276c, loaded it, then took a look at our last anchoring area. I was surprised to see that our drop sight (where I let the anchor go), and the subsequent backing down to set it "line" were shown as on shore. I didn't measure the length of the line but it was probably at least 100' long. Now that could easily be chalked up to a poor satellite constellation, or the constellation was primarily to the East where it was blocked by the height of the island and trees, but it's certainly something to think about when you're searching for stuff in the dark using your GPS for reference.

If you don't have WAAS or DGPS, your estimated position error could be more than 25 meters (roughly 80') if Selective Availability is turned on. However, I think SA is turned off permanently now, but I'm not sure, and I don't know how that affects EPE.

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