As the skipper of a boat it’s up to you to decide on safety matters for yourself and your crew.
Thus many skippers insist on everyone on deck wearing harnesses, but some eschew them, saying the human hand is the Mk1 harness. Obviously the conditions and the size of the boat will affect this practice.
Here are a few tips for safety when sailing at sea, at night.
For all but the most experienced seafarers, sailing at night aboard a yacht is an exhilarating but at times disorienting feeling. The sea changes at night; waves seem larger and the wind seems keener. It makes sense to take this into account and, depending on conditions, to reef early. If you normally reef when you are heeled at 25 degrees then you’ll be far more comfortable keeping the boat at 15 degrees of heel at night. Also use preventers and vangs, through blocks on the foredeck, to control booms and gaffs as the wind comes abaft the beam.
As a guiding rule, harnesses are worn at night and in rough weather and lifejackets (not harnesses) are worn in fog. Harnesses have clip-on safety hooks which are attached to strong points (D-rings) in the cockpit or to flat webbing jackstays lying along side decks, allowing crew to move fore and aft, dragging their hook quite easily. The safety theory is that if you lose your footing or get swept overboard you’ll still be attached to the boat. Once you are lost overboard, you are very difficult to recover. Basically, if you fall overboard at night without your lifejacket, light of some description, personal EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) or pocket rockets then your crew will be looking for your face in the water – about the size of a slice of bread; and in any seaway you’ll pop into view about as often as light toast.
Remember that at six knots the boat will cover 200 yards (0.1nM) in a minute or 30 yards in 10 seconds. Hopefully, the crew will have deployed a lifering-Danbuoy (with light) and hit a fix on the GPS and if they tack the boat instantly into a heave-to attitude (jib backed, helm a-lee) you may even be able to swim back to the boat. Some boats carry a line astern at night for such occasions.
Briefing crew on safety, and better still going through some man overboard drills is the best training you can do.
But as sailors we need to be aware that the sea can discover any weakness in your safety drills, no matter what your experience.
Night vision is extremely important for crew keeping watch at night. As tragic events occasionally highlight, you cannot always rely on others to notice you in your small boat as you sail in areas of shipping.
So keep a good watch, at all times, regularly scanning the horizon 360° around you and be aware that we have a blind spot in night vision right in the centre of the retina, so keep scanning!
If there are two of you then sit at opposite sides of the cockpit and set your arcs to watch. Remember that on a smaller boat the lack of height reduces the sight-line to your horizon. At 5ft (1.5m) the horizon is just 2.6nM. You will be able to see the 100ft-high lights of a container ship 14.5nM away. If she is travelling at an average speed of 25 knots she could be at your position in around 35 minutes. However, at night it can also be easier to determine risk of collision as ships’ lights show their aspect clearly. A ship making 16 knots can appear over the horizon and be close to you within 20 minutes… so keep scanning!!
You should preserve your night vision, which can take as long as half an hour to become 80 per cent effective, so keep cabin lights off and do not, repeat NOT, shine torches in people’s faces. LED torches especially seem to kill night vision for ages. If you know you are about to be exposed to light, cover one eye, it will help (a useful hint for smokers who like to light up in the dark). Keeping a good watch will also keep you awake; move position regularly to avoid cricking your neck.
Below decks get things stowed but consider what will be needed during the night; some make flasks of coffee and soup and (with a box of snacks) put them within easy reach in the galley, or out on deck for the crew. Remember high sugar foods give you a spike in energy but can make you feel doubly as tired 30 or 40 minutes later. Rig lee cloths (strong canvas panels which normally lie flat under the bunk during the day, but which can be tied to strong points during the night) so that people don’t fall out of bunks. Have your clothes ready and wear more layers than you think you’ll need – it’s easy to get cold at night.
Have a dim light for the chart table and when plotting your position on a chart try to cover one eye and have the chart table light as low as possible. Some like red lights for chart work but it’s a fallacy that red is better for night vision, a white light dimmed right down will be as good.
Remember when coastal sailing that street lights in the background of a harbour will be well make it nigh on impossible to see navigational buoys ahead of you as you close a coast. So it’s good preparation to jot down the expected light sequences, and colours, of buoys and lighthouses on your pilotage or passage plan. Also check the tides which can run across harbour mouths as a rate of knots, make sure you can keep transit lights in line and can stem the tide when entering such harbours. A good rule is: If in doubt, then just stay out.