Nighttime boating requires special skills and responsibilities. "There are significant risks for boaters who choose to venture out during nighttime hours." This, is according to a report on nighttime boating accidents published by BOAT/U.S. Foundation for Boating Safety, in November 1995. The report followed in the wake of a '93 nighttime boating accident in Florida that took the lives of two major league baseball players. The incident was attributed to SPEED, ALCOHOL, and REDUCED VISIBILITY.

It is easy to have navigation lights confused with land lights and navigation lights sometime seem to disappear or get lost in the loom of brighter illumination. This is a particular problem with bright lights on bridges over canals. For example, in Delaware, the bright lights of a new bridge over the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal partially blinded the operator of a 17' runabout. He maneuvered to avoid a slow moving tug and ran into a sailboat whose lights were obscured by the bridge lights. The operators and passengers on both watercraft were severely injured.

If you boat at night, be sure all people on board are wearing a properly fitting, Coast Guard approved life jacket with an emergency light (Check the batteries periodically!) attached to it, along with a plastic whistle. Personal flotation devices (PFDs) were aboard in the majority of boats involved in nighttime accidents, but only 13% were used! Everyone on deck should be a lookout, looking in all directions, but not everyone looking in the same direction. Be sure all navigation lights are working and carry spares as well as proper tools to enable you to make a bulb change if necessary. If you cannot reach your lights easily, carry an emergency clamp-on light pack. Radar is very helpful because it may alert you to vessels before you can see them. But, be aware that there is no substitute for a sober, knowledgeable and vigilant lookout.

It can take up to 10 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the darkness after being exposed to light. Advise passengers to keep cabin lights off or use red filtered lights. Do not blind another boater with your searchlight. Raise your all round stern light high enough and shield it underneath so it does not blind you when you look aft.

Keep your speed down. It is difficult to judge speed, distance and type of vessel in the dark. Depth perception is very different under low light conditions. "SLOW DOWN!" Operator inattention and negligence contributed to 63% of the accidents. Carelessness, inexperience, overloading and failure to maintain a proper lookout are all magnified in limited visibility. Small, open motorboats were involved in 54% of fatal nighttime accidents. Boats under 18' were involved in 45% of the non-fatal accidents. Small, open, less stable motorboats with low freeboard are susceptible to capsizing.

Do not impair your senses further by the addition of alcohol! It is foolish and dangerous to add the effects of alcohol to the day's exposure of sun, fatigue, wind and waves. The study found that alcohol contributed to at least 53% and perhaps as high as 74% of nighttime boating fatalities. The "designated skipper" concept did not apply in the maritime environment as it does to the automobile operation. The study found "many instances where intoxicated passengers brought harm to themselves or other passengers by either falling overboard or causing a boat to capsize."

Know your boat lights and land lights in the area in which you go boating. It pays to review local charts and light lists often. Lights are aids and must be used with concentration and vigilance. Everyone aboard must be alert!

You may not plan to run at night but unforeseen circumstances may force you to be out on the water later than you expected . There was a significant increase of accidents between 10:30 PM and 11:30 PM with alcohol contributing to 50% of the accidents during that time frame.

Remember, life jackets float, you don't _ wear your life jacket!

ref: The Mariner (of Chesapeake Bay) Sept. '96
Soundings - Trade Only July '96
BOAT/U.S. Study Nov. '95 - available from the foundation at (703) 823-9550.