Southampton Water to Shamrock Quay
Southampton Water, what could be easier? A wide, almost straight, well-mapped route to the city, a bit like the M3. In daylight it is straightforward but at night the navigation marks, so obvious on the chart, get lost amongst the multitude of shore lights. To port is another blaze of lights from Fawley, one of the biggest oil refineries in Europe.
Southampton is one of the UK’S busiest ports so you can expect to encounter plenty of ships along with high speed ferries, tugs, dredgers, pilot boats, work boats, the occasional fishing boat and of course yachts.
Apart from a working knowledge of the lights in the Colregs, for this trip it’s also important to know what an occulting light is and some other light characters on the chart such as IQ R 10s. (Occulting lights flash darkness and IQ means interrupted quick flashing).
At night, features which are obvious on
the chart, such as lit buoys, can be difficult to find, while the small symbol on the chart with the word chimney next to it at the entrance to Southampton Water marks a lit chimney which is 198m high and can be seen for at least 10 miles. These big features give a handy visual reference to your position and you can get a quick position line as they transit with other marks.
MAKING A PLAN
First, read the pilot book and look up the tides. The pilotage plan sketch gives courses to steer and shows the navigation marks where a change of course is required. It usually includes the distances to the next mark but on this trip the buoys are so close together that providing the light characters are identified it should be easy to find the next mark.
So what could go wrong? A classic mistake is to instruct the helmsman to go for the next green without reference to the chart plotter or the pilotage plan. On the night sailing assessment in Yachtmaster exams I have been taken into the Hamble, which was the next green, instead of up Southampton Water, and during another exam, we were run aground on Weston shelf near Southampton as the helmsman aimed for a green light two ahead of the next one.
Although a useful aid, a plotter with AIS will not always pick up small craft, because AIS is not required for vessels less than 300T. The navigator should be on deck as much as possible for collision avoidance, hence the need for the sketch pilotage plan in the cockpit.
It is worth staying outside the main channel as much as possible but even on the nautical equivalent of the pavement there will be other craft to avoid, some of them quite large and fast.
THE PASSAGE
Arriving from the west the best route is north of the Thorn channel leaving the red buoys to starboard, but not too far, as it is very shallow inside over Calshot Spit. The main channel in this area has a moving prohibited zone around large ships requiring small craft to keep well clear, preferably by being outside the channel. You can identify a ship with these rights by the Constrained by Draught lights, three reds in a vertical line (or a cylinder by day).
If the channel is clear, a good place to cross to the east side where there is more room is near Black Jack red buoy, as the channel is narrow here. It is then a matter of keeping on the east side outside the main channel. In addition to the main channel starboard buoys, there are smaller, lit green buoys laid on the edge of the shallows on the east side of Southampton Water for the benefit of small craft. These are helpful to keep you off the mud providing you don’t confuse them with the channel buoys.
At night you can see the width of Southampton Water as you approach the city but the channel is not in the middle. Even small craft have to move over to port to avoid Weston Ledge, a large and shallow shoal to starboard at the entrance of the Itchen river.
From there on, yachts stay in the main channel and it is easy to see the span of the Itchen Bridge with a charted height of 23m which most yachts can pass under with plenty of clearance. Just at the moment you think it is all downhill to Shamrock Quay marina the river takes a turn to port, with the channel following the port bank to avoid another shoal on the starboard side.
There is a green post to keep you off the bank but for first timers it’s an easy one to miss. From there on it is plain sailing except for the strong tidal stream flowing past the marina which can be a boathandling challenge.
STAY ON DECK
As always with pilotage, the right place to be is on deck, not least to avoid uncharted objects such as other craft, mooring buoys and fishing pot markers. Most pilotage errors occur at night rather than in the day so a thorough pilotage plan is essential. Even with a navigation station filled with electronic aids it is still possible to become disorientated while trying to reconcile the view on deck with that on the chart. You need a pilotage plan.
The most important principle is this: if you know the position of the yacht and you are armed with a chart (electronic or paper) and a compass, you know the range and bearing to the next mark. This means that when you reach a known position, such as a navigation buoy, you know where to head to find the next one. Simple, except that a surprising number of navigators waste time scanning the lights ahead with no plan to find the one they want.
FISHING POTS
Unpredictable and unlit, these are the biggest danger at night. Avoiding them is largely a matter of common sense. Sometimes they are laid in deep water, but mostly they lurk in less than 50m. Avoid shallows if you can, especially near fishing harbours, and inside passages around headlands, even if you are confident of your position thanks to radar and plotter. Even if you know where you are, there’s still the same risk of the engine stopping with a crunch, or finding yourself moored by the rudder or prop in a strong tide.
LIGHT POLLUTION
Light pollution is a well-known source of navigation stress, particularly when looking to enter an unfamiliar harbour after dark.
If it has been a while since you have done this, it is well worth returning to your own harbour after dark and noting the different complexion the various landmarks take on when not visible to the naked eye. A large, unlit buoy may be sited just in front of a particularly well-lit hotel rendering it difficult to spot.
Another feature of light pollution (but of sailing at night more generally too) is the reduction in our ability to judge distances. This is particularly acute when coming into harbour. A navigation buoy’s light may well get lost in the background of a sea of lights when, during the day it would be clear and obvious the nav buoy was some way offshore.
NIGHT VISION
The sensitivity of our eyes increases the longer they are in the dark and it can take many minutes for maximum sensitivity to be acquired, and the improvement is dramatic. Unfortunately it can be lost in a few seconds of exposure to bright lights.
Eyes have cones that are used for colour vision in daylight, and more sensitive rods that come into their own at night. The rods are not sensitive to red light and this means that if you switch to red illumination your eyes can continue to adapt while you move around the boat.
The bad news for those of pensionable age is that your eyes will only be about a third as sensitive to low light as in your youth. Binoculars will boost illumination by about 50 times and go a long way to redressing the balance; but it still pays to have your youngest crew on lookout.
It is worth noting too, that in this hightech age, our cockpits are often filled with screens all giving off light. Most of these screens can be dimmed or put into night mode, but sailing in the dark can be such a calm experience that the harsh light of screens can detract. Keep your electronics on and functioning and use as appropriate but if they are on and lit up in the cockpit they tend to draw the eye and can have the effect of making you less aware of that which is going on around you.
POORLY LIT CRAFT
Inshore, yachts can be hard to spot. Coming into places like Southampton, Portsmouth or any other significant port with strong background lighting and a tight channel for leisure craft you are likely to be up against a significant confusion of lights. Yachts are especially awkward if they opt for a tricolour at the masthead instead of proper running lights in close quarters.
You are looking ahead for trouble, not up in the sky! Tricolours are great on passage though, increasing the likelihood of being spotted and minimising power drain - remember, do not use your tricolour when under power.
Fishing boats’ navigation lights are often made hard to see thanks to a bright deck light to enable the crew to work on deck. Watch them closely and expect erratic course changes. Try to give them plenty of space to stay safe. Around the UK other than the decklights making it hard to discern their heading from a distance, fishing craft should not cause too much worry, but you will want to avoid ending up astern of them in case they are trawling, so do take plenty of time to discern their direction of travel. In some parts of the world fishing craft of various sizes do sometimes operate without proper lighting, so if you are entering a busy seaport always take it slowly.
Cruise ships and ferries are invariably lit up like Christmas trees. It can be hard to pick out the red and green amongst the plethora of other lights onboard, so take time to work out what they’re up to and consult AIS if you have it. Given their size, if you are close to shore even without seeing their nav lights it is usually fairly easy to make a decent guess at their bearing relative to you by glancing at your chart to get a sense of the main nav channels.
SAFETY ON DECK
For the most part you will have your own rules about when lifejackets go on, whether that be worn the whole time, when the windstrength is above ‘x’ knots etc. The strong recommendation is to always wear a lifejacket when on deck after nightfall, and this is sensible. Some choose not to in calm weather and if they are in the cockpit. As ever, what you decide will be between you and your crew. For my part I would strongly recommend a lifejacket at all times after dark. Clipping on via your harness is also strongly recommended – if you are sailing a long passage at night then do be aware of your harness clip scraping along the deck if you are moving around – it’s a very irritating noise for those trying to get some kip below.
It’s not always easy to force discipline on yourself, but it really does make sense to call on your crew if you need to go up on deck for any sort of sail adjustment.
Safety is not about buying things. It is about an attitude of mind. We must constantly be on the lookout for trouble at night so that we can forestall it, just as we do in the daytime.
FOOD
If you are setting out on a passage that may well extend into the night, it is worth considering what food you intend to take. There is a lot to be said for preparing an evening meal before set off. Something like a pre-made stew can be easily heated and give you a boost to cover the last miles, help you warm up on deck or make for a hearty meal once you are tied up. Whatever you choose, make plenty of it, that way you have enough to get you through the night, or you can have a bit to keep you going but still have a meal left when you arrive at your destination.
Hot drinks are axiomatic. Boiling a kettle and having somewhere safe to place a mug while you make an instant coffee has to be easy. If it isn’t and you are reduced to pre-heating thermos flasks, there is something wrong with your boat or your arrangements. Keep the drinks coming. They maintain morale and give people something to do.
EFFECT ON WEATHER
All air usually cools at night, even over the sea. This will be more obvious when it has been a sunny day not far from land. The result is that there are fewer gusts and a decrease in the average wind strength as the thermally enhanced breeze disappears.
On a night with low-lying cloud or hill fog, some lighthouses will not be visible. Note the height of the lantern from the chart and be ready for the occasional disappointment.
Halos around the moon can be really obvious at night. A big one is often a sign of an approaching front. If the wind is light, think about starting the engine and keeping up boat speed.
In conditions when the air is moist, a degree or so of cooling after dark might be just enough to shut down poor-to- moderate visibility into mist or even fog.
Distant lightning is more easily seen at night, so don’t be too alarmed if you see it flashing around the horizon.
SAILING AND SAIL HANDLING
Once darkness falls, moving around on deck should be reduced and so it makes sense to have out sails that are well within the conditions at the time. Many skippers like to shorten sail before dark, regardless of conditions, so as to minimise the chance of having to handle sails at night. However, you should still be willing and able to change sails, or take in or let out reefs, if necessary, particularly if you are on a long passage. It is a very good idea to mark your halyards so that you can roughly get them in the right place for reefs etc. You should also have a working set of deck lights, so you can illuminate everything when doing big jobs.
If you are not far from your final
destination and daylight is disappearing, it might be worth switching the engine on and getting sails down and tidy before the dark really takes hold. But if you’re confident in your passage plan then this is far, far from crucial. Reducing sail, however, helps with your own ability to see and be seen. In busy areas many sailors like to have quite a bit of the headsail rolled away as this improves visibility looking forward - a good idea for busy ports in daylight too.
At the beginning of the night, the skipper should make sure everyone understands what adjustments can be made unsupervised by those on deck and when more crew should be called up to assist. This may vary, depending on the crew’s experience.
INTUITIVE SAILING
There are additional strips you can get added to sails that glow at night to allow you to properly set them at night, but this is really only necessary for racers and those looking to make very long night passages. In truth, there is usually enough light to get some decent sense of how your sails are set, and if you have reduced sail before night falls, then the consequences of getting things wrong is just a slowing of pace. Having a torch handy to check trim and telltales is a real help.
Though some are tempted to switch on the motor once dark falls, sailing in the dark is a really fun and tranquil experience and can improve your sailing skills during the day. Without the ability to see gusts approaching on the water, your sail trim is going to be far more reactive than it might otherwise be. Feel becomes key when sailing at night. Sailing by feel is something of a specialism for blind sailors and Lucy Hodges, Blind Sailing World Champion, once offered me this advice: ‘A key area for me when sailing are the hairs on the back of my neck. I always make sure that my neck is exposed. With a bit of practice you may be surprised how quickly you can lean to feel changes in wind pressure and direction.’
The key to sailing by feel, is using all of your senses. Feeling the roll of a boat is essential, if you feel the boat is starting to heel, and if the hairs on your neck have not changed, the wind might not have altered and you probably want to adjust course slightly. If the boat begins to heel and the hairs on your neck feel different, the wind may have increased so you might adjust trim.
Of course with visual inputs too, we do not need to sail entirely on feel when night falls, but it does stand as a great example of how different and rewarding sailing at night can be. It can really help you feel more in tune with your boat.