Anyone paddle at night?

[Chip]

Dusk is my favorite time to be on the water. And after dusk comes night, so yes, I often paddle at night. Often times, the paddling is in areas where there is powerboat traffic (e.g., Annapolis Harbor), and I deploy a light on the back deck, if kayaking, or on the back of my PFD if canoeing. But most times on the Chesapeake, I am in the kayak. My current light if from Tektite--very bright and visible LED, but I don't have a proper holder for it. I usually stuff the bottom of the light in the outlet of my hand-operated, bilge pump, fasten it there with a cord and secure the pump under the bungees on the back deck. That's worked okay but I need to use a better system. I also put a headlamp around my neck. I find using a light robs me of night vision, but with the nav light behind me, it's not in my eyes and my boat can be seen from most directions. If a boat in front of me starts coming towards me, I put the head lamp on my head, turn it on, and shine it at the approaching boat, but other than that, I paddle with the bow dark.

In my judgement, in busy boating environments, glow sticks are not bright enough. There are so many reflections bouncing off the water that the glow light is going to be lost in the visual clutter.

In 2014, I was solo paddling in the Apostles after dark, and became enveloped in fog while making a several-mile crossing. I had not intended to be out after dark, and all I had with me was a head light. This became an unpleasant trip, because the only way I could see my compass was to use the headlight, and when I used the headlight, I could see the compass in my immediate foreground, but everything else was blindingly bright white. I could have paddled into a buoy or anything else and I don't think I would have seen it before I hit it.

That's why I just completed a little shop project to add a red light to a deck compass. Body, Boat, Blade has directions on youtube. I mostly followed their directions. Seems like it will work well, though the red light could, in combination with my white nav light, possibly be interpreted as a side view of a power boat. That's okay with me. at least they see me, and I will be able to see my compass.

~~Chip

 

[yknpdlr]

My crew and I paddle a C6/C7 voyageur canoe. Have raced in the the Yukon River Quest (440 miles) and the Yukon 1000 miler, twice each. Not done yet. Way better than a hoot.
​
http://www.yukonriverquest.com

Were I younger ! Very Cool !

What the Old Voyagers would have given for a set of Zavs !!

Jim

Younger? Not a factor.
We just signed up for YRQ2016 and are looking forward to paddling through the far northern "night". By the way, half of our voyageur race crew of 6 is well over 60, the other half is close to or over 50. And we are always at or in the front of the pack, if not in the lead. It is surprising that generally speaking many canoe racers are quite a lot older (more experienced and seasoned) than you might think. Don't let age be a deterrent!

 

[lowangle al]

I hadn't done much paddling at night until this fall, when I stayed at a cottage on a lake in NE Pa. for two months. Most of my paddling over the last 25 years has been in Ak. where darkness came too late and my energy left too early on my wilderness trips. Staying at the cottage on the lake I had plenty of time and energy to devote exclusively to paddling. I was able to take moonlit paddles as well as no moon paddles on starry nights. I even went out on very foggy nights (due to no TV) and found it very enjoyable. There are no motor boats allowed on this lake so I didn't need a light which made it nice.


I really enjoyed my night paddles, some of the highlights were seeing the reflection of the moon and stars on the water as well as hearing owls, coyotes, deer snorting, and beavers chewing. I would recomend it to any paddler who wants to increase their paddling opportunities.

 

[Mowgli]

Yes, many times. Absolute magic at night.
Twenty five years ago, I courted my girlfriend, now wonderful wife, with a trip on the water under the full moon every month for one year.

 

[tump_lion]

when i have the tent-camp set up at the lake, i like to walk in after midnight after the drive-up late friday, light the woodstove and kerosene lantern then flip the canoe over and paddle around the star-filled lake for half an hour of immersion before the fresh-warmed bed...

also pretty mind-blowing to float around (the power-boatless) lakes of algonquin, laying in the bilge staring at the stars...

feels like you're floating in the middle of a giant star-field, with a thin ring of forest shape orbiting...

 

[Seeker]

I've done a couple, some on purpose, some by pushing to hard/far/long. The ones on purpose were enjoyable... full moon, or fishing or sightseeing for a couple hours in a local bayou... the wildlife is completely different (though the gator eyes are a little creepy.) No special lights or rigs aside from headlamp... just like backpacking.

 

[shanks]

No Title

I paddle at night as much as I can. This spotlight moon we've got going on right now, and no chance to paddle gives me a crazy itch!



I invited friends once. They loved it. The next night they showed up again, and they brought their new invention.

I'll admit, it was pretty fun. My buddy cooked a hot dog over an open fire, while sitting in his kayuck. The best part was being able to go off and explore, but have a beacon to bring you back to the group.
The lake is a 45 second drive from my house...I wouldn't take the floating campfire any further than that.

https://vimeo.com/152640626

 

[HOOP]

Down in the trees, never. Night time is for sleep, and man, do I ever need sleep! For me, its irrational to be awake all night. On canoe trips, the longer the nights get as the season progresses into August, the longer I sleep. I like to be very alert in the morning and enjoy the morning well-rested by sleep.

That said, in the arctic Barrenlands with 24 hour light, (albeit with sun set just below the horizon for a few hours), yes I will do "night" paddles to catch up for wind-bound day delays. But in every single case I have done night paddles, it has messed up my circadian rhythm, so that I inevitability need to take a rest day off to catch myself back up on sleep and re-set my cave man internal clock.

Me primitive. Me need sleep. Night for sleep. Day for travel. Me simple minded......

 

[Doc.]

I love night paddling at night! Here in Mississippi it's an exotic, mystic, and sometimes scary experience -- swamps, bayous, and oxbows off the main river all hold gators. They never really bother you; just don't nap in your boat -- if the boat stops moving for any real length of time at night the gators take it for a log and sometimes swim under it to scratch their backs -- not a good thing!

 

[yellowcanoe]

yep. Preparing now. In the Everglades there is such a short window of relatively no wind. The wind picks up about 9 am. Sunrise and sunset is about the same time year round .About 12 hours of each. Since that leaves a three hour daylight of no wind conditions ( usually) and about 20 miles between campsites, paddling in the dark is a real necessity.( that is unless the usual 15-25 mph winds are at your back and they normally are not!) Sometimes the tides are not favorable, slowing you down. Sometimes the tides are favorable and you can cover 20 miles in five hours.

It's been two years. Hoping I am ready.. The Glades are the toughest canoeing conditions around with the wind, tides and shallow water. The tides aren't much but are so affected by wind and the currents can run about 3mph. That's why I prefer to eliminate the wind factor.

 

[lowangle al]

I had an unplanned night paddling experience on my first trip to the Everglades. We left Flamingo marina late and had to deal with the wind and tide that didn't help the situation. With darkness falling we checked out the only dry ground to camp on at about 6 miles in. It was a small beach at the edge of the mangroves and it was covered with dead horseshoe crabs and my wife refused to camp there. As we left this campsite we could still see the outline of the shore and the distant point where we planned to camp. There was a light on the point that I thought was a boat and we paddled toward it hoping it wouldn't leave. We had about a four mile open water crossing on a very dark night. It was like paddling blind focusing on that distant light, at one point I had the crap scared out of me by some large fish that we startled that made a tremendous splash. My wife still kids me about screaming like a girl when it happened. I think she was too scared to scream. Anyway as we got closer we could see that the light wasn't a boat but a campfire. It was quite a relief to make it to shore even though we had to deal with the mosquitos.


YC I would think traveling at dawn and dusk would mean setting up and packing up would take place during the time of high mosquito activity. Also navigating in the mangroves was difficult enough in the daytime, constantly checking map and compass, I wouldn't want to do it at night. The Everglades are a real wilderness and a great destination have fun on your upcoming trip.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Al I am chuckling at your story. You had planned it seems to camp at East Cape. But made it to East Clubhouse.. That one is not my favorite; bootsucking mud. Laughing about the horsehoe crabs. You might not want to try ocean canoeing when the marine worms get beached , or at least your wife might not like it. Did you see skate egg cases ( skates that look like rays)?

We break camp early . We set up camp early so we can enjoy the sunset from our chairs with a book and...a camera.. and This year another and..a bug house. If you have headlamps leaving early and packing in the dark is not an issue as long as your camp is not scattered. I am quite capable of turning a beautiful 100x100 piece of ground or sand into an outdoor slum so we try and organize the night before for a quick getaway.

Snook.. They like to jump in your boat. Or dolphin.. they jump too.

How not to get lost.. Why every mangrove is different! ( not). Mapping GPS for detail and chart and compass for general self location.

I know at least one person here was not happy when we left before dawn and paddled mangrove lined creeks.. with eyes.

That stretch from Flamingo to East Cape is not fun. Its got horridly shallow water that slows you down. This time I think we are going down Lake Ingram and through the old Homestead Canal to Bear Lake and Flamingo